Nora's Husband Torvald Research Paper

Nora is introduced as a housewife who believes the true meaning of marriage revolving around obedience. She demonstrates the true definition of a respectful daughter, a faithful and obedient wife, and a dependable mother. It wasn’t unusual for Torvald to throw his weight around towards Nora. He attempts to limit her macaroon intake “Hasn’t nibbled some pastry,” (Ibsen 788) she replies, “You know I could never think of going against you” (Ibsen 788). In the eyes of Nora, he is considered a confident, powerful, and successful businessman since he is receiving a promotion as a bank manager after the New Year. Torvald’s sense of marriage can be summed up that he is the king of the castle “This is the way it should be my darling Nora. What-ever comes, you’ll see: when it really counts, I have strength and courage enough as a man to take the whole weight myself” (Ibsen 814). Torvald’s view is she is just a “doll” in his doll house. To him, it was important to stress there was no such thing as equality in their partnership, he

At the end of the play Torvald finds out that Nora has deceived him about borrowing money without his permission and this triggers an epiphany for Nora, who realizes she needs to finally realize the truth of her situation and recognize her desire to escape this doll house. During yet another argument, Torvalds loses it and says, “From now on, forget happiness. Now it is just about saving the remains, the wreckage, and the appearance” (1013-1014). Finally, in this moment, Nora realizes that Torvald is just a self-centered, petty man who is concerned only about keeping up the lie of marriage. It is this realization that allows Nora to appreciate the reality of her situation. “I've been performing tricks for you, Torvald, that’s how I survived. You wanted it like that. You and Papa have done me a great wrong. It’s because of you I’ve made nothing of my life” (1015). By the end of the play, Nora has emerged as a stronger, tougher and more independent individual who is determined to make her own life free from the gender roles that have been placed on her by

Nora is outwardly submissive and always eager to please Torvald. By contrast, Torvald is a dominant figure that takes control over Nora’s life similar to the way a father would with his daughter. For most of the play, Torvald rarely calls Nora by her name, using pet names instead. For example, “my little lark,” “my squirrel,” and “little spendthrift” are used to describe Nora in the scene of the play (1251). The use of the word “my” emphasizes the control and ownership Torvald feels like he has over Nora’s life. Additionally, their relationship is characterized by a giving and receiving roles. However, the give and take is not shared equally enough. Nora remarks on this when she says, “But don't you think it is nice of me, too, to do as you wish?’ Torvald: ‘Nice?—because you do as your husband wishes? Well, well, you little rogue, I am sure you did not mean it in that way’” (1279). Nora is recognizing the inequality in her marriage when she tells Torvald that she is being “nice” when she follows his directions and cares for their family. This is crucial because Torvald disregards Nora by belittling her role in their marriage and making it seem as though she contributes nothing to their relationship. The interactions between Torvald and Nora emphasize the inequality in their

Nora’s marriage has been a sham ever since the start. By the standard of modern day, she has legitimate ground to leave her husband Torvald. Because Torvald only cares about his image, he treats Nora as an object rather than a wife, Nora has never been taken seriously by her husband, and Torvald only loves her for her appearance. Torvalds image is of great importance to him considering now he is a bank manager, and he will not allow anything standing in his way to ruin this image this includes his wife. All of Nora’s life has been controlled by a male figure, first her father which just transitioned to her husband. Towards the end of the play suggests he never actually loved Nora, it was in fact just an act to have more control over her, and to prevent her from leaving.

Nora's second, and strongest, break from society's rules was shown by her decision to leave Torvald and her children.  Society demanded that she take a place under her husband.  This is shown in the way Torvald spoke down to her saying things like "worries that you couldn't possibly help me with" (Ibsen Page #), and "Nora, Nora, just like a woman" (Ibsen page #).  She is almost considered to be property of his: "Mayn't I look at my dearest treasure?  At all the beauty that belongs to no one but me - that's all my very own" (Ibsen page #)?  By walking out she takes a position equal to her husband and destroys the very foundation of society's expectations of a wife and mother.  Nora also breaks society's expectations of staying in a marriage since divorce was frowned upon during that era.  Her decision represented a break from all expectations placed upon a woman by society. Throughout the play Nora is looked down upon and treated as a possession by her husband. She is

