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Essays on the play A doll by Henrik Ibsen
Essays on the play A doll by Henrik Ibsen
Essay from Henrik Ibsen, "the doll's house
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Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House contained controversy and scrutiny since its first performance in 1879 as audience’s perspectives and cultural views became challenged when Ibsen criticized their relationships and societal standings. Ibsen constructs the plot and characters of his play as a method to voice his opinions toward his audience. In effect, he employs the stock character of Torvald to fall align with societal values and culture and in effect represent his audience. Furthermore, this thus leads Ibsen to grant Torvald his two major characteristics: his obsession of beauty and appearances as he attempts to mainly critique that. Ibsen then constructs his criticisms of Torvald and consequently society through the interactions between Torvald …show more content…
and his traits with the plot of the play. This leads Ibsen accentuating scenes of Torvald’s admiration of beauty and appearances through the utilization literary devices to bring attention to his critiques relationships and societal standings. The first major characteristic of Ibsen’s audience he attempts to highlight consist of their obsession with beauty. Ibsen does this by granting Torvald the same characteristic. For instance, Ibsen reveals Torvald’s obsession toward beauty in act 1 when he states, “There can be no freedom or beauty about a home life that depends on borrowing and debt.” (Ibsen 5). The excerpt explicitly conveys one of Torvald/society’s view or perception of beauty. Furthermore, this scene exemplifies Torvald’s willingness to neither borrow nor have debt for his household even when they need the money for financial stability. The scenario stated highlights the extent of Torvald’s desire for beauty as he would indulge to any extent to follow his desire for beauty (based on his values of it) even if it would negatively affect his family. Furthermore, this obsession of beauty conforms with a large majority of society’s views about beauty at that time as atypical families would do whatever it took to “feel” beautiful. Another major aspect of Ibsen’s audience during that time consisted of their necessity for good societal images among each other. Similarly, to society’s desire for beauty, Ibsen again grants Torvald the audience’s same characteristic of continuous preoccupation with good appearances. For example, in act 2’s scene between Torvald and Nora over the job of Krogstad, Ibsen brings this to light when Torvald exclaims “To let people think that I am a man to be swayed by all sorts of outside influence?” (Ibsen 34). Torvald in the excerpt justifies not listening to his wife to keep a good image among his peers even if it troubles her. Moreover, Torvald acting on behalf of his desire for good appearances again align with the societal values for a good image or reputation among their peers. Overall, Ibsen created these specific latter characteristics for Torvald to represent specific values of the public and culture at the time. Consequently, this allows Ibsen to exercise the plot and components of his play to scrutinize Torvalds and in turn criticize society’s values of allure and appearances. In order to convey his criticisms, Ibsen moves from merely connecting Torvald to his audience to actually critiquing both groups/ people through his literary elements.
The first major characteristic of society and Torvald that he attempts to castigate consist of the continuous preoccupation with beauty. For example, in act 3’s scene after the Tarantella dance, Ibsen questions “Why shouldn’t I look at my dearest treasure? —at all the beauty that is mine, all my very own?” (Ibsen 55). In this metaphor, Ibsen directly compares Torvald’s marriage with Nora to Torvald possessing some sort of wonderous treasure. This reveals to readers that in the eyes of Torvald he only sees Nora as some inanimate object with major importance on its beauty whereas, the character of Nora contains more traits and aspects passed her elegance. The audience can connect with this characteristic of Torvald as he conforms to the general cultural values of the time that women in marriage persisted as just “trophies” with most importance given to their physical appearance. Consequently, there persisted no pure relationship among a husband and wife. This leads to Ibsen expressing his opinion about this characteristic of society when he states, “This is what our marriage has been, Torvald.” (Ibsen 63). as he uses the character of Nora’s departure to expose Torvald for merely playing with her as if she was a “doll” and not containing a true relationship with her thus highlighting to readers relationships are …show more content…
superficial. Moreover, another attempt by Ibsen to criticize Torvald’s desire beauty can be found in act 3’s excerpt of “My blood was on fire” (Ibsen 55) in the scene after Nora’s sensuous performance in the Tarantella dance. In this hyperbole Ibsen exaggerates the emotion/ feeling of Torvald as he watched his wife perform to bring attention to the degree of Torvald’s sexual desires. These sexual desires aroused by Nora’s beauty would eventually cause Torvald to overlook the dispute in their relationship at that time and merely just want to commit the act of intercourse with her. The major emphasis on beauty over continuing a pure relationship among husband and wife can be connected to by play watchers since it again falls align with cultural values at that time as most audience members cared more about how the beauty of people in their lives made them feel over the person themselves. Ibsen again voices his opinion on the subject when he states, “you are not the man to educate me into being a proper wife for you” (Ibsen 63) as he uses Nora’s reasons for leaving Torvald for not knowing what a proper relationship among husband and wife consist of, due to his only desire for beauty and not a true emotional connection to be critical of societal values of that time. Moreover, the overall use of Torvald’s obsession of beauty serves as portal for Ibsen to criticize societal values for the nature of relationships The other significant characteristic Ibsen attempts to be critical of consist of Torvald’s obsession of societal appearances of himself and others.
