SELF-DETERMINATION

In Henrik Ibsen's play, A Doll’s House, he delves into the obstacles of the social indifference appointed to women in a male-oriented society. During a time where a wife named Nora Helmer was to raise children and keep the house tidy, not understand things such as money or business. So when she secretly forges her father’s signature to borrow a large sum of money from the seemingly villainous man named Nils Krogstad she is no longer a “featherhead” or a “doll”, as her husband Torvald refers to her as. She becomes daring and tenacious and values love over the law. And then with the arrival of her friend Kristine Linde, who implies that Nora will have a harsh future when she finally realizes her marriage is based on deception. Kristine had married for financial security instead of her beloved Nils, yet in the end they are reunited as equals. Unlike the marriage Nora and Torvald have, allowing Nora to learn that she will never be happy unless she leaves her marriage and that she was merely a mold of someone her husband wanted her to be.

Without a doubt, Ibsen’s play reveals self-determination in many of the characters. In the following paragraphs self-determination is revealed in Mrs. Linde and Krogstad. Mrs. Linde had denied her opportunity for true love and self-determination by marrying for financial security, Krogstad wants a fresh start to regain good standing in his community, and both benefit from their self-determination by being reunited together.

At first, Krogstad plays the antagonist by blackmailing Nora in order to keep his job at the bank. Yet Nora’s husband fires him and Krogstad gets pushed further as he threatens Nora, “Inside of a year I’ll be the manager’s right-hand man. It’ll be Nils Krogstad, no...

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... shipwrecked man clinging to a bit of wreckage,” Mrs. Linde: “Two people on the same piece of wreckage would stand a better chance than each on their own”(Literature for Life 1184-1185).

In the end, not only was the play A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen about a seemingly normal housewife who becomes disillusioned and dissatisfied with her condescending husband, but was also about self-determination of the characters Krogstad and Mrs. Linde. Through their determination they were once again able to find happiness and faith in their life and in themselves. Mrs. Linde had a second chance for true love, Krogstad was able to make a fresh start in his life, and they both have each other for their new journey ahead.

Works Cited

Ibsen, Henrik . “A Doll’s House.” Literature for Life. Ed. X. J. Kennedy, Dana Gioia, and

Nina Revoyr. New York: Pearson. 2013. 1146. Print.