A Doll's House Research Paper

Stuck In The Eyes of Society

The short story A Doll’s House, written by Henrik Ibsen was a story full of different emotions and roles. There was Torvald a husband and father who tried his best to take care of his wife Nora and two children. Torvald was a serious and driven man who was had just landed a new job where he was going to have to prove himself. Nora was a housewife who took care of the children, along with the maid. Torvald and Nora posed as if they had a good married with some ups and down but towards the end of the story Nora true feelings come out. Because of the way society is Torvald and Nora couldn’t always express of talk about their problems. Torvald is trapped in the eyes of society even more than Nora because society
not only judges him as a man, father, and husband but they also judge him by the actions of his family. During the time the short story was written, the man in the house was in charge and normally took responsibility for the actions of the family. Men worked and supported their family. While the women took care of the house and family, most women did not work. There is better explained in Andrea Foroughi’s online article Women in the 19th Century, “However, when a woman married, her civil identity merged with, or was covered by, that of her husband. Any property that she owned or wages that she earned now legally belonged to her husband. Further, she could not sue or be sued in courts, nor could she testify against her husband.” (Foroughi). Whatever action the woman makes whether it is good or bad, it reflects on the husband. The view that society saw women in the 19th century was a lot different than it is now, now a lot of people see women as independent, strong, and hard working. In the 19th century women were seen as the total opposite. In an online article written by Clarissa Hinojosa, she describes the characteristics of women more in depth, “Women, on the other hand, were supposedly emotional, religious, weak, and passive, traits that served them poorly in the public sphere but helped them flourish in the private sphere”(Hinojosa). What Nora did to Torvald, going behind is back to loan money, was very disrespectful and risky but it saved Torvald’s life.
Nora took the loan from Krogstaad because Torvald was very unhealthy and his life basically depended on leaving and taking a vacation for as long as it took to get health again. They did not have the money to spare for a vacation as such. Nora knew where she could get a loan and Torvald would not approve of it. Nora went behind her husband’s back to borrow money for the vacation but told Torvald that she got it from her father who had died shortly after Nora borrowed money from Krogstaad. The biggest mistake that Nora made while finishing the agreement they had for the loan was to forge her father’s name as a co-signer. The reason she had to forge her fathers name is because she did not want to add more stress and guilt to her father while he was about to die because she needs money. She signed and dated it for him and the date that she signed was a couple days after he had
died. When Nora took the loan from Krogstaad she was not thinking about what would happen if someone found out about the loan or what if she could not pay the loan back.
Nora was only thinking about her husband and how she was going to do whatever she could to get him healthy again. She never meant to hurt or betray Torvald but he could not understand that because all he was thinking of was how could Nora do that to him and if she was she trying to ruin his life. Torvald knew that if anyone else in the town found out about this than his reputation would be ruined just like Krogstaad, having a wife that goes behind his back and forges a loan. For all he know people might think that he was in on it too. In the book Torvald made it clear to Nora how he felt right after reading Krogstaad’s letter, “We’ve got to make sure that this business is hushed up, no matter the cost. As for you and me, we’ve got to make it look like everything between us is just as it was before. Naturally, that’s only for the eyes of the world. You will still remain here in my house. That is taken for granted. But you will not be allowed to raise the children. I could not trust you with them. To think that I have to say that to someone I have loved so deeply-someone I still-no, that is all over. From this moment on, it’s not a question of happiness. All there is now is saving what’s left of our shattered lives, keeping up
appearances.”(Ibsen) Torvald was devastated when he found out that Nora borrowed money because during that time women did not borrow money and they definitely did not go behind their husband’s back to do anything like it. Torvald knew that Krogstaad was a bad guy to do business with, he already has a bad reputation around town for forging someone’s signature in other business that he was doing. He was afraid of what people were going to think and say about him, Nora, and their family, “You’ve destroyed all my happiness. You’ve ruined my future. I can’t bear to think of it. I’m in the hands of a man with no scruples. He can do what he wants with me. He can ask anything he wants, order me to do anything-and I dare not say no. And I have to sink to such depths of agony, all because of a thoughtless woman.”(Ibsen). People were going to judge him as a person because of his decisions he made to marry Nora, a person who would go behind his back and forge a contract, and they also would judge him on what kind of person is he getting involved with someone like Nora. Not to mention their children, people will judge their children on what they will grow up to be like. Will they turn out like their mother? Not only would people talk about Torvald because of him not being able to keep his wife in control but people would talk about how he cannot support his wife and family. In the short story, A Doll’s House life was a lot different than it is now. Women respected their men and did not go behind their back to do things that they would not approve of. Nora went behind Torvald’s back to get a loan from someone that already had a bad reputation. Torvald’s biggest fear was what others were going to think and say about him and his family. She was scolded by her husband, giving her restrictions on how she can live her life from then on, but in the end Nora did what she thought was best and left her husband and family to find herself.

Works Cited

Foroughi, Andrea R. "Women in the 19th Century." Facts On File History Online. N.p., 2011. Facts on File. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.
Hinojosa, Clarissa. "Cult of True Womanhood" Facts On File History Inline. N.p. 2010. Facts on File. Web. 2 Nov. 2013
Ibsen, Henrik. “A Doll’s House.” Literature and Ourselves, 6th ed, Henderson, Gloria M