Clearly, Ibsen criticizes this in the act 2’s scene in which Nora attempts persuade Torvald to forgive the infamous Krogstad for the peace of the family when he states, “Isn’t it an insult to think that I should be afraid of a starving quill-driver’s vengeance?” (Ibsen 35). This metonymy associates “a starving quill-driver” to Krogstad as it reveals Torvald’s opinion toward Krogstad as just a poor writer. His emphasis on view of Krogstad in a negative light causes him to overlook the potential damage to his family socially and financially that he encompasses. Furthermore, this device allows the audience to connect with Torvald as both don’t look past the societal appearances of others. However, Ibsen uses the power Krogstad possesses over Torvald to elucidate his opinion that merely following societal images of individuals serves as an ineffective way of truly understanding someone. Torvald’s obsession of societal appearances again becomes criticized in the act 3’s scene in which Nora separates from Torvald when Ibsen states “An abyss has opened between us—There is no denying it. But, Nora, would it not be possible to fill it up?” (Ibsen 66). In this metaphor Ibsen compares the deteriorative and terrible condition of Torvald and Nora’s relationship to an abyss to bring an effect that the relationship became very dark with no
life. This affects the characters as it causes Nora to leave the marriage and further affects Torvald as he becomes clingy and desperate to keep Nora in order to uphold his and his family’s societal appearance. The desperation of Torvald’s to go to any extent such as live in a terrible relationship to keep a good view in society again falls align with the culture of the audience at that time as most individuals would go to any extent to present themselves well among each other. Ibsen voices his criticism of the obsession for good appearances among others by revealing the desperate extents in which go through to uphold a good image result in nothing such as in the play when Nora still left Torvald despite his attempts to convince her to stay in act 3. In Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Torvald’s obsession toward allure and societal images represent the major aspects of audience and society at that time. Through Ibsen’s use of various literary elements, the play conveys his criticism toward society and its two major characteristics. Furthermore, critiques convey the Ibsen’s problems with relationships and societal standings that derive itself society’s different aspects. Although to audiences of Ibsen’s time Torvald seemed to be following the norm, Ibsen saw problems with norm according to his own values and rebelliously expressed this in his play with hope to foster the disappearance of issues of the norms he witnessed in society.
