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Nora's character and symbolism in a doll's house
Nora's character and symbolism in a doll's house
Major themes in a doll's house
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In the drama a "Doll's House" by Hendrik Ibsen we learn that Nora and Kristine are childhood friends from elementary school. We learn that these two friends live two completely different lives. There are very contrasting differences between the two, for instance, Kristine and Nora having many differences in their marriage life, financially, and also independence. As Kristine is explaining her situation as to why she has traveled back into town, Nora interrupts her by continuously bragging how much her husband is successful. Kristine and Nora are complete opposites. By the end of the play, we learn that Nora is not so wise and is a very materialistic, gold digging, selfish individual. Nora is happily married to her husband Mr. Helmer with three lovely children and little to no obligations. Linde and Nora grew up under very different financial groundings during their childhood. At …show more content…
Whereas Mrs. Linde strives at being a strong independent woman. Kristine has lived among the troublesome reality of the real world. Mrs. Linde is easily accompanied by respect from men unlike Nora, this is due to Kristine's self-dependence. Mrs. Linde states, "Now listen, Nora, in many ways, you're still like a child. I'm a good deal older than you, with a little more experience" (Act 2, pg. 1676). In conclusion, Mrs. Linde is viewed to be a more superior woman than Nora. One obvious reason is she didn't allow her marriage to domesticate her life like Nora did. Also, Mrs. Linde was not nearly as finically involved with money as Nora ever was and that treated Kristine well in the end because everything she went through to the lack of money made her the strong woman she is unlike Nora. In the end, an independent woman like Mrs. Linde was what Nora strived to
...le that Nora expects and the miracle that actually happens are entirely different. Nora dreams of the day that her husband will sympathize with her and cease to be the dominating figure with the "upper hand" in their relationship. She expects him to understand her struggles with the law and to be willing to take some of the blame himself. However, when he reacts to Krogstad's letter by exhibiting more dominance and control than ever before, Nora becomes more aware of her own individual needs as a woman in society. She understands that in order to be free, she must develop her own view of the world, by setting herself apart from the control and determinism that males have over her life. Therefore, Nora's decision to leave her husband and family is ironic because it proves to be the "miracle" she is waiting for, rather than the one she originally expected. Nora becomes a feminist heroine in the play by showing what women can achieve, but rarely attempt. The determinism that many men force on their women partners in society (in forms of control, dominance, and power) restricts the women's ability to strengthen as individuals, and gain their own self-determinism.
Linde is an example of a woman acting predatory with her jealously and advancing herself as the motive for her actions. When Nora and Mrs. Linde are catching up on each other’s lives, Mrs. Linde tells Nora of the hardship in her life and says, “No one to work for, and yet you’re always having to snap up your opportunities. You have to live; and so you grow selfish” (Ibsen 2192). This emphasizes the nature of predatoriness in this society that is necessary to live within it. Mrs. Linde mentions that she has struggled to find work and garners Nora’s sympathy to then follow up and ask Nora if Torvald could possibly find her a job. Through Mrs. Linde, Ibsen illustrates this type of subtle predatoriness that is commonly used to advance oneself in his society. When Krogstad tells Mrs. Linde about his letter to Torvald, instead of stopping Torvald from getting the letter, and finding out Nora’s secret, she says, “Helmer’s got to learn everything; this dreadful secret has to be aired; those two have come have to come to a full understanding; all these lies and evasions can’t go on” (Ibsen 2222). Mrs. Linde gets exactly what she wants, a life similar to Nora’s with Krogstad, without having to cause any damage, but demonstrates predatory nature through acting with the intention to hurt Nora due to the jealousy she felt for Nora’s life. Ibsen suggests that many women want to get married and live the life of a life of a perfect housewife, but do not succeed in this, like Mrs.
Kristine Linde is a role model for Nora because of her independence. Kristine Linde has suppo...
Whereas one can see Mrs. Linde as mature and world-weary, one can easily read the character Nora as immature and childlike; one of the first examples of this immaturity and childishness can be found in the first few pages. Nora has come in from a day of shopping and in these excerpts we can see her child-like manner while interacting with her husband, Torvald:
Kristine, Nora's childhood friend, is the wisdom and support Nora needs to grow up. Kristine is a woman who has been in the real world, unlike other wives of Torvald's friends. At the same time, Kristine is a friend from Nora's childhood, a person who she can tell her problems to and relate to in some way. Also, unlike everyone else who surrounds Nora, Kristine tells her the truth, she does not pamper her.
Linde both broke the stereotypical societal binds that constrained most women than. For Mrs. Linde, breaking from those traditional ideals yielded a much more positive result; she gained a family to care for. Nora, however, had to leave hers. And for good reason; even though to most during the time period, Torvald’s attitude towards Nora was common between husband and wife, she saw it as just being an object for him to show off and have for his own enjoyment. We see this clearly all throughout the course of the play, as Torvald attempts to use terms of endearment in an affectionate manner when talking to Nora, he fails. “Frightened little singing-bird”, “squirrel”, and “skylark” are just a few pet names he uses that make it seem that Torvald sees Nora as helpless, fragile, and downright idiotic. He shows no respect for his wife whatsoever but has the audacity to become outraged when Nora announces she is leaving. Torvald felt like Nora was obligated to take his disrespect because that’s what every other woman did, but thankfully (and surprisingly) Nora had an epiphany, one very little females had (and even if they did, few acted upon it). For her to do such a thing, was groundbreaking, even if she is just a fictional character; she probably spurred on women who were in similar predicaments to confront their oppression.
