How Does Nora Change Throughout The Play

In the play A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen seems to show very little of who Nora really is in the beginning. At first Nora seems to be selfish and silly, but then we come to find that she is hiding something and is that way because she has made sacrifices to save her husband's life and pay back a secret loan. By the end of the play, Nora is a changed woman and shows her true strength and becomes an independent woman. Torvald, Nora’s husband for all his mistakes, appears to be an affectionate, dedicated and bighearted husband. But we later come to see that he is a shallow man that cares solely about his reputation. The Helmer marriage appears loving, but turns out to be based on lies, play-acting and an unfit relationship.

At the start

It seems as though Christine thinks that Nora is so lucky not to have to deal with any mature adult troubles and that doesn’t set to well with Nora. She says to Christine “you ought not to be so superior” (I,22), taking what Christine said to her as an insult. Nora has been treated like a lesser human being and treated as a if she were a child for so long that she finally feels like she has something worth confessing. This is shown when she says “I have something to be proud and glad of” (I,24) referring to this secret she’s been keeping for so long. At the start of Torvald and Nora’s marriage he had to leave his job due to the fact that his body was overworked and if he didn’t leave he could die. The doctor suggested that instead of medicine that he go on a trip to a warmer climate, which would be a very expensive trip that the Helmer’s couldn’t afford. Nora was faced with a tough decision of her husband dying, her and her husband’s reputation, and legal consequences for borrowing money to have for Torvald to go on this trip. In this day which was 1879 a woman could not get a loan on her own, she had to have a male co-signer. The only male that Nora could think of was her father who was dying and she didn’t want to ask him to sign for her so she forged his signature. This

He then sends a letter to Torvald explaining what crime that his wife had committed and delivered to their mailbox. When Torvald sees the letter he is infuriated by what Nora did and humiliated that it could tarnish his reputation. Later a letter comes that shows that Nora’s debt has been paid and that she would be cleared of her crime. After reading it, Torvald then began to see why his wife did it and he was relieved that the debt was paid. After that Torvald expresses to Nora “you don’t understand how to act on your own responsibility? No, no; only lean on me; I will advise you and direct you. I should not be a man if this womanly helplessness did not just give you a double attractiveness in my eyes” (III). This set Nora off and finally had had enough of her husband treating her as if she were a child. She then decides that she is going to leave her family and she is going to find herself and become a strong independent