Readers learn that the relationship between Torvald and Nora to be more of a father-daughter one as opposed to them being husband and wife. Their marriage is deemed unhealthy for that reason; Torvald treats Nora as his daughter, not his wife. In the time period of this work, the idea that a woman is nothing more than a child in an adult’s body was typical and traditional. They were expected to be “without mind, but with much heart, devoid of logic, but sensitive and intrusive” (Valency, 253). This is what made Ibsen’s ending extremely controversial. Nora is “given” a mind and uses logic to realize what has become of her past and present lifestyles. She does the opposite of what was expected from female characters in this time. The ending challenged what rights women had at a time where it was thought they were nothing more than a man’s wife, or a father’s daughter – always under the control of men and unable to make right decisions on their own. Ibsen was strong enough to keep this ending, the better of them, for the text instead of succumbing and changing the conclusion just to be accepted and approved by
Both of the authors have manifold of disparities in their plots. Ibsen’s play begins with a cheerful, young wife Nora Helmer, excited for her husband’s new job as a bank director. As the play progressed, Nora revealed that she once secretly borrowed a great sum of money so that her husband, Torvald, could convalesce from a serious illness. She hid this secret from him, and has secretly paid it back in small installments by saving money from her household allowance. Torvald views Nora as a careless and childlike person, and he often calls her his doll. This play also discusses the relationship of Dr. Rank, the family friend of Torvald, and Nora. Devaull states in her article on Nora’s Final Inheritance in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, “Dr. Rank is a rich older gentleman who loves [Nora], and he will die soon” (Devaull 1). When Torvald received his job as the bank director, his first responsibility stood as to remove...
...a that an idealistic lifestyle based off of lies and falsehood is in fact, not an idealistic lifestyle at all. At every opportunity Ibsen suggests that behind the façade of marriage, what exists is nothing close to what a marriage should be, and this is exactly what Nora comes to realize nearing the end of the play. The one miracle she had hopped to occur, was that their “Living together could be a true marriage.” It is undeniable that the ideas Ibsen develops that truth plays a crucial role in idealistic living; and when such idealistic lifestyles are built on deceit an individual will eventually undergo an epiphany resulting in a radical understanding of reality. In the case of this play, Nora and Torvald’s relationship disintegrates and she leaves him to find herself and to find a true idealistic lifestyle. As for Nora and Torvald, their marriage is destroyed.
Ibsen’s spotlight on everyday matters of a married couple delivers a test of fortitude; marriage, love, life and how this dance is perform daily. Torvald’s happiness is dependent on order; “Home-life ceases to be free and beautiful as soon as it is founded on borrowing and debt,” (Act I 4) these spoken words focus on borrowing and debt, but are easily replaced with “chaos and willfulness” without change to the meaning. While Torvald carries his own set of secrets such as what the ideal home, wife, and mother means; Nora fulfills his minds play of a doll, placing her where he wishes and manipulates her with playful words of “my squirrel”, “my little lark”, and “my little spendthrift.” These spirited gibes are meant to keep her in place, as the obedient wife. Unknowingly at first Nora plays her roll well; bouncing playfully along with Torvald’s pet names given that she has an agenda of her own, little
The inferior role of Nora is extremely important to her character. Nora is oppressed by a variety of "tyrannical social conventions." Ibsen in his "A Doll's House" depicts the role of women as subordinate in order to emphasize their role in society. Nora is oppressed by the manipulation from Torvald. Torvald has a very typical relationship with society. He is a smug bank manager. With his job arrive many responsibilities. He often treats his wife as if she is one of these responsibilities. Torvald is very authoritative and puts his appearance, both social and physical, ahead of his wife that he supposedly loves. Torvald is a man that is worried about his reputation, and cares little about his wife's feelings.
This is adequate reason to examine what makes an Ibsen drama unique, or at least similar to his other works, and to expound upon such. Throughout both plays, each main character exhibits a decay from the norm in their social persona. In Dollhouse, Nora who at first seems a silly, childish woman, is revealed to be intelligent and motivated though the play, and, by the play's conclusion, can be seen to be a strong-willed, independent thinker. She develops an awareness for the truth about her life as Torvald's devotion to an image at the expense of the creation of true happiness becomes more and more evident to her. When Nora calls him petty and swears about the house, and when Krogstad calls him by his first name it angers Torvald notably, and this anger at what he sees to be insubordination and improper etiquette heightens her awareness of the falsities being put in place by Mr. Helmer.
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.
Have you ever found yourself comparing who you are as a person or something you do to that of another person? Throughout Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House, Ibsen focuses on conflict arising through comparing and contrasting characters. The composed characters of the text provide societal structure of the specific time period of the 1870’s and many gender and household roles, therefore giving readers an insight to the conflict that arises throughout the desires in life as well as what is expected from society. Ibsen creates foils between key characters to highlight the true intentions of each to reveal that personal values and societal expectations are often in conflict. The contradicting characters of Mrs. Linden and Nora are introduced to readers
Ibsen writes his play A Doll House to explain the life of a housewife and her struggles with her own actions. Ibsen examines the emptiness in the lives of Nora and Torvald as they lived a dream in a Doll House. Both awaken and realize this emptiness and so now Torvald struggles to make amends as he hopes to get Nora back possibly and then to restore a new happiness in their lives. Ibsen examines this conflict as a rock that breaks the image of this perfect life and reveals all the imperfections in the lives of those around.
Ibsen effectively utilizes this idea in his work, as he displays Nora’s epiphany that she has been treated wrongly. Nora comes to realize that as soon as Torvald’s “fear was over – and it was not fear for what threatened…[Nora,] but for what might happen to [Torvald]” (Pg. 70). In the final scene of the play, Ibsen juxtaposes the responses between Nora and Torvald relating to Nora’s forgery incident. Ibsen establishes that up until her epiphany, Nora had been frightful of the future; Nora’s best interest was to protect her husband and the only thing on her mind was what would happen to Torvald. However, Torvald only worries about himself with fear motivating his actions.
Nora is the driving force of Ibsen’s examination of the role of women. She is a stereotypical housewife and mother who takes care of the house and children, and is put on display like a trophy by her husband Torvald. For example, Torvald puts his wife on grand display when he makes her dance the tarantella at the Christmas party so that everyone can see what a beautiful trophy wife he has. This further enforces the fact that to him, Nora is simply a pretty doll and holds a position of relative unimportance to Torvald. According to Nora, she is simply the, “Doll child” of her father and of her husband. Moreover, the entirety of Torvald and Nora’s marriage is largely a sham. At the end of A Doll House, they sit down together and Nora explains how their marriage is essentially a societal front. Even during their conversation, Torvald continues to treat Nora with disrespect, saying, “Oh, you think and talk like a silly child,” (941). She points out that they have never sat down and had an actual conversation about anything, and that they hold very different opinions on many things. Society dictates that a wife should never leave her husband and children; this would be considered abandonment of one’s “most sacred vows,” (939). However, Nora disagrees. She believes that her most sacred duties are to herself as a human
In an overview, Ibsen draws out a rather bleak entry of the role of women in all economic classes whom sacrifice their integrity, love, or rather any mortally being in relation to blood. For instance, Nora’s nurse Anne-Marie, had to abandon her daughter to support herself since the father was nonexistent. By being “a poor girl who had been led astray” she found homage in finding a job that was becoming Nora’s caretaker. (Henrik 906) In addition, in act three, at such a loss for principles can be displayed in the heated argument between Torvald and Nora.
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House. In Four Major Plays. Trans. James McFarlane and Jens Arup. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981.
“A Doll’s House” is a play written by a Norwegian playwright, Henrik Ibsen. The play was published in 1879, and is a literary piece that triggered almost vigorous reactions from the audience. Moreover, the play was considered Ibsen’s masterpiece and he was determined to provoke a reaction from the public. His intention was to bring awareness to the problem of gender roles in the 19th century society: the role of women who were used as decorations of the household. The title this play, “A Doll’s House”, foreshadows the play’s protagonist, Nora Helmer, and her role in the household. The title of the play suggests that Nora is a doll in her own home.
Ibsen desires to challenge assumptions as well as rules of Norwegian life, and most importantly wants to depict society accurately, as he meticulously incorporates everyday life. Therefore, A Doll House represents a realistic drama due to the issues involving women, illnesses, and laws within the play, while conveying Ibsen’s desire for controversy and change in Norway’s society. A common woman in Norway, such as Nora, experiences a daily life of oppression, fear, and unjust authority, which exposes societal mistreatment. Society and Torvald Helmer force Nora to look pretty and happy, although “she laughs softly at herself while taking off her street things. Drawing a bag of macaroons from her pocket, she eats a couple, then steals over and listens at her husband’s door” (Ibsen I. 43), which portrays oppression.