A Doll's House Analysis Essay

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Analysis of Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House”
A Doll’s House is a thrilling piece of literary work by Henrik Ibsen. The major characters’ personalities in the play, the setting, plot, symbols, language, and comic elements in the play paint a true picture of how things were for women and marriage back in the old days. The same aforementioned elements of the play also show how far society has come from the ways of people in past generations.
One of the major characters in A Doll’s House is Nora Helmer. Nora represents a silly individual who does not seem to be concerned about her doll-like existence, in which she is pampered and coddled. She is also represented as a courageous and ambitious girl towards the end of the play. Torvald Helmer is another major character in the play. He is represented as a man who strongly believes that the responsibility of a man in marriage is to guide and protect his wife. He demonstrates this by interacting and guiding Nora while advising her against relying on debts and loans.
Ibsen has employed numerous themes in his play. One of the major themes that are evident in the play is the sacrificial role of women in a male dominated society. Female characters in the play sacrifice their own progress and self interest
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The play is set during the Christmas festive season and the characters in the play are looking forward to and anticipating the New Year. The New Year in the play symbolizes new things and new lives. Both Torvald and Nora are anticipating new things as the New Year approaches. Torvald, for instance, is anticipating starting his new job and the additional money and excitement the new job will bring. In particular, Torvald believes that by starting his new job, he will be able to effectively pay her secret debt to Krogstad. For Nora and Torvald, the New Year will dramatically change their lives and both must become different

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