In Ibsens play, A Doll's House, Nora and Torvald each have their own moments of awareness or self-realization. Their epiphany results in a disasterous ending that is usually thought to be nontraditional and traumtic to some. Torvald and Nora's relationship throughout the play is strange and is shown as a child-father relationship. Torvald gave Nora demeaning nicknames such as "my little skylark" or "my little squirrel", and although Nora's actions proved that she wasn't a child, as she knew how business worked and had taken out a loan behind Torvald's back, she encouraged his unspoken fantasy by using the names herself. For example, in act two, Nora says "Your squirrel would run about and do all her tricks if you were to be ncie and do what she wants." "I would play the fairy and dance for you in the moonlight, Torvald." This proves that Nora doesn't mind being treated as a pet rather than a human, almost as if it were a small price to pay to be in Torvald's home. …show more content…
When Nora was being blackmailed and threatened, she convinced herself that if Torvald were to find out, he would take the blame himself and handle Krogstad. When Torvald found out, he blamed Nora and punished her, saying she wasn't to be around the children, saying she was the murderer of his happiness, she was a liar and was corrupt. Torvald cared more about his social status and apperance than Nora and her well being, which is what caused Nora to realize that she doesn't know the man that she married at all, and she had to find herself without a male pressing his beliefs onto her. Nora realized that she never understood herself or
Upon the first glance of Torvald and Nora’s relationship, Nora is returning from a day of Christmas shopping. She is acknowledged by her husband’s greetings of belittling pet names that he uses in an inconspicuous thus unnoticed form of verbal oppression and a verbal stake to claim her as his property “But if Helmer considers Nora his property, as he apparently does, Nora encourages him to do so. To him, she calls herself his little squirrel and his lark” (Dukore 121). These actions are not Nora’s fault, it appears Nora does not fight his degrading pet names because she knows no difference and also it benefits her in the ability to manipulate Torvald w...
In A Doll’s House Henrik Ibsen writes the character Nora, to reflect a child, the reason he does this is to comment on gender stereotypes of the time this work was written, to portray women as powerless, dependent, and naive. Her actions and overall position in the play is what places her in a position of the child in this work, however in some ways this is Nora’s coming-of-age story, and Henrik uses Nora to comment on women’s placement and capabilities in their modern society.
Nora Helmer was a delicate character and she relied on Torvald for her identity. This dependence that she had kept her from having her own personality. Yet when it is discovered that Nora only plays the part of the good typical housewife who stays at home to please her husband, it is then understandable that she is living not for herself but to please others. From early childhood Nora has always held the opinions of either her father or Torvald, hoping to please them. This mentality makes her act infantile, showing that she has no ambitions of her own. Because she had been pampered all of her life, first by her father and now by Torvald, Nora would only have to make a cute animal sound to get what she wanted from Torvald, “If your little squirrel were to ask you for something very, very, prettily” (Ibsen 34) she said.
Nora is perceived as a helpless women, who goes out and wastes money that was earned by her husband. To Torvald, Nora is merely a plaything, which could be what the title of the play, "A Doll House", was hinting at. He found her helplessness to be attractive, because he was the one that was in control. For instance, when they received the Bond from Krogstad, Torvolld said, "I wouldn't be a man if this feminine helplessness didn't make you twice as attractive to me" followed by "It's as if she belongs to him in two ways now: in a sense he's given her fresh ...
In A Doll's House, Torvald Helmer's attitude toward his wife Nora can be seen in the ways in which he refers to her. In line 11 of the first act, we come across the first instance of Torvald's bird references to Nora with "Is that my little lark twittering out there?" This reference is the first of many in which Torvald refers to Nora as a lark. Often this referencing is preceded by diminutive terms such as "little" and "sweet, little." Torvald also refers to Nora as a squirrel, a spendthrift, a songbird, and a goose, these terms also preceded with a diminutive. The significance of this nicknaming is to show Torvald's attitude toward Nora. Torvald sees Nora as small, sweet, unobtrusive and therefore easily controlled. This position is one he would like Nora to continue to occupy. In line 257, Torvald refers to Nora as "my richest treasure" denoting his attitude toward her as his possession.
