The Shatering of a Doll’s Illusion
In the play A Dolls House by Henrik Ispen, Victorian marriage is portrayed by the Helmers as a business arrangement. Throughout the play, Nora, the wife of Torvald Helmer, is treated like a doll. Torvald is very picky. He wants her dressed a certain way and to be perfect in every way. The Victorian wife is treated like property. She, herself, is not allowed to buy property or borrow money. She is not allowed to leave and she does not have any say in her life. Nora would do anything for Torvald. At the beginning of the play, Nora does not find this lifestyle odd. She is accustomed to it and this lifestyle is perfectly normal to her.
In the Victorian era, marriage was not about romance and not about …show more content…
Rank. This is embarrasing for Torvald and hurts his ego. Rather than wanting trying to work with her husband to fix her mistake she tries to hid it from him "How painful and humiliating it would be for Torvald […] to know that he owed me anything! It would upset our mutual relations altogether." (1.197) to protect his tinder ego. Torvald feels like this confidence in Dr. Rank is a betrayal on his wife’s part.
Nora finally gets her courage up to leave Torvald. When this happens, Torvald becomes emotional and realizes how much he will miss her. He wants her to stay. Nora, however, does not want to stay. She feels that she does not want to perpetuate this life and she does not want to continue to be treated like a doll and she does not want to watch her children be treated like dolls, “Good-bye, Torvarld. I won’t see the little ones. I know they are in better hands than mine. As I am noe, I can be of no use to them.” (3.88) Nora ends up leaving and ends up on her own. After reading this book, I realize how lucky I am that I live in a country that allows men and women to be equal. We are very fortunate that we are allowed to be independent. When a husband and wife are allowed to have a marriage that is a partnership, it is much more fullfililng than the business marriage of the Victorian
In the play A Dolls House by Henrik Ispen, Victorian marriage is portrayed by the Helmers as a business arrangement. Throughout the play, Nora, the wife of Torvald Helmer, is treated like a doll. Torvald is very picky. He wants her dressed a certain way and to be perfect in every way. The Victorian wife is treated like property. She, herself, is not allowed to buy property or borrow money. She is not allowed to leave and she does not have any say in her life. Nora would do anything for Torvald. At the beginning of the play, Nora does not find this lifestyle odd. She is accustomed to it and this lifestyle is perfectly normal to her.
In the Victorian era, marriage was not about romance and not about …show more content…
Rank. This is embarrasing for Torvald and hurts his ego. Rather than wanting trying to work with her husband to fix her mistake she tries to hid it from him "How painful and humiliating it would be for Torvald […] to know that he owed me anything! It would upset our mutual relations altogether." (1.197) to protect his tinder ego. Torvald feels like this confidence in Dr. Rank is a betrayal on his wife’s part.
Nora finally gets her courage up to leave Torvald. When this happens, Torvald becomes emotional and realizes how much he will miss her. He wants her to stay. Nora, however, does not want to stay. She feels that she does not want to perpetuate this life and she does not want to continue to be treated like a doll and she does not want to watch her children be treated like dolls, “Good-bye, Torvarld. I won’t see the little ones. I know they are in better hands than mine. As I am noe, I can be of no use to them.” (3.88) Nora ends up leaving and ends up on her own. After reading this book, I realize how lucky I am that I live in a country that allows men and women to be equal. We are very fortunate that we are allowed to be independent. When a husband and wife are allowed to have a marriage that is a partnership, it is much more fullfililng than the business marriage of the Victorian