Essay about The Heroic Nora Helmer in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House

Heroes come in different shapes, sizes, and looks. Maybe someone you saw on the street one day was heroic for saving someone’s life in a car accident. A hero to me is someone who can be brave in situations that aren’t so safe, and take a risk to make sure everyone is okay, no matter who

“A hero to me is someone who saves people and who really deeply cares.” A quote from actor Debi Manzar. A hero is not just someone who receives praise. A hero is someone who truly helps another, even in a simplistic way. A leading cause for someone to be a hero can stay under the radar.

According to the dictionary, a hero is “a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.” I believe, however, that a hero is someone who exceeds expectations and does not stick to the status quo. Heroes will always try to do the right thing. They will put other people’s life above their own if they are given the chance to. This may include running into a fire to save someone, or helping a friend out if it is the right thing to do.

A hero is someone who puts others before themselves and never gives up. They can be an ordinary person, but it is their actions that make them true heroes. Heroes are people that make the largest impact in a person’s life and has influenced their life to be better. Heroism can be sticking up for others or putting others before yourself.

“A hero is a person who, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, displays courage or self-sacrifice for some greater good.” As one reflects on the basic definition of heroes and the idea of heroism, this basic thought may be used. However, one could consider that there is no one universal definition for what a certain person may believe to be heroic. Looking at different people or characters and their lives, there are various defining aspects that make him or her a hero. Specifically examining the heroes throughout The Hobbit, Of Mice and Men, and I Am Malala; one can see how the characters have different characteristics that may make him or her a hero. To really characterize a hero, some traits that are necessary would be bravery and selflessness. A hero is someone who willingly fights for a cause or the greater good that may not directly affect them yet works to a better situation.

Ibsen’s character Nora in A Doll’s House, shows gradual development throughout the play to support his theme that above all else, you are human; even in marriage both parties should be given the equal opportunities, rights and respect. While Nora may at first seem happy with her life inside her “doll house”, she begins to recognize that she must find herself, and stop being a toy in the lives of men.

In the play, when Nora speaks to her children as if they were dolls, it represents the child side of Nora. Nora is being treated as Torvald’s doll; therefore she treats the children in a similar way. During the movie, without Nora talking to her children this way, it takes away from the child side of her. For example, when Nora is talking to her children she says, “My sweet little dolly! What? Shall we play a game? What shall we play at? Hide-and-seek? Yes, let’s play hide-and-seek.” (Ibsen 1078). When Nora speaks to her children this way it sounds like she is really talking to dolls instead of her own children. During the movie, the audience loses this side of Nora and a certain connection with her as

A hero is defined as a person, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. What is your perception of a hero? Is it a “hero” from the movies, like spiderman or batman? The idea of heroism is widespread and many opinions arise from the concept. A hero is someone who goes out of their way for another’s well being. Calvin Coolidge, a writer, once said, “Heroism is not only in the man, but in the occasion.” (Brainy quote). For one to actually be a hero, one must take the opportunity at any occasion. Heroism occurs often in the real world, many examples are established in novels, and there are many different opinions among the theory of heroism, but in reality the only real meaning is one who helps

During this period, women were subjected in their gender roles and were restricted over what the patriarchal system enforced on them. Everyone was brought up believing that women had neither self-control nor self-government but that they must capitulate to the control of dominate gender. The ideology that “God created men and women different - … [and they should] remain each in their own position.” (eHow, Ibsen's Influences on Women's Rights) is present in A Doll’s House with Nora’s character, as she is seen as the ideal women during the Victorian Era, who is first dutiful as wife and mother before to her own self. Whenever Torvald gives Nora money, she spends it on her children so that they are not “shabbily dressed” (Act 1). Though she loves her children it is all the more shocking when she leaves them.

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.

    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.

Girls need a women figure to talk to about female things. Not only that but if Nora left and then later on down the road decided to enter back into the children's lives, they might have resentment towards her.

Her first instinct is to feel pity for Mrs. Linde’s lack of children or husband, classifying her “utterly alone” state as “terribly sad” and inferior to the life she has with Torvald (Ibsen 8). This all changes, however, once Nora agrees to help Mrs. Linde. By binding herself to a woman instead of a man for the first time, she reaches a further state of awareness. When Mrs. Linde mentions Nora’s “lack of trouble and hardship” and calls her a child, Nora becomes defensive, alluding to her displeasure with her position in society (Ibsen 12). “You’re just like the rest of them,” she claims, “you all think I’m useless when it comes to anything really serious...” (Ibsen 12). The “them” and “you all” in Nora’s pivotal statement refers to the men who have bound Nora to the state of a useless doll in a dollhouse: dependent, incapable, and unenlightened—merely nice to play with and pretty to look at.

The play, A Doll’s house, illustrates the restrictive role of women in the society. Nora proclaims, “To be able to be free from care, quite free from care; to be able to play and romp with the children; to be able to keep the house beautifully and have everything just as Torvald likes it!” This is the evidence in her attempt to meet the society’s and her husband’s expectation. Nora expects to be an upstanding and honest mother for her children due to the parental obligation. Nora has been content in being a caring and responsible mother in her marriage; and she has shown her great love for her children by playing with them. Instead of being busy with social activities with other women, she spends most of her time with her children. As a result, her

    A Doll's House, by Henrik Ibsen, was written during a time when the role of woman was that of comforter, helper, and supporter of man. The play generated great controversy due to the fact that it featured a female protagonist seeking individuality.   A Doll's House was one of the first plays to introduce woman as having her own purposes and goals. The heroine, Nora Helmer, progresses during the course of the play eventually to realize that she must discontinue the role of a doll and seek out her individuality. David Thomas describes the initial image of Nora as "that of a doll wife who revels in the thought of luxuries that can now be afforded, who is become with flirtation, and engages