Humans all have the desires to be themselves, but at the same time, individuals feel compelled to crave for inclusion within a group in every aspects of life. For example, adolescents require the acceptance of their fellow peers based on the way they present themselves to society. In society, the controversial judgement of other people is quite frankly too prevalent and humans have a tendency to compare themselves to such mainstream expectations. Henrik Ibsen’s modern play, “A Doll’s House” provides insights regarding the unfortunate circumstances women take in the 19th century in order to meet societal standards, and explores the protagonist’s internal dilemma. When threatened with a situation that may have severe implications, an individual …show more content…
Linde continues, her emotional tensions rise, and she begins to conflict between discovering her identity and remaining transfixed in her husband’s grasp. Nora tells Mrs. Linde a secret that she has kept from Torvald--that she “saved his life.” She states that the funds she used to fund the trip to “the south” while Torvald was “dreadfully ill” did not actually come from her father. Instead, she painstakingly saved money from the allowance Torvald gave her, and borrowed money from Krogstad using a forged signature of her father, which is an illegal action of forgery. This situation illustrates how Nora sacrifices herself so that Torvald can maintain his pride and dignity. At the same time, Nora lies because of Torvald’s perception of gender roles--his inability to accept the help from his wife’s “whims and fancies.”. Despite the juxtaposition between Nora and Mrs. Linde, they both have a common experience of sacrifice and they both embrace their independent role to help people they love. Mrs. Linde’s influence causes Nora’s conformity to her community to fall, as she discovers her lack of purpose of life. Later on, when Krogstad threatens to reveal the extent of Nora’s crimes of forgery in the case that Nora does not influence Torvald to not dismiss him, she begins to build up guilt and fear due to her wrongdoings. She is proud of making one of the few independent actions in her lifetime, but fears the denunciation of society, and especially Torvald. Eventually, Nora approaches Torvald to appeal Krogstad’s dismissal. When Torvald reveals to Nora the extent of Krogstad’s crime of forgery, he mentions that he “must wear a mask” in front of his family, in fears that the “lies...poison the whole life of a home,” which causes Nora to avoid her children when they demand their mother’s attention. Nora fears that her hereditary inheritance would spread to her children, and that the dishonour and “corruption” would also pass on.
When Krogstad confronts Nora about her forgery, he tells her, “Now listen to me, Mrs. Helmer. If necessary, I’ll fight for my job in the bank as if it were for life itself” (Ibsen 2200). Krogstad understands the noble reason behind Nora’s crime,exploiting Nora’s secret trying to fix his reputation and get a well-paying job. This demonstrates the power that money and reputation have in society and how predatory people in society act to gain money and status. When Krogstad is laying out exactly what he wants in return for keeping Nora’s secret he asks her, “Are you forgetting that I’ll be in control then of your final reputation?” (Ibsen 2216). Krogstad, especially living with a tarnished reputation, knows the value of status within society. He is willing to threaten Nora’s reputation, and therefore the well-being of her entire family, to ensure the restoration of his status and employment , an act which asserts how predatory a member of society will act keep their honorable standing and keep out others that are not so highly
Krogstad is different from Torvald because he is not as well off economically and socially and this leads him to try an extremer form of manipulation. Krogstad is desperate to keep his job at the bank and tries to get Nora to secure the job with her husband through blackmail. Since he was once found to be forging documents, his reputation has been flaky, so in order to regain his reputation for his sons: "For their sake I must win back as much respect as I can in the town" (22), he needs to keep his job at the bank.
Nora is the pampered wife of an aspiring bank manager Torvald Halmer. In a desperate attempt to saves her husband's life Nora once asked for a loan so she and her family could move somewhere where her husband could recover from his sickness. Giving the circumstances she, as a woman of that period, by herself and behind her husband forged her dad signature to receive the loan. Now, Nora's lender (Mr. Krogstad), despite her paying punctually, uses that fault as a fraud to pressure her so she could help him to keep his job in the Bank where her husband is going to be the manager. Nora finds out that Torvald would fire Mr. Krogstad at any cost. At learning this, Nora trembles for she knows Mr. Krogstad will tell everything to Torvald. She remains confident; however that Torvald will stand by her no matter what outcome. His reaction though is not what she expected and therefore here is when she realizes that she "must stand quite alone" and leaves her husband.