Nora then tells Mrs.Linde she wants to tell her some big information regarding the secret forgery but cannot at the moment because Helmer was just getting home. Mrs.Linde reacts to this by, “Mrs.Linde (gathering up some of the things): All right, but I’m not leaving here until we’ve talked this out.(She disappears into the room, left, as Helmer enters from the hall)” (823). This shows that Mrs.Linde is dedicated to helping Nora anyway she
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
A contrasting difference in the characters, are shown not in the characters themselves, but the role that they play in their marriages. These women have different relationships with their husbands. Torvald and Nora have a relationship where there is no equality. To Torvald Nora is an object. Hence, she plays the submissive role in a society where the lady plays the passive role. Her most important obligation is to please Torvald, making her role similar to a slave. He too considers himself superior to her.
Nora 's character is a little bit complicated. she is a representative of women in her time and shows how women were thought to be a content with the luxuries of modern society without worrying about men 's outside world. However, Nora proves that this idea is entirely wrong. Nora is not a spendthrift as all people think specially her husband. on the contrary, she has a business awareness and she is mature
Ibsen's character development of Nora is represented by animal imagery. From the beginning of the play, we notice Ibsen's use of animals to describe Nora. In the opening lines, Torvald says, "Is that my little lark twittering out there?" (Wilke 1139). Webster's defines "lark" as a songbird and to play or frolic (Guralnik 340). The reader automatically gets an image of Nora as a carefree, happy person. In the following paragraphs, I will show how animal names are used to paint a portrait of the character of "Nora the Lark."
Linde brings great happiness to Nora’s life. Nora is able to trust and talk about anything to Mrs. Linde (even secrets such as borrowing money behind your husband’s back). When Nora and Mrs. Linde engage in conversation with each other it is as if Mrs. Linde is the voice of reason for Nora. In one scene, Nora tells Mrs. Linde , “ You’re like everybody else. You all think I’m incapable of doing anything serious…” Again, I feel sorry for her, but at this moment I assumed that maybe Nora is not as naive as I thought. She is able to recognize that people see her as a childish person. In another part of this scene she mentions to Mrs. Linde, ”Torvald has his pride. He’d feel humiliated-hurt even- if he thought he was indebted to me in anyway." Nora is afraid of how humiliated her husband would be if he found out his wife did something that overpowered him. Since Mrs. Linde she believes that it is absurd that Nora would do such thing to her husband. Mrs. Linde recognizes that women do not have the same rights as men, therefore realizing what Nora did for her husband seem to raise a red
In "A Doll's House", Ibsen portrays the bleak picture of a role held by women of all economic classes that is sacrificial. The female characters in the play back-up Nora's assertion that even though men are unable to sacrifice their integrity, "hundreds of thousands of woman have." Mrs. Linde found it necessary to abandon Krogstad, her true but poor love, and marry a richer man in order to support her mother and two brothers. The nanny has to abandon her children to support herself by working for Nora. Though Nora is economically advantaged, in comparison to the other female characters, she leads a hard life because society dictates that Torvald be the marriages dominant member. Torvald condescends Nora and inadvertently forces Nora to hide the loan from him. Nora knows that Torvald could never accept the idea that his wife, or any other woman, could aid in saving his life.
Torvald expects Nora to agree with what he says and thinks, and commit her life to keeping the family happy by being a housewife. But Nora defies the roles that she is expected to have as being a wife, a woman, and a friend. As a wife, Nora spends Torvald’s money on macarons which are forbidden and attempts to earn her own money while going against what her husband tells her, because she wants to be an independent person with her own opinions. The trip to the south and borrowing money was all done by her, and in the end of the play Nora ultimately goes against the expectations set upon her by leaving the house to live on her own to gain knowledge and experience, but leaves behind her husband and children who she is responsible for taking care of. As a woman, she does not have the authority to disagree with her husband or try to influence his actions. Torvald says, “If it ever got around that the new manager had been talked over by his wife…” (Ibsen 42) showing that it would be a laughing matter if a woman had an idea, but Nora still makes many attempts to persuade her husband. As a friend, Nora is expected to know her role which is a listener and supporter for Mrs. Linde and just an acquaintance to Dr. Rank, but the relationship with Dr. Rank goes beyond what is acceptable. When Dr. Rank confesses his feelings for Nora she is very upset because they can no longer flirt with each other now that the feelings are real. Her role is to be a loyal wife to her husband, which she is, but Ibsen uses the flirtatious dialect between the two to show that there are mutual feelings and that confessing them brings the relationship beyond what is allowed. As Nora challenges all of these roles, she is gradually becoming more stressed and eventually breaks down and leaves her husband, which demonstrates the effect of the unrealistic expectations to uphold the roles of
Many women in modern society make life altering decisions on a daily basis. Women today have prestigious and powerful careers unlike in earlier eras. It is more common for women to be full time employees than homemakers. In 1879, when Henrik Ibsen wrote A Doll's House, there was great controversy over the out come of the play. Nora’s walking out on her husband and children was appalling to many audiences centuries ago. Divorce was unspoken, and a very uncommon occurrence. As years go by, society’s opinions on family situations change. No longer do women have a “housewife” reputation to live by and there are all types of family situations. After many years of emotional neglect, and overwhelming control, Nora finds herself leaving her family. Today, it could be said that Nora’s decision is very rational and well overdue.