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Symbolism in the doll's house
Discuss the theme of money in a doll's house
Symbolism in the doll's house
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Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House”, a tragic play set in the late 1800’s, is one women’s realization of her life as merely that of a doll living out her life as an object in a world dominated by the males around her. Ibsen points the reader in the right direction to the deeper meaning of the play in the title. The title “A Doll’s House”, a metaphor, causes the reader or watcher of the play to think what deeper meaning lies ahead. The play takes place in the living room of Torvald and Nora Helmer’s apartment on Christmas Eve. Nora, the protagonist, returns home from shopping for Christmas presents and is playfully greeted by her husband Torvald. It is quickly revealed that things aren’t exactly what they appear and all may not be just right at the Helmer’s residence as evidenced by the following lines: HELMER: [calls out from room] Is that my little lark twittering out there? NORA: [busy opening some of the parcels] Yes, it is! HELMER: Is my squirrel bustling about? NORA: Yes! HELMER: When did my squirrel come home? NORA: Just now. [puts the bag of macaroons into her pocket and wipes her mouth] Come in here, Torvald, and see what I have bought. (Act 1) This dialogue is more reminiscent of a father and young child than of a husband and wife. The realistic theme of women’s treatment by the men in their lives during this era is shown by the interaction of the couple. The dominating nature of Nora’s husband, which is shown by the example text above, in which Nora has to hide her macaroons from her husband, and the almost childlike manner in which Torvald treats Nora, continues throughout the play. The antagonist, Nils Krogstad, a lawyer and bank clerk at the bank where Torvald is employed and has just been promoted, adds te... ... middle of paper ... ...on to stand on her own two feet for the first time in her life was evidenced when she replied to Torvald’s offer of assistance, “Nothing – nothing” (Act 3). It is a bit ironic the similarity, although with the gender roles reversed, of Rhett’s Butler’s own realization epitomized in the famous ending of the 1939 classic film “Gone with the Wind”, in which Rhett exclaims, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn”. Both Rhett and Nora slammed the door on a painful part of their lives with anticipation of happier times ahead. Works Cited Gone with the Wind. Dir. Victor Fleming. Perf. Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Thomas Mitchell; screenplay by Sidney Howard. Warner Brothers, 1939. Ibsen, Henrik. “A Doll’s House.” Literature and the writing process. Ed. McMahan, Elizabeth, Susan Day, and Robert Funk. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2007. (1038 -1089).
In “A Dollhouse,” Nora is stuck in a marriage with a rich man who has no respect for her. Nora’s husband Torvald, does not think his
Through their everyday conversation, Nora and Torvald reveal that they have a relationship full of meaningless talk and games. “Is that my little squirrel bustling about?” (2), Torvald questions Nora. “Yes!” (2) She answers, running up to Torvald like a puppy. Because of her whimsical attitude, Torvald had assumed that Nora was always happy and carefree, so what reason would there be for meaningful conversation? Their relationship consisted of nothing truly real. Everything was fun and games and for show. Torvald scolded Nora like he would a child, “Hasn’t Mrs. Sweet Tooth been breaking rules today in town…” (4). Then, Nora would respond as a young child would facing punishment, “I should not think of going against your wishes” (4). This type of communications cannot be healthy in any relationship, and greatly hindered the relationship between the two.
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.
The Christmas tree in itself is symbolic and it means the play takes place during Christmastime. Ibsen uses Christmas tree to mainly construct the character of Nora. The Christmas tree symbolizes the feelings of Nora. At the start of the play, Nora enters the room carelessly and her mood is festive. The Christmas tree, a festive object used for decorative purposes, represents the function of Nora in her household who is pleasing to look and who adds the charm to their home. Nora dresses the tree just as Torvald dresses her up for the Stenborgs’ party. Like other married women during the period, Nora is simply decorative and is not allowed to make familial decisions. Nora instructs the housemaid, “Hide the Christmas tree carefully, Helen. Be sure the children do not see it till this evening, when it is dressed” (Ibsen 793), the same as when she tells Torvald that no one can see her in her dress until the evening of the dance. The Christmas tree also imitates the psychological state of Nora when it is described to be “…stripped of its ornaments and with burnt-down candle-ends on its disheveled branches” (Ibsen 812). This describes Nora when she receives the bad news from Krogstad; as a result her min...
