Free College Essays-Nora Helmer's Childlike Behavior

Nora Helmer’s Childlike Behavior In Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, Nora Helmer ends up falling into blackmail by trying to save her husband’s life. Nora fails to pay back a loan that made it possible to keep her husband alive. Throughout the play, Nora has to deal with these decisions by herself. Nora Helmer is considered to be childish, not only from the way she handles the difficulties that face her, but also the way she handles herself in her own household. The environment that Torvald creates inside the household has a role to play in Nora’s childish behavior. Nora also allows her husband to treat her like a child. Nora’s actions in situations throughout the play are similar to a child’s actions, such as disobeying rules, naivety, acting selfish, and running away from responsibilities. At the beginning of the play, Nora conversates with her husband. As Torvald speaks to Nora, she is referred to many different nicknames such as squirrel and featherhead. This sets the tone for the childlike manner that Nora exhibits throughout the rest of the play. Templeton states, “Ibsen uses Torvald’s famous pet names for Nora – lark, squirrel – to give her a ‘strong animal’ identity” (Templeton 30). By starting the play out with these terms, the audience is able to view the type of household that Nora lives in. The household is seen as playful, energetic, and lively. Later, Nora requests money from Torvald for Christmas. Nora is known for spending her money wildly, but continues to request …show more content…
These actions ranging from: simply eating macaroons when being told she should not to leaving her home behind in order to run away from her the problems that she left behind. Nora’s actions not only affect her overall character, but others as well including her husband and children. For these different reasons, Nora’s actions are seen as