A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen is a realistic prose play set in 1870s Norway. A Doll’s House revolves around Nora Helmer, wife to Torvald Helmer and mother to three children. Nora is described as a living doll. She does as she is told, and makes sure to please her husband. Nora has her secrets though. Torvald is a soon to be bank manager, and cares a lot about how others view him. Nils Krogstad is the antagonist of A Doll’s House. He is a former employee of the bank and soon to be blackmailer of Nora. The cast of characters is rounded out by Kristine Linde and Dr. Rank. Kristine is an old friend of Nora and Dr. Rank is a friend of the Helmers. Each of these characters play an important, if minute, role in the play. Nora takes a borrows money
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Everything in the play from Nora hiding the macaroons from Torvald to Krogstad leaving the letter leads up to the ending scene in act three. When Torvald gets the blackmail letter he starts to worry about his reputation and, then proceeds to scold Nora for being featherbrained and irresponsible. Despite the fact that Nora borrowed the money to save his life. Torvald asks Nora if she understand what she has done and Nora responds “yes. I am beginning to understand everything now” (Ibsen 1292). It is at this point that Nora realizes that Torvald never really loved her and as Unni Lagas stated “he treats her superficially like a toy” (162). After the follow up letter from Krogstad where he gives Nora the note to destroy, Torvald is relieved and says he forgives Nora. At this point Nora has already made up her mind that she needs to leave to find herself and become who she is supposed to be. She went from her father’s home to Torvald’s. Nora told Torvald “I have been your doll-wife her, just as at home I was Papa’s doll-child. And in turn the children have been my dolls” (Ibsen 1295). Nora decides it is time to break the cycle. She wants to go out and educate herself. As Josephine Lee says “Nora’s insistence upon this demonstration of selfhood means that she refuses her earlier roles of wife and mother in order to become a free agent” (624). Nora decides she needs to be her own person. Epiphany is one of the
Everything in the play from Nora hiding the macaroons from Torvald to Krogstad leaving the letter leads up to the ending scene in act three. When Torvald gets the blackmail letter he starts to worry about his reputation and, then proceeds to scold Nora for being featherbrained and irresponsible. Despite the fact that Nora borrowed the money to save his life. Torvald asks Nora if she understand what she has done and Nora responds “yes. I am beginning to understand everything now” (Ibsen 1292). It is at this point that Nora realizes that Torvald never really loved her and as Unni Lagas stated “he treats her superficially like a toy” (162). After the follow up letter from Krogstad where he gives Nora the note to destroy, Torvald is relieved and says he forgives Nora. At this point Nora has already made up her mind that she needs to leave to find herself and become who she is supposed to be. She went from her father’s home to Torvald’s. Nora told Torvald “I have been your doll-wife her, just as at home I was Papa’s doll-child. And in turn the children have been my dolls” (Ibsen 1295). Nora decides it is time to break the cycle. She wants to go out and educate herself. As Josephine Lee says “Nora’s insistence upon this demonstration of selfhood means that she refuses her earlier roles of wife and mother in order to become a free agent” (624). Nora decides she needs to be her own person. Epiphany is one of the