Inauthentic Identity In Nora Helmer, By Henrik Ibsen

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emphasized a woman’s obedience to her husband. Ibsen acknowledges the fact that in 19th century life the role of the woman was to take care of the house duties by raising the children and attending to her husband as the protagonist of the play Nora Helmer does. During the play Nora rebels against these cultural norms, she abandons herself from her husband and her children when she finally finds herself as an individual. Throughout the play Nora Helmer’s character presents an inauthentic identity to the audience and throughout the play she attempts to discover her true identity. In this essay I will look into Nora’s struggle to discover her authentic identity with a glimpse of her transformation from an obedient wife to a confident woman seeking …show more content…
When a woman of that time loves as Nora thinks she does nothing else matters, she will sacrifice herself for the family, she had a passionate and devoted heart that was willing to do almost anything for her husband, which is why she does not care about the way Torvald treats her, as he thinks it is because of the love between them. Torvald does not want a wife who will challenge him with her own thoughts and actions, which is why Nora has been acting inauthentic to herself as she believes that she is in love with Torvald, however as the play progresses she begins to realize how fake her marriage is and slowly she comes to realize that her whole life has been a lie. She lives her life pretending to be someone she is not, and hides the changed woman she had become. The illusion of the old Nora continues well after she becomes a new person. When she realizes that responsibilities for her are more important, Nora slams the door on not just Torvald but on everything that happened in her past. She finally becomes fully aware of her worth and independence by the end of the play when she realizes the situation Torvald wishes to maintain. When Torvald says, "You’ve completely wrecked my happiness, you’ve ruined my whole future..."(p.221) and “I’m saved! Nora, I’m saved!” (p.222), Torvald exhibits his self-absorbed nature. The anger Nora sees after Torvald's opening of the letter gets Nora in shock and shows her a strange man, someone she had not been wife to, and someone she did not love. She realizes their marriage is all fake and mutually beneficial because of their social status and that it is not real love. She starts realizing that she has been treated without respect and worth when she says “I’ve lived here like a pauper…I’ve lived her by performing tricks for you, Torvald” (p. 226) and when she says, “I must stand on my own feet” (p. 227) this shows her independence alteration and

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