Research Paper on "Doll's House"

Research Paper 4 pages (1632 words) Sources: 2

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Henrik Ibsen's a Doll's House was published in 1879 and is a play about relationships; relationships with one's self and with others. Each of the main characters has to come to terms with decisions they have made in the past and the current conditions they find themselves in because of those decisions. At some level each character is fighting for authenticity: Nora wants to be her own person, Christina wants to reconnect with her true love, Dr. Rank must come to terms with his poor health and his friendship with Nora, Krogstad is desperate to overcome a mistake from his past and Torvald must face life without his beloved wife. Ibsen creates a personal crisis for each character, which together aid in the destruction of Nora and Torvald's marriage and more importantly, helps to free each of them from society's rigid gender roles.

A Doll's House begins with Nora returning from a Christmas shopping trip. She nibbles on some macaroons, which she must hide in her pocket because her husband forbids macaroons in the household. After setting her packages down, Nora goes to Torvald's study. This first encounter between husband and wife sets the tone of and foreshadows the entire play; Torvald's treats Nora as both a child and as a possession while Nora cajoles Torvald with cute and playful responses to his questions. Nora must also defend her spending, as well as beg for money. It is obvious that Torvald has complete control of the household -- he controls the family finances and his wife's actions and emotions. Nora appears to be a spoiled child disconnected from the world and is told by Torvald that she is little, incapable and he must take care of her or she would not survive. Torvald refers to Nora as hi

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s little lark, his little squirrel, and his little spendthrift and as the same little featherhead. Nora completely accepts her subservient role and relies on, and complies with, Torvald for her identity. In several scenes, Nora request that Torvald make decisions for her and help her live up to his expectations of her.

At the same time as Nora tries to be the perfect wife, Torvald tries to be the perfect man based on what society defines as the perfect man. He will soon begin a supervisor job at the bank and is looking forward to the increase in income and power. He takes great pride in his wife's obedience and her beauty. He feels his home, his family, his job, his high standards and his independent character makes him a valuable asset to society.

As this first scene unfolds, we learn that Torvald uses money to control and manipulate Nora. He scolds Nora for having purchased gifts and she begs him to be less strict with money this Christmas. She suggests he take out a loan, he responses with:

" That is like a woman! But seriously, Nora, you know what I think about that. No debt, no borrowing. There can be no freedom or beauty about a home life that depends on borrowing and debt. We two have kept bravely on the straight road so far, and we will go on the same way for the short time longer that there need be any struggle."

With this statement the conflict between Nora and Torvald is complete. He controls and judges Nora while Nora holds a secret that she borrowed money and forged her father's signature in order to care for her husband when he was gravely ill.

The play continues on with Krogstad, a bank employee, Christina, a widow friend of Nora's and Dr. Rank all arriving separately at Torvald's home. The plot twists begin to take place: unbeknown to Torvald, a current employee Krogstad, is the person who extend the loan to Nora, and Nora's friend Christina, who was previously involved with Krogstad, asks and is given a job at the bank by Torvald. The job Christina is taking is Krogstad's position and Krogstad will be laid-off and then blackmails Nora in hope of returning to his position at the bank. In addition to this coincident, Dr. Rank is Nora's confidant and, in turn, Dr. Rank is secretly in love with Nora. All of this makes for the foundation of an English farce, however, Ibsen provides us with a tale of how far one must go to be able to survive.

All three of the female characters -- Nora, Christina and the nanny Anna -- have made sacrifices to obtain financial security. Christina married a man she did not love in order to care for her sick mother and her two younger brothers. Anna, an unwed mother, gave up her child to take a position as Nora's nanny and has continued to be the nanny of Nora's children. Nora, who is complete unaware of herself, never actualized her full emotional and intellectual capabilities in exchange for pleasing both her father and her husband.

Christina had been a widow for over three years and was no longer responsible for her mother or brothers. She learned to navigate her world through employment and being financially responsible for herself. She now longs for a life with a man and family, someone to care for and to receive care from. In direct opposition, Nora's way of dealing with the world is to flirt, cajole and manipulate others into doing what she wants and does not truly understand the consequences of her decisions.

As Nora begins to face her predicament of being blackmailed and having Torvald learn of her loan, Nora tells Krogstad to go ahead and tell Torvald because: "If my husband does get to know of it, of course he will at once pay you what is still owing, and we shall have nothing more to do with you."

As the play unfolds, Nora begins to understand that she is not helpless; she has saved her husband by securing the loan. Thus far she has not missed a loan payment; she has done so by finding money in the household budget, uses money given to her by Torvald for gifts and clothing and through a secret job copying manuscripts. Through comments made by Torvald she begins to learn that he may not perform a miracle and save her from Krogstad threats. When Torvald learns of the loan, he yells at Nora about how she has ruined his life -- this is ironic because the loan enabled Nora to save his life. Nora sees that Torvald will not listen to her explanation nor will he help her, Torvald only blames her for the misfortune that will come about when the forgery is revealed. He tells her that she has poisoned his children. Nora realizes that she is not really in a marriage, that she is an arm-piece to a man who needs to meet society's expectations. This is when Nora realizes she is not a human being; she is Torvald's doll.

