Criticle Analysis of a Doll's House

In A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, is a play about the personal revolution of a Norwegian housewife. Nora appears to be happy with mindlessly obeying her husband, until it is discovered that she has a secret debt that she has hidden from him. Krogstad, Nora’s loaner, threatens to reveal the debt to her husband. When it is inadvertently revealed, Nora realizes the lack of depth of her husband’s feelings for her and leaves their established household and family to find her own personal identity. The theme of A Doll’s House is that societal norms restrict personal freedom.

Often in literature characters are presented as victims of society. There are many examples of this in Henrik Ibsen’s controversial play, “A Doll’s House”. Written during the Victorian era, Ibsen’s play would have raised a lot controversy on the roles of males and females in society. The audience would have noticed the constant similarities between themselves and the characters that are presented as victims of society. A lot of the audience would have found the play shocking and disturbing.

While A Doll House and Machinal arose from very different time periods and theatrical movements, they both tell similar stories and touch upon similar social issues. The common theme between them is the idea of freedom of the individual (specifically women) from society.

Now that Krogstad is fired from the bank, He is blackmailing Nora for her getting a loan through signing her dying father’s signature. When Torvald finds out about Nora’s crime, She expect sympathy from Torvald about her dilemma because he said to her that he fantasizes about risking his life to save Nora’s. “Do you know, Nora, I have often wished that you might be threatened by some great danger, so that I might risk my life’s blood, and everything, for your sake” (Ibsen, 833). Once given the opportunity, however; Torvald shows no intention of sacrificing his life or anything for Nora, thinking only about his appearances. His selfishness becomes

Though Torvald seems to truly love Nora in the beginning, he actually values the reputation he has with his peers. For example, even at the end of the novel, Nora confesses that she would like to leave the family for the sake of her well-being. However, Torvald's reaction turned to insult Nora even more by asking her to stay in the house like brother and sister; he wanted her to stay so that it would appear that Nora and Torvald are still a married couple. "But no man would sacrifice his honour for the one he loves"(Act III, 78), this is what Torvald told Nora which gives another idea of how he finds his appearance more important than his love for Nora. Also, Nora suggests that the love Torvald thinks he has for her is only an infatuation of the fact that he has someone to love. Why

Torvald was ill and the only thing that could save him would be time spent away from the cold. Nora never tells Torvald about this loan because he doesn’t believe in borrowing. Toward the end of the play when Torvald finds out about the loan, his true colors come out and Nora finally gets to see what her husband is really like. This is what really causes Nora to leave her family and to try to find who she really is. This situation also causes Torvald to change a little as well. Near the end when Torvald finds out about the loan, he gets angry with Nora. Once he learns that she is going to leave him and the children, he begins to change his ways a little and starts treating her with a little more respect. He hopes this will make Nora stay, but she already has her mind set and finally has control for once in her life.

Torvald had a view of how he thought his life should be lived, and it was not exactly in Nora’s favor. He believed that his reputation was a very important part of his life and Nora knew that and that is why she contemplated committing suicide before he found out about the loan. Nora did not want to hurt his social reputation. Nora lived for him; she never wanted to disappoint him or cause him any harm. Unfortunately, Torvald did not care near as greatly about Nora as she did for him. He treated her poorly, by constantly telling her that her actions were careless and that a disease was the cause. Also, Torvald was selfish and controlling. He never really said “we” when having a conversation with her it was all about him and how her actions

In act two, Nora is slowly beginning to understand Trovald's true persona. Nora, maybe for the first time in her life, asks Torvald for a favor, to not fire an employee. He replies to her by asking "Do you suppose I am going to make myself ridiculous before my whole staff, to let people think that I am a man to be swayed by all sorts of outside influence"(Act II). This rhetorical question reveals Torvald's main concern of appearance. His greater concern for the image rather than Nora displays the lack of love in the relationship. It contradicts Nora's courageous act of borrowing money for Torvald, despite the government, for the sake of her love. This argument leads Nora to

The play A Doll's House is about a married couple with a troublesome relationship where the husband treats his wife like a kid. The wife Nora, is then in a dilemma where she is trying to keep a secret but is then found out by her husband Torvald. The two exchange their feelings where Nora then realizes she never wanted Torvald and needs to find her true self before she goes on with her life. If Nora choose to stay with Torvald they would have the possibility to start from the beginning and reconstruct their relationship

The attitude Torvald has towards his wife, Nora, throughout the play almost makes it seem as though he is constantly judging her for her actions without telling her how he truly feels. As any married couple should know, “lack of communication is a prime cause for divorce” (Perry). He does not express his concerns in a mature manner but instead he talks to her like she does not know any better for the little things she has done. For instance, when she mentions that she is not allowed to have the macaroons because of Torvald, this shows that he has a way of controlling her. It continues by him calling her names such as song bird, squirrel, spendthrift, or skylark. He also has no trust for her. He shows this by mentioning her actions in regards to spending money. “You always find some new way of wheedling money out of me, and, as soon as you have got it, it seems to melt in your hands” (Ibsen “A Doll’s House” 930). With this lack of trust, they simply could not thrive and last nearly as long as they may have once thought. Marriage does not bind people if they cannot find the truth in one

Simon Stephens’ modern adaption of the 1879 play by Henrik Ibsin, A Doll’s House, has allowed for audiences to experience the intense play in modern times. With Carrie Cracknell’s effective use of realism conventions and elements of drama, she has successfully displayed themes of deception to the audience. The play follows the story of Nora Helmer, and all the interactions between 6 other characters that follow while she maintains a major secret from her husband Torvald. The director demonstrates combined use of elements of drama along with realism conventions to effectively portray the themes of betrayal such as roles and relationships, use of the fourth wall, and personal objects. Her effective use of these conventions has led to a brilliant adaption of the classic play A Doll’s House.

ruined my whole future.?(Ibsen 916). Torvald has no compassion for her. He does not care that she took out the loan to save his life. Torvald just wants to order Nora around. His love is not true, but it is an angry petty obsession.

As Mrs. Linde and Nora continue with their conversation, Nora begins to question whether Torvald does love her. Nora begins to tell her story of how she was the one to raise the money for the trip to Italy and not Torvald. She reveals how she went to Krogstad and asked for a loan to help pay for the trip. When Mrs. Linde asked if Torvald knew any of this information Nora replied, "He's so strict on that subject ... with all his masculine pride how painfully humiliating for him if he ever found out he was in debt to me" (1194). Nora did not feel comfortable telling Torvald about the predicament because she did not want to offend him. Torvald is set on complying by his morals and the fact that Nora disobeyed them would dishonor her

Torvald’s wife Nora is the center of several of the traits that classify him as a morally ambiguous character. Nora is more like a possession to Torvald than a soul mate or wife. She is like a doll to him, something that he can control and shape into what he wants. Nora is treated like a child and as if she can not function a second without him to be there to tell her what to do. Her dependency on him is extremely important to him because that is

In Act 1, it’s made clear that Torvald has redeeming qualities. In the story it is Christmas, the glorious holiday season. Torvald is all about keeping his wife happy as it seems, Nora wants an extravagant Christmas this year. He isn’t too fond of the idea, he