The play A Doll House has a fairly limited number of characters, but those who are in the play are quite memorable. A contributing factor to the characters’ memorability is the era in which the play takes place. Many ideas and attitudes were much different back then, but the one that the play accentuates is society’s view and treatment of women in that era. Society saw women as incapable and only useful for doing things around the house and making their husbands look good. They were seen to be so incapable that society thought of them as little more than children. This view is exemplified by the character Torvald Helmer and that can lead to different perceptions of him as a character. A person could argue between Helmer being an antagonist, a misogynist, or just a victim of his time’s prejudices. I believe that Helmer is mainly a victim of the time he lives in, but he does have flaws like any other human being which would be there regardless of what era he lived in and those flaws lead to the other perceptions of him.
The first thing to look at is what the exact …show more content…
At some points he is the antagonist, constantly imposing his will upon the unwilling Nora. At other points he is a misogynist, a man who believes women are so useless that they can only be used for making a man look better to his colleagues. Both of those roles however, can be largely attributed to the societal norms Helmer had been brought up to follow. I believe that Torvald Helmer was mainly a victim of the times he lived in and acted according to what society told him was the way to act. However, I don’t believe that Helmer can be completely absolved of his actions. Helmer still had flaws that would have been there regardless of the time he lived in, but that is to be expected, nobody is perfect. In conclusion, Torvald Helmer was an imperfect man who was a victim of the societal norms and prejudices of the time he lived
The first thing to look at is what the exact …show more content…
At some points he is the antagonist, constantly imposing his will upon the unwilling Nora. At other points he is a misogynist, a man who believes women are so useless that they can only be used for making a man look better to his colleagues. Both of those roles however, can be largely attributed to the societal norms Helmer had been brought up to follow. I believe that Torvald Helmer was mainly a victim of the times he lived in and acted according to what society told him was the way to act. However, I don’t believe that Helmer can be completely absolved of his actions. Helmer still had flaws that would have been there regardless of the time he lived in, but that is to be expected, nobody is perfect. In conclusion, Torvald Helmer was an imperfect man who was a victim of the societal norms and prejudices of the time he lived