The beginning of the play portrays the Christmas tree as being well put together and beautiful, the same way as the protagonist, Nora. Her relationship with her husband Torvald can be considered to be picture-perfect, a fact that can be contributed mostly to her subservience. As long as Nora knows her place in the home and remains compliant, their relationship seems wonderful. Nora’s blind obedience at the opening of the play is evident as she adorns the tree with beautiful flowers and candles, promising to “do everything [she] can think of to please,” even offering to sing and dance for his pleasure (Act 1). This exemplifies the way Nora still works to maintain the appearances of both her family and her tree, dressing the tree so that it is “splendid” and also promising to do Torvald’s bidding to ensure his contentment. It also establishes a correlation between the ...
In drama, playwrights have used the setting of a house to bring forth conflicts surrounding women’s freedom. The set of A Doll’s House has a fourth wall removed, mimicking the architecture of a dollhouse. Whenever Nora leaves her home, she exits the stage. She goes out of the box set and into a world not depicted in the play. Shanahan says that, “Thus Ibsen not only sheds light on the repression of women in his culture, but also the repression of the female subject in the theatre and within the style of realism in which he is writing” (Shanahan). Through the indication of stage directions, Helmer is supposed to talk to Nora through an open door while she is offstage, changing her clothes. Ibsen illustrates the distancing between the two characters during a moment of importance when Nora is switching her
Torvald Helmer starts off the story with a new job as a bank manager. He has a wife Nora who does not have a job in the workforce since that was the man's role. Torvald even calls Nora pet names like "my sweet little lark" and "my squirrel”. These nicknames may seem to be harmless and cute, but in reality the names actually show how little he thinks of her and how he’s the one harnessing the power in the relationship. When Torvald says "my little squirrel" he is suggesting that he in fact owns Nora and that she is second-rate to him, since she is seen as little and as a squirrel which are usually frightened, non-threatening creatures. Torvald sees women as both child-like, helpless creatures detached from reality and who are responsible for taking care of the chores and children while staying inside the house.
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
Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” a nineteenth century play successfully uses symbolism to express many characteristics of Helmer’s life, together with the way that the main character Nora feels towards her marriage at the end of the play. Ibsen’s use of symbolism to convey about the social setting, including the harsh male-controlled Danish society, seen mostly in Torvald in the play and the role of women, signified mostly in Nora. These symbols act as foretelling before the tragic events at the end of the play, as they show the problems which lead to the demise of the Helmer’s ‘perfect’ family life.
...nding, "thousands of women have" (875). This statement allows for Nora to realize her many accomplishments and her worthiness of a larger award than what she has ever been given. Torvald stops referring to her using bird metaphors, he now sees her strengths that far exceed his own. Instead of her relying on him, he is dependent upon her to keep his beloved public image. Nora no longer relies on his claims of "wide wings to shelter you with," (871) she breaks free and uses her own recently discovered wings to escape Torvald’s sheltering. One throughout the play is almost hoping for the “greatest miracle,” but can see Nora’s struggle to break free of her caged prison. Nora has set herself free to fly just as birds were created to do, and the sound of a door slamming shut emphasizes her gained strength.
Nora’s life begins to fall apart with the arrival of Krogstad as Nora becomes fearful of him. The life Nora had now begins to slowly change as more people are added to the mix of visitors during the Christmas holid...
Nora engages in a mutually dependent game with Torvald in that she gains power in the relationship by being perceived as weak, yet paradoxically she has no real power or independence because she is a slave to the social construction of her gender. Her epiphany at the end at the play realises her and her marriage as a product of society, Nora comes to understand that she has been living with a constr...
Nora loves her husband very much, even to the point of idolizing him. As she first enters the home with the Christmas packag...
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House. In Four Major Plays. Trans. James McFarlane and Jens Arup. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981.
Nora has to secretly eat the macaroons while ensuring that her husband does not see the action, as Torvald forbids them and desires her to please him at all cost. Therefore, Nora possesses no liberty of action and symbolizes the lack of freedom within the lives of women.... ... middle of paper ... ...