preview

Nora’s Relationship with Torvald Essays

Decent Essays
Open Document

Nora’s Relationship with Torvald

The drastic change in Nora’s relationship with Torvald that occurs during the course of the play is made quite evident by what she says and the way she delivers her speech. At the beginning of the play Nora seems completely happy with her doll-like relationship with Torvald.
She responds affectionately to Torvald’s teasing and plays along with him – “if you only knew what expenses we skylarks and squirrels have,
Torvald”. She is quite happy to be Torvald’s “little featherbrain”.
However, as the play continues, Nora starts to realise that her marriage has been a performance and that she needs her own freedom.
She becomes more rebellious, starts to use the imperative with Torvald and somewhat …show more content…

Nora shows how girlish she is by using language often used by young children such as “heaps” and repeating “it’s wonderful” again and again. She also shows her childish character and girlish happiness with Torvald by using exclamations frequently, saying “Oh!”, getting excited about the money
Torvald gives her – “money!” – and counting it to see how much she has been given – “ten, twenty, thirty, forty” – just like a child would.
She also uses it to plead with Torvald to do things for her – “please, please do!”- very much like children do to get their parents to do something for them. She sometimes says things “squealing” because of her excitement about the surprise she is going to give to Torvald, like little children do. What she does while she speaks shows as well how childish she is. She says things “clapping her hands” and “nodding and smiling happily” when she is happy and when she doesn’t dare say to Torvald that she wants money she says it “in a rush”, “not looking at him – playing with his waistcoat buttons” as if saying it faster or distracting him would make it easier for him to accept, which is often done by children. Torvald also says things such as “my little songbird mustn’t ever do that again” “wagging a finger at her” as if she were his pet that he had to educate.

Although at the beginning of the play Nora seems very happy with her doll-like existence with Torvald, as the play continues and she becomes more frightened by

Get Access
Related
Get Access