The family crisis has come full circle. Nora now knows that she is not a fully developed person and has decided to leave Torvald and search for herself. When confronted by Nora, Torvald is in disbelief of Nora's unhappiness. Torvald now is confronted with his own crisis; he has been the husband society has dictated but he is now losing his wife. He does not understand why Nora is leaving.

Ibsen's a Doll's House appears to be about women's freedom and right to self-expression but when one digs deeper, it becomes a play about individualism and the confinement of role models dictated by society. In the literary analysis, the Subordination of Men and Women in Society, Andrew Ravenscroft states:

"Ibsen wrote to free both men and woman who were trapped in their gender roles during this period. Ibsen saw the need to revolt… READ MORE

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Quoted Instructions for "Doll's House" Assignment:

“

I will send you a general idea of what I would like it to focus on. I need the paper in .doc format.

I have included one source in the pdf that I am sending, the other source that you can site is the movie on netflix, A Doll*****'s House (1973)

A young bride reexamines her outwardly perfect life and marriage when her husband takes ill. She ends up forging her father*****'s signature on a bank loan and becomes the victim of blackmail. This version of the play by Henrik Ibsen, despite its big-name English cast (Anthony Hopkins, Denholm Elliot),

Cast: Claire Bloom, Anthony Hopkins

Director: Patrick Garland

Genre: Classics

Here is something I wrote but it is not good enough:

This play gives you the impression that it was written by a Feminist. It is quiet shocking, and I can understand why this play created a scandal. At the time this play was written people were more conservative and a women striking out on her own was almost unheard of. I believe she had every good reason to leave Torval. Nora however had no legitimate reason to punish her children because of her husbands failings. Leaving a husband is one thing that must only be decided while you are not in the throes of the cloud of anger. She was on the verge of committing suicide. Which makes any decision more difficult and subject to emotion, not logic. When one is deciding to leave ones husband or wife logic must be involved. I personally would have been tempted to leave him too. But what must never be forgotten is that the children did nothing to deserve loosing their Mother. If after thinking long and hard about the situation rationally and then deciding that they would be best apart, then she should leave him not the children. I wholeheartedly believe this is what happens even today if a wife does not try to educate herself. This doesn*****'t mean that I am against women being stay at home Moms, I am not, I only believe that a women should have some form of education because it helps her to develop her personality, and have control over many aspects of her life. Divorce is one thing, abandonment of children that are innocent is something quiet different. I was abandoned as a child from the age of 10 and I can tell you that it is extremely damaging. We are left to have a sliver of hope though in the end of the play, when Torval says *****Ah! The miracle of miracles?!*****" (Ibsen 1116).

Why did Torval loose his wife? I believe he lost her because he was more in love with appearances (how he looked to the outside world) than with his wife. This fact is obvious throughout the play, but blatantly obvious when he opens the letter. He was ever ready to throw his wife away over something that could have been solved with a bit of time and maybe giving the guy his job back. He even went to far as to forbid her from talking to her own children, saying I cannot trust you with them (Ibsen 1110).

I not only read the play, but I found it so intriguing that I watched the movie. In the movie he even hit her. It is on Netflix. Many people like the play because they hold the same viewpoint on marriage that Henrik Ibsen held. But I did not consider this play to be putting all marriage down, only marriage before education.

How wonderful it is to be truly loved with all your flaws, and not need to pretend to be what your beloved wants you to be. Nora says that she always held the same opinions that her father had and did not even know if they were his or hers, and she did the same thing when she married Torval. She doesn*****'t know who she is and what she stands for, because she has always pretended to be what they (her father and Torval) wanted her to be (Ibsen 1112). The greatest gift in life is not wealth or power or even knowledge, the greatest gift in life is true love. It is so sad that so few people find it. Because when you have found it you realize that there is no greater gift.

I also wrote this and thought it may be helpful for getting the idea that I am trying to convey:

First Torval was a fool and petty and in love with appearances, how he looked to the outside world more than he loved his wife. This fact is obvious throughout the play, but blatantly obvious in when he opens the letter.

but that is not his biggest fault. His biggest fault lies in the fact that he was ever ready to throw his wife away over something that could have been solved with a bit of time and maybe giving the guy his job back. I not only read the play, but I found it so interesting that I watched the movie. In the movie he even hit her.

What is true love: loving someone enough that nothing can come between you. I know what my husband would have done, he would have had a few dramatic words with him and he would have done the same thing that was eventually done. But no-one would have had to sell their soul to this guy.

How wonderful it is to be loved with all your flaws, and not need to pretend to be what your beloved wants you to be. She says that she always held the same opinions that her father had and did not even know if they were his or hers, and she did the same thing when she married Torval. She doesn*****'t know who she is and what she stands for, because she has always pretended to be what they wanted her to be. *****

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