Nora is the doll in the hands of Torvald. “A doll with a human figure is normally found in the hands of children, who makes the doll act according to their wish” (Ganesan and Kumaran). Torvald pets, dresses and provides Nora with money. Nora is not allowed to be herself because Torvald has full control over every aspect of her life. She plays the role of a doll to please her husband and to have a happy marriage. Nora has no identity since she has been playing a role all her life.
She also hides her own strength. She plays the part that she has come accustomed to, being the doll. The first time in the play that Torvald refers to Nora, he calls her a "little lark"(Ibsen 493). Throughout the play, he refers to her as a cute little animal, never with any word that might imply a situation of his peer.
Nora and Torvald's relationship, on the outside appears to be a happy. Nora is treated like a child in this relationship, but as the play progresses she begins to realize how phony her marriage is. Torvald sees Nora's only role as being the subservient and loving wife. He refers to Nora as "my little squirrel" (p.1565), "my little lark" (p.1565), or "spendthrift"(1565). To him, she is only a possession. Torvald calls Nora by pet-names and speaks down to her because he thinks that she is not intelligent and that she can not think on her own.
Nora was raised and socialized by her father. He kept her as a doll and never required or expected much from her. The same treatment continued from her husband Torvald. In a world where nothing is expected from Nora, it is easy to think she is spoiled. But, as many women of that time, she wanted to be seen for the smart and intellectual woman that she was. She basically saved her husband’s life but had to continue to act as Torvald’s fool. Sympathy for Nora is not only possible, it’s practically required.
Torvald is not only demanding mentally and physically, but also financially. He does not trust Nora with money. He feels that she is incapable and too immature to handle a matter of such importance. Torvald sees Nora as a child. She is forever his little "sparrow" or "squirrel". On the rare occasion that Torvald does give Nora some money, he worries that she will waste it on candy, pastry or something else of Childish and useless value. Nora's duties, in general, are restricted to caring for the children, doing housework, and working on her needlepoint. But overall, Nora's most important responsibility is to please Torvald. This makes her role similar to that of a slave.
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
A Doll 's house is one of the modern works that Henrik Ibsen wrote. He was called the father of modern drama .He was famous for writing plays that related to real life. A Doll 's House is a three-act play that discusses the marriage in the 19th century. It is a well-made play that used the first act as an exposition. The extract that will be analyzed in the following paragraphs is a dialogue between Nora and the nurse that takes care of her children. This extract shows how she was afraid not only of Krogstad blackmail, but also of Torvald 's point of view about those who committed any mistake. Torvald says that the mothers who tell lies should not bring up children as they are not honest . Nora is also lying to her family and to Torvald. So she is afraid because she thinks she maybe 'poisoning ' her own children. The analysis of this extract will be about of Nora 's character, the theme, and the language in A Doll 's House.
At the beginning of "A Doll's House", Nora seems completely happy. She responds to Torvald's teasing, relishes in the excitement of his new job, and takes pleasure in the company of her children and friends. Nora never appears to disagree with her doll-like existence, in which she is cuddled, pampered and patronized. As the play progresses, Nora's true character appears and proves that she is more than just a "silly girl" as Torvald calls her. Her understanding of the business details related to the dept she incurred in taking out a loan to help Torvald's health shows her intelligence and her abilities beyond being merely a wife. The secret labor she undertakes to pay off her dept demonstrates her determination and ambition. In addition, her willingness to break the law in order to aid her...
The women had very little influence on what their husbands thought, how they acted, or what they did. Nora followed many of Torvalds’s commands, allowing him to hear little of what she did behind his back. In a scene where Krogstad asked her for a favor to convince Torvald to let him keep his position at the bank, Nora responds with, “What should make you think I have any influence of that kind with my husband?” (24). This proves that Nora would have little effect on her husband. Many of the times she tried to talk to him, he would easily demean her. He would call her his “little skylark” or other names what would make her feel like a child with little power over him. During the 1870’s women had a hard time finding positions in their home and in life without the influence of their husband. It wasn’t until after the 1870’s that women officially started to gain more rights, such as voting, divorce rights, and property claims.
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...