Although Krostad’s blackmail does not change Nora’s whimsical nature, it opens her eyes to her underappreciated potential. “I have been performing tricks for you, Torvald,” (Find a different quote perhaps?) she exclaims in her confrontation with Torvald. She realizes that she has been putting on a facade for him throughout their marriage. Acting like someone she is not in order to fill the role that her father, Torvald, and society expected her to have.
His appearance in the story proves to be the catalyst forcing Nora to examine how happy she is hiding secrets from her husband for fear that he would not love her if he finds out. Because both are the lone ones in A Doll’s House who see every case about morality situationally, they starkly see how those who do not conform to society’s conventions are greatly ostracized. Krogstad has even experienced this isolation when he is shunned from his work place despite being fairly competent at his tasks. This unfair treatment lingers in Nora’s mind as she struggles with her own worries. To aid her toward the direction of self-honesty, Krogstad and Christine decide that the truth of Nora’s actions must be revealed since they have just finished their talk about their feelings and pasts. Ultimately, Nora realizes that no matter her efforts, she is fake for constantly trying to be someone she is not without finding who she really is. She sees that Torvald treats her horribly like how he treats Krogstad because both committed a similar crime, and she decides that if Torvald acts the same way to her as to a coworker for the sake of appearances, she is like a stranger to him. The two must separate to reflect in order to live a life without deceit, even if it means breaking this perfect doll-house life Nora has meticulously crafted for the past eight
Nora is presented with many choices, one of them being the option to lie to her husband, Torvald, or not to lie. Most of these tiny, white lies include when Nora tells Torvald that she has not eaten macarons. She goes about her choice to lie in a way that she believes is rational. Nora also has the foresight to weigh her options. If she lies to Torvald, they will have a happy marriage, but if Nora deceives him, everything will crumble beneath her feet. Choosing the former, Nora lives in fear that Torvald will discover her, but is happy living in falsehood. Eventually it becomes normal for Nora to lie, almost like nothing is wrong. Although, deep down inside, Nora is hiding a greater secret from Torvald, underneath all the tiny white lies. This falsehood regards a large sum of money that she borrows to save her husband 's life. Nora has acquired a lump sum from Nils Krogstad, that she knows she does not have the means to pay back in full by his set deadline. Nora’s fear of Torvald finding out weighs heavily in her decision of how to go about breaking even with
Nora is a dynamic character. When the play begins Nora is viewed and presented as a playful and carefree person. She seems to be more intent on shopping for frivolous things. But, as time goes on it becomes apparent that Nora actually has a certain amount of seriousness in her decisions and actions in dealing with the debt she incurred to save Torvald’s life. Nora’s openness in her friendship with Dr. Rank changes after he professes his affections toward her. Her restraint in dealing with him shows that Nora is a mature and intelligent woman. Nora shows courage, not seen previously, by manipulating her way around Krogstad and his threats to reveal her secret. After feeling betrayed by Torvald, Nora reveals that she is leaving him. Having
an example of the individual’s struggle against society” (Mitchell 136). She was punished severely for something that could be considered a petty crime and the crime ultimately led to her and Torvald’s separation and her leaving the house. In addition, “Christine Linde and Nils Krogstad’s subplot ending in marriage happens at the same time as Nora’s break with Torvald.” (Davies 51) The sharp contrast between the two creates conflict within the audience members because Krogstad is being rewarded for blackmail as Nora is being punished for saving her husband’s life.
Nora was wife of Helmer and a mother of 3 children. They lived in a house where their nurse Anne-Marie took care of the children and Helene which was their maid took care of the house work. Nora was a stay at home mother and would occasionally take on little jobs in order to make ends meet. Nora has lived her whole life as a puppet. Her life has always been controlled by someone else; first by her father and then by her husband Helmer. “Her whole life is a construct of societal norms and the expectations of others” (Wiseman). “Nora’s father would force his beliefs on her and she would comply with them lest she upset him; she would bury her personal belief under Papa’s. According to Nora, Torvald was guilty of the same things” (Wiseman). Nora has always lived her life according to the beliefs of someone else. She didn 't know how to live life any other way because this is how she was raised. She felts trapped in the life she lived because she knew no other way of living besides her current lifestyle. Due to Nora being controlled her whole life she seemed childish and lacked knowledge of the world outside her house. At the end of the story Helmer decides to show his true colors once his future was threatened. This made Nora realize that she does not love her husband nor does he love her, and decides that is not the life she wants to live. “Helmer: You talk like a child. You don 't know anything of the world you live
Torvald is the only one in the family who works and provides for his family who needs to survive in their lifestyle. Because of this, Nora must always go and ask for money from Torvald, hoping for his acceptance of her using his income. Nora also had no possessions to her name because when a woman got married, all her possessions were considered under the control of her new husband.... ... middle of paper ...
Torvald is extremely cautious about how he is perceived by other people. He would do anything to keep his honourable image, even if it involves him doing something dishonourable. Another way the relationship between Nora and Torvald will end is from Nora’s desire for her own identity. Even though it might seem that without Krogstad’s extortion plan, Nora would have never developed her need for an identity, but she has shown signs of a new identity well before Krogstad tried to extort Nora from his job.
Krogstad creates an elaborate plan to blackmail Nora and tell her husband about her forgery if she does not persuade Torvald to keep him employed. This would lead to many legal consequences for Nora and would disrupt the family and Torvald 's business as he would take full blame for her illegal actions. Nora 's secret begins to eat at her as she contemplates what she is going to do to solve the problem. To the audience, Nora 's impression has been completely altered. The secret that Nora possesses, reveals to the audience that her character is much more than just a trophy-wife and an object. In the meantime, Nora begins to look for different ways in order to pay back all of her debts. Nora explains that she, "was lucky enough to get a lot of copying to do... [like] working and earning money" (Ibsen Act 2). Nora begins to deter from that of a traditional wife, and takes on the role of the man and begins working to pay back all of the debt. The audience begins to recognize that Nora is evolving into a determined and brave wife who is willing to protect her secret to support her
After asking his wife if she understands what she has done Nora answers “[Looking squarely at him, her face hardening] Yes. I am beginning to understand everything” (835). This statement might be the key phrase of Nora’s realization. The double- meaning implies Nora’s understanding of the actual situation as well as her awareness that her marriage, even though it conforms with social expectations, is far from perfect. She now doubts the depth of her love for Torvald and becomes calm with comprehension as she begins to recognize the truth about her marriage. While she expects compassion for her sacrifice, she is none given. Instead of sacrificing anything to help Nora out of her predicament, Torvald is only worried about himself and appearances. It becomes very clear, after the second letter from Krogstad arrives, that her well-being always comes second “I’m saved. Nora, I’m saved! You too, of course” (836). Throughout the conversation with Torvald, Nora finally realizes, she needs to rearrange her life and priorities to be happy. This implies independence and self-awareness. While Nora finally understands the situation, she is in and what she needs to do but Torvald defines her new attitudes as madness “You’re ill, Nora; you’re feverish; I almost think you’re out of your mind” (840). “However, the characterization has been tied to the fact that she is breaking taboos or challenging conventions” (Langås 160). Torvald is still stuck in his fantasy world of how a wife should talk and act per his standard and the society he stands for. “Nora still has no way of knowing that she is not endangering her children with her presence and in the end, she feels impelled to leave, and her decision is less an act of defiance against her husband and society than an attempt to save the lives of her children” (Brooks
We see a woman who is making a bold action against gender inequality and the position society and culture has given her. As for Nora, we see in this first conversation that she seems entirely dependent on Torvald for her money, her food, and her shelter, despite the fact that she is keeping a secret. This secret is the kernel of her individuality and her escape from the doll’s house. While it is easy to paint Helmer as a tyrant and Nora as the naïve wife who suffers under his control, one must not forget that torvald is not aware of any damage he is causing. His greatest sin is perhaps his ignorance. The shock he shows at Nora’s revelation shows that he has no awareness that there is anything wrong with the status balance in his
As the play goes on, Nora seems to transform from her delicate little character into something much more. At the end of act one, Krogstad goes to Nora for the recollection of the money she had borrowed from him. "You don?t mean that you will tell my husband that I owe you money?" (21). Since Nora was wrong in doing so socially, she could not tell Torvald or anyone else about her problem. Not only would that affect their social standard but also Torvald's ego, which inevitably would happen anyway. After Krogstad threatens to expose Nora for forging her father's signature, she realizes that no matter what she does Torvald was going to know the truth. The flaw with...