In “A Doll’s House”, Torvald and Nora each have a unique role in their marriage. Torvald treats Nora as his little doll, or plaything, while Nora treats him as the man of the house who has the authority to do anything he wants. These ideas form because the society within the play does not allow much freedom for women. According to this society and culture, a women’s role is depicted by the man she is with, the female character’s all exemplify Nora’s assertion that women have to sacrifice a lot more than men. In this play, Nora, Mrs. Linde, and the maid all hold sacrificial roles depicted by the society they

“Feminine Alienation” Women in today’s society strive for equality. However, a century ago, the female gender is treated very differently. People believed in patriarchy, where women are solely dependent on men. The two plays, A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen and A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, sparked controversial opinions on the position of women striving for conventional respectability in society. Nevertheless, if they stand out from their cultural norm, these female characters are often alienated from their society.

The expectation was that women would take care of their kids and husbands by making food and doing laundry. Also, it was expected of them to take care of the house. They was pretty much expected to be the caretaker of the family. This quote refers to some of these same expectations of Nora, such as playing with the children and cleaning the house. She contradicts all of these by leaving her family and going to take on life on her own. At the time it was not normal for a female to be independent. Some stereotypes for females included them being, weak, passive, emotional, and dependent, so females weren’t seen as living on their own. They were seen as depending on someone else, and in Nora’s case she depended on Torvald. Then she left which contradicted the stereotypes and expectations of

Nora and Torvald have been married for eight years. He has never excelled at being an exceptional husband to her, and talks extremely negative to her. Torvald also screeched at his wife, Nora, for making inadequate decisions that have destroyed his reputation. Torvald says, “You talk like a child, think like a child! You don’t understand the … the whole society in which you live” (Ibsen 105). Torvald has made Nora feel as if she has wrecked

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

Torvald gives her – “money!” – and counting it to see how much she has

Nora and Torvalds’s marriage directly followed the gender role guidelines that was imparted to them the moment they came out of the womb. Torvald being the male was brought up to be the stereotypical masculine workaholic bread winner. His main purpose in life is to support his family and educate his wife.

Nora begins to see her husband’s true colors and that he is not willing to sacrifice his reputation to protect her. He wants to punish her by separating the children from her. When Torvald found out that both his reputation and their secret is safe, he changes his mind and wants things to go back to the way they were. At first Nora is in shock, but then gets angry about how he treated her and is not willing to protect her like he should. “Nora thought that each of them would do anything to promote the well-being of the other, that each would sacrifice the self for the other” (Mahaffey 57). Nora wants to have a serious talk with her husband about their relationship and how it may not work out. She realizes that he is pretending to be in love with her and she does not love him anymore. She told him that their “home’s been nothing but a playpen” (Ibsen 1235) and she and the children are his playthings. Torvald tries to argue with her that she is jumping to conclusions and “accuses her of hysteria and madness” (Mahaffey 68). Nora told him she is leaving him forever and nothing that Torvald can say will convince her to stay. She left saying that she wants “a true marriage” (Ibsen 1238), meaning she wants someone who truly loves

This was the role that society told women that they needed to play, to be the perfect wife for her husband. Nora is a ditzy but manipulative trophy wife for most of the story, eager to please her husband. He controls her every action, shaping her into the perfect trophy wife for him to display. Nora says, “You arranged everything according to your own taste, and so I got the same tastes as you” (Ibsen, 66). Her husband tells her later on in the play that, “Before all else you are a wife and mother” (Ibsen, 68). This shows that her husband values her position more than her as a person and that he wants her to remain in the box he’s created for her. When she tells her friend about the loan she’d taken out without her husband’s knowledge she says, “And besides, how painful and humiliating it would be for Torvald, with his manly independence, to know that he owed me anything! It would upset our mutual relations all together” (Ibsen, 12). This implies that it was unheard of for women to provide for their families and that it would be shameful for a husband to let his wife

Torvald is only concerned with, in regard to his relationship with Nora, how well she makes him look and what other people think about it. If he has a beautiful, obedient wife and joyful relationship, people will respect him. They’re relationship, on the outside appears to be happy. But, when you analyze their relationship, you see Nora is treated like a child in this relationship, but as the play progresses she begins to realize how phony her marriage is. Torvald sees Nora 's only role as being the subservient and loving wife. He refers to Nora as "my little squirrel" (185), “my little lark” (185), or “little spendthrift” (185). He only sees her as a possession. Torvald calls Nora by pet-names and speaks down to her because he thinks that she is not intelligent and that she can not think on her own. Whenever she begins