Unreliability of Appearances in "A Doll's House"

Over the course of Henrik Iben's A Doll's House, appearances prove to be misleading, which, in turn lead to the revelation of the reality of the play's characters and situations. The first impressions of Nora, Torvald, and Krogstadt are all eventually undercut. Nora initially seems to be a silly, childish woman, but as the play goes on, we see that she is intelligent, motivated, and, in the end, a strong-willed, independent thinker. Torvald plays the role of the strong benevolent husband, but later reveals himself to be cowardly, petty and selfish when he thinks that Krogstadt might expose him to scandal. And once Krogstadt situation is explained, he evolves from a villainous character to more of a sympathetic one.

Ibsen does a good job of developing each character, whether they are minor or major, and he helps the reader form a specific characterization of him/her. At the beginning of the play, Nora is portrayed as being coddled, pampered, and patronized by her husband, Torvald. She seems completely happy and responds affectionately to his teasing, and she doesn't seem to mind her doll-like existence. Torvald is a contributor to how Nora acts because he embraces the belief that a man's role in marriage is to protect and guide his wife. He clearly enjoys the idea that Nora needs his guidance and he frequently speaks to her in trite, moralistic ways. "A home that depends on loans and debt is not beautiful because it is not free," he once said to her. Torvald also likes to envision himself as Nora's savior. "Do you know that I've often wished you were facing some terrible dangers so that I could risk life and limb, risk everything, for your sake?"

Krogstadt, the antagonist in the play, is initially developed as t...

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... Nora will become an independent woman and will now need to rely on herself and her skills to survive in the real world. Torvald gets the opportunity to perhaps see the error of his ways with Nora and start over for himself. He also may find another "doll" that he can "guide" and have control of to feed his ego. Krogstadt and Mrs. Linde can live happily ever after because it appears that both are very happy with the outcome of everything that has happened. Krogstadt gets to be with Mrs. Linde, whom he's always loved and she, along with being with Krogstadt, get to raise children as her own, something she's always wanted. Dr. Rank, though dead, can also start over in the sense of the afterlife.

Ibsen does a very good job of leaving an open-ended conclusion because the audience can then decide what happens to the characters' seemingly ever-changing appearances.