Torvald Helmer Feminist

On the year 1879, the Royal Theatre of Copenhagen, Denmark first premiered Henrik Ibsen’s play “A Dollhouse.” The play was received as one with a strong feminist acclaim for its cast of female characters who all displayed a form of women’s sacrifice, all challenged by social norms of the time and the men most notably, Torvald Helmer. Helmer was a contrast to the protagonist Nora from the very start without being overt. Helmer is a man who presents himself in public as the perfect married gentlemen, only to be shown how egoistic and selfish he is through the play.
It is inevitable to read through the play without knowing that Helmer is a man that is obsessed with his reputation as a gentleman bank manager. One of the scenes that showcases his behavior of a gentleman is in act three where Helmer accompanied Kristine to the door, saying "Goodnight, goodnight. I hope you will get home alright. I should be very happy to- but you haven’t any great distance to go.” (Ibsen 1524) Helmer intentionally cut off his sentence to avoid walking Kristine home to only imply the gesture to keep his polite …show more content…
Helmer demanded that the two would continue living together, as mentioned earlier. Nora realizes that Helmer never truly loved her, “only thought it pleasant to be in love with me (Nora)” (Ibsen 1530) to finally leaving him and the children. Helmer at this point realized his mistakes and pleads Nora not to leave, proposing that they live together as she wait till tomorrow” only for Nora to retort saying “I cannot spend the night in a strange man’s room,” (1534) making Helmer seen as“a far more deplorable character... Though he has committed no crime no offended against any of society’s views... played as an extreme mixture of bully and fool. ” (Siddall 42) , a stark contrast from the loving husband scene in the start of the