Literary Criticism On A Doll's House

Improved Essays
A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen is a three act play in which one of the main characters, Nora, frees her true self from the person she is pretending to be for her husband. Ibsen is known for his plays because they allow characters to break free of the roles set by society and live for themselves instead. A Doll’s House was one of Ibsen’s first plays and would cause people to question the roles of women in marriages and the idea of marriage not being for life. Ibsen did this by giving readers a play that examined the world’s real social problems, especially the status of women in society ("A Doll’s House Literary Criticism."). The title of the play A Doll’s House symbolizes how Nora feels treated by the people in her life, which results in …show more content…
Ibsen starts the play on Christmas Eve with a lit tree and Nora enjoying her macaroons, excitingly waiting to show her husband the presents she has bought for her family. Michelle Wiseman says this scene shows Nora and her typical “childlike and whimsical behavior”. Her husband first calls her by pet names such as ADD HERE.(). He does this through out the story and allows readers to see how he sees her as childlike and as though she is his possession. Once he discovers she has spent money he is quick to scold her, giving readers the first glimpse of the world Nora lives. They can also see how she is used to going along with her husbands rules and request when she replies, “As you wish, Torvald”(Ibsen 2). Ibsen uses this scene and line to help portray the common middle class family with typical roles, a mother that lives her life to please her husband and children. After portraying the perfect family Ibsen is quick to let readers in on the secret that makes the Helmar family different from others in this time …show more content…
Linde, an old friend from school. Ibsen uses Mrs. Linde’s character as not only a friend to Nora but someone for readers to compare Nora to. Mrs. Linde took care of her sick family members along with her younger brothers while living in poverty. Readers are given a chance to see the flaws in Nora’s personality after Mrs. Linde comments about how Nora has never seen hardship or worked for anything. Although Mrs. Linde doesn’t manipulate or control Nora the way other characters do her comment still allows Nora and readers to see that even someone who is her friend doesn’t see her as a serious adult due to her lack of responsibility. Nora realizes this lack of respect and tells her about her secret in order to prove that she is capable of doing something herself. This is one of the first times Nora is faced with the way other people see her and the person that she is inside. She explains that she has been saving money by secretly working at night or only spending half of the money she is given to spend on clothing. At this point readers are able to realize she is hiding not only the secret of the loan but also a whole identity to make her husband happy. Know Nora’s real traits such as determination and independence are seen through the tasks she has performed. Mrs. Linde now realizes ask Nora why she has not told her husband, Nora jokingly replies that she will tell him “when she is no longer as nice looking as I am

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    A Doll’s House 6. Mrs. Linde and Krogstad’s relationship is founded in honest communication. Mrs. Linde was honest with Krogsatd when she did not marry him earlier in her lifetime because of her family financial needs. This juxtaposes Nora and Helmer’s relationship, because they constantly lie and keep secrets. 7.…

    • 340 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Considering that the play “Doll House” had tremendous high ratings during the 19th century, I would like to adapt this scene into a live play because this famous play had an extraordinary production. I would like to work with professional people who want to work together on stage. The play will be presented in the Imperial Valley at Southwest high school during the holiday season. To me, the audience can relate the topic of the second scene when Mrs. Linde comes into action in the play.…

    • 2018 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Doll Breaks Free A Doll’s House is a play written by Henrik Ibsen, the first performance of the play was on December 21st, 1879 in the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark. Ibsen is a Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. His other popular pieces include Brand, Peer Gynt, An Enemy of the People, Emperor and Galilean, Hedda Gabler, Ghosts, The Wild Duck, Rosmersholm, and The Master Builder just to name a few. During this time, women were still suppressed and lived their lives simply to raise children and serve their husbands.…

    • 1533 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Many individuals would agree that men and women are not treated as equals. Over the existence of the human race women have been seen as the weakest link, and men have always been expected to be the family’s provider. The setting of A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen takes place during Christmas time in a Victorian middle class household belonging to Torvald and Nora Helmer, their three children, their nurse Anne-Marie, and their maid Helene. In the beginning of the play Nora is asking Torvald for money for Christmas shopping and goes on to talk about how Torvald will be making so much more money with his new position at the bank. Towards the end of the play Nora’s untruth over the forgery of her late father’s signatures on important documents comes…

    • 2668 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the late 1800’s, women’s sole purpose was to keep the house clean and rear children. To do anything other than was considered scandalous and unheard of. Henrik Ibsen went against the grain in 1879 and decided to create a play about a seemingly typical mild-mannered housewife who becomes disillusioned and unappeased with her condescending husband and abandons her life in his care. In the play A Doll’s House, Ibsen uses symbolism to portray the overall theme of sexism through the masquerade ball, the use of the word doll, the macaroons, and Dr. Rank. The masquerade ball symbolizes how Nora hides her true self from her husband, Torvald.…

