Role Of Nora In A Doll's House

Nora starts off the play essentially as Torvalds toy. She is obedient, she is cute, she rarely goes against his wishes, and she is nothing without her “owner”, Torvald. The reader, however, discovers early on that all is not what it seems to be. Nora is actually a very rebellious woman who enjoys going against Torvald’s wishes. There are scenarios where she does this out of the sheer enjoyment she gets. Nora loves macaroons.

Torvald's reaction to the letter opens Nora eyes to the truth about her relationship with Torvald . Nora starts thinking of ways to change her priorities and of course an action to take. Nora shifts her thinking from suicide to deciding to leave Torvald and her kids. Nora becomes more independent on herself rather than having to rely on Torvald. Nora now realizes that she can escape from Torvald's realm of a "perfect family" and have no regrets.

When we first meet Nora in A Doll’s House, she is a perfect wife, mother, and representation of a 19th century woman. She even seems to enjoy her role as a homemaker as shown when she says, regarding the children, “I will take

Nora has always been contented with her being Torvald’s “little featherbrain.” As the play progresses, Nora eventually figures out that Torvald doesn’t genuinely love her. She expects Torvald to be her protector and stand up against people that criticise her criminal acts. Nora also assumes that Torvald would have offered to take the blame for the crime. He failed the test of love and devotion by mocking her instead of providing help. Therefore, she becomes more rebellious by using imperative speech with Torvald instead of her innocent and childlike language. As the play reaches its end, Nora becomes totally independent from Torvald and talks to him from an equal standpoint, rather than communicating as niece and grandpa or daughter and daddy. Additionally, she no longer views him as the leading person in her life because she now apprehends that she hasn’t been herself throughout their marriage. As she defends her position on her actions she states, “When I look back on it now… I lived by performing tricks for you, Torvald” (Ibsen, 1230). It is clear to her now that she has been nothing more than a means of entertainment to her husband as he would have her dance for him and perform other silly acts.

The play also does suggest that women should leave their controlling husbands or lovers in order to gain the independence they are seeking. Nora’s husband Torvald plays the dominant role in their relationship. Torvald often would degrade Nora by calling her “silly girl” referring to her not being able to make decisions on her own, so he thought. Nora plays the role of a loving mother and respectful wife, whom is all about her family. “I have been performing tricks for you, Torvald. That’s how I’ve survived.

When we think about dolls, we think about being very playful and childish. Nora Helmer is just that, a playful, childish person. She is in her own little dream world. Since Nora does not get out much and does not have a job, she is very clueless about the outside world. She is married and she has three children. Nora is married to Torvald Helmer. At the start of the play, Christmas is just around the corner, and Torvald is promoted at the bank. Nora is excited when she finds out about Torvald’s promotion Nora is a very dependent character in the beginning of the play. Nora is seen as a pushover by everyone. Her husband uses her and expects her to do exactly what he says, but that does not always happen. In the play Nora changes a lot throughout.

She points out to Torvald that their marriage was a clear failure when she questions Torvald, “How could you ever teach me to be a proper wife? Your wife?” (Ibsen 82). To this question Torvald is unable to provide a reasonable answer hence proving Nora’s point about the failure of their marriage. Further, the sudden change in Nora’s behavior during the second half of the play is significant as it symbolizes her clear intent to depart from the house in search of her inner-self.

In the beginning of the book one could tell that Nora has a frivolous personality and likes to have fun and that Torvald takes everything very seriously and doesn't want to do anything that would be a “waste” of his time. Since the two have bipolar personalities, it is quite obvious that they do not have a typical nor traditional marriage. Because of Nora’s youthful personality it makes it harder on Torvald to treat her as an equal. “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 ‘Torvald’” (Ibsen 14). In that line spoken by Torvald it is taken notice how he feels about Nora and that he only trusts her with the little and simple tasks.

An important occasion in which Nora questions her personality, and comes to the realization that there needs to be a change in her life is when Krogstad confronts her knowledge of a dirty business she had done in the past with Mr. Krogstad. She forged her father’s signature, in order to obtain access to money he had in the bank. She is worried about what Mr. Krogstad would do to affect her family, as he was warning her that if he

Nora is frustrated in seeing Krogstad’s letter, which will reveal all her secrets but is not able to retrieve the letter, because her husband always has the key to the mail box. Nora carries a burden all throughout her marriage. All she hopes for is a miracle. She believes that when the secret is out, Torvald will take the blame and protect her, but unfortunately when the secret is revealed to Torvald, her world finally falls down, and Torvald disclaims and attacks her, even though she had done it for him. The futility of her marriage finally dawns on her. She says she was never happy, only lighthearted and that she was a doll wife to him. She blames Torvald for her ruined marriage. Nora is faced with the reality that she’s always been treated like a child. In their conversation, it is realized that since they married, there hasn’t been a serious conversation between them. Nora sees that her husband is not worth her love anymore and that she has wasted all eight years of their marriage. She now wants to educate herself. Therefore, not even the thoughts of her children could save their marriage, so she leaves

In this time period she was a fairly amicable person; she loved and played with her children, went to parties, and did her day to day activities with general happiness. However, near the end of the play, Nora realizes that she is living a lie and that she does not know what she actually wants from life and that her current life has no meaning for her! At this point, one can practically feel the change in personality. She becomes cold and collected, losing all her previous childlike tendencies and walks out on her husband and children without a second

Through out, A Doll House, Nora is required to meet the expectations set forth for her by the patriarchal society she has been born into and until the end she is indulgent when it comes to playing the role of perfect housewife. Nora is the ideal depiction of time era appropriate femininity with her well maintained appearance. She is subservient to the majority of her husband’s wishes by doing as she is told and hiding what she must. She represses her internal conflict and passionate desires for the sake of her husband’s happiness because it is what society expects from her even if it leaves her feeling unfulfilled (Ibsen 1488 - 1535).

Nora is the character in A Doll House who plays the 19th woman and is portrayed as a victim. All of the aspects of this quote can be applied to the play A Doll House, in Nora’s character, who throughout much of the play is oppressed, presents an inauthentic identity to the audience and throughout the play attempts to discovery her authentic identity.

    In every society power is the bringer of fortune and influence. In his play A Doll's House, Henrik Ibsen portrays, through the character of Nora, the power women are gaining in patriarchal societies. Nora, who symbolizes all women, exercises her power throughout the entire play. She cleverly manipulates the men around her while, to them, she seems to be staying in her subordinate role. In all three acts of the play Nora controls many situations and yields the most power.

Here, Nora pulls together the tragic circumstances. She sees that she was never truly happy in the house, just content. Her father kept her as a child would a doll, and Torvald continued this when they were married. They formed her opinions for her, set expectations to which she was supposed to adhere, and wrote a vague script of how she was supposed to act. She was like a puppet, with no thoughts or actions of her own. When she finally realizes the injustice being done to her, she decides to free herself.