Use of Language in A Doll’s House

Use of Language in A Doll’s House

‘A Doll’s House’ was originally written in Norwegian and then

translated into English for English speaking audiences. Ibsen uses a

colloquial language style throughout the play to emphasise the theme

of realism that he is trying to covey and to set the middle-class

society in which Nora lives in. The language that Nora uses changes

constantly throughout the play, depending on who she is talking to.

When speaking to Helmer, her husband, she adopts a very childish

manner and tone. In the first act Nora employs a lot of question and

exclamation marks to show her subservience to Helmer, and uses her

childlike manner to give Helmer a sense of power and dominance, in

order to gain what she wants. However when she is speaking to other

characters such as Mrs. Linde or Krogstad, Nora speaks to them as

equals and drops all unnecessary pleasantries, and her responses and

questions become a lot more clear and to the point.

By the end of Act III, Nora has grown as a character, and this is easy

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