    • 958 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    An Examination of Nora Helmer’s Character in A Doll’s House In Ibsen’s famous play A Doll’s House, there is one character that stands out in particular that portrays the victim, the villain and the hero. This character is the protagonist Nora Helmer. This character is unique in that she encompasses all three roles and leaves the audience unable to come to a consensus about her motives in the play. Some of the audience may think Nora is victim of a dysfunctional household where her own father treated her like a doll and handed her to her husband Torvald to be her new owner when they got married.…

    • 1995 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Yet, even in the first act, we can see Nora’s building rebellion in small acts, such as eating macaroons against her husband’s wishes. However, Nora’s want to be regarded as someone of value in her own right shines most brightly through the conversation she has with Kristine Linde. During this conversation the two speak of the hardships through which Mrs. Linde has endured, this is when Nora says that she too has “something to be proud of. ”(Ibsen 1606) After making sure Torvald cannot hear her, she tells Mrs. Linde of the financial dealings she has made in order to save her husband’s life.…

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    When Rank and Mrs. Linde, two friends, are having a serious conversation Nora breaks out into laughter claps her hands (Ibsen, 15). Nora is so absorbed in her own thoughts; she is completely unattached from a conversation happening in front of her. Nora’s childlike behavior is guided by the way her friends and family treat her. In particular, her husband, Helmer, addresses her by pet names. Helmer’s pet name deemphasizes Nora’s importance, making her seem small.…

    • 1145 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It focuses on Nora, who sacrifices for her husband’s life by secretly borrowing money and leaves him on realizing that her existence as a woman was like a “doll” without any independence or identity in this world. Nora is rebellious character, who struggles to oppose her moral values and find her own identity in the male centered society. Nora can be characterized as an immature, selfish, and perfidious character, whose actions represents her illogical thinking and childish behavior to satisfy her…

    • 804 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Henrik Ibsen ’s play “A Doll’s House” features complex characters who are different than they appear. Nora and Torvald each undergo a transformation of their character from the start of the play until the finish. Torvald begins the play appearing very strong and confident, but by the end he is broken down to a scared and unhappy man who is holding onto an image of himself to receive respect from all he encounters. Additionally, Nora experiences a similar transformation of moving from a wife who does as her husband asks to an independent and strong woman who is willing to sacrifice everything to bring about her own happiness.…

    • 1045 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Doll 's House was written by playwright Henrik Ibsen. This play tackles many subjects that were ahead of its time as it identifies the struggle for identity and the rights of women and their roles reflected society 's "traditional values" at the time. The play acknowledges the roles the nineteenth-century women had to abide by in that era. This is to establish the struggle for an authentic identity in the face of oppressive social conventions and this conflict is displayed in Nora Helmer 's character, as throughout the play she presents to us a false identity as she eventually attempts to discover her own identity, despite the role as a woman forced upon her by society.…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    But at the start of the play Nora is revealed who she truly is. “She is laughing to herself, as she gets off her hat and coat. She takes a pocket of macaroons from her pocket and eats one or two; then she goes cautiously to her husband’s door and listens”( ). This shows that she is set up to do things that dissatisfy her partner in order to meet her individual…

    • 1094 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    A Doll's House Norm

    • 1995 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Linde has lost loved ones, been desperate for money, and tried to keep the anxiety attacks to a minimum. Mrs. Linde once had all the money she needed, until her husband passed away and she lost everything he gave to her. She is very much like Nora in that she depends on and expects the male figure in her life to constantly support her with money. Mrs. Linde even admits that she did not marry Krogstad because she found a man who was richer than Krogstad, “I thought it my duty to accept him” (536). Mrs. Linde was desperate to support her sick mother and younger brothers so she married a wealthy man.…

    • 1995 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Doll's House Morals

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “...With me you could have been another person.” (3.53) In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Christine remarks on the fact that if she had not left Krogstad, his life would be completely different. The quote reflects the recurring theme of the play, which is that a plentitude characters’ lives are affected by single actions. The protagonist of the story, Nora Helmer, makes multiple decisions throughout the play that completely alter the course of her life, but one choice in particular affects her life the most. Nora Helmer’s life is irreversibly changed after she illegally borrows money, as she saves her family from harm, gets in financial and legal trouble, and goes through self discovery.…

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Ibsen, A Doll’s House from p. 9 (‘Nora [gently]. Poor Christine, you are a widow.) to ‘Nora... It was like being a man.’…

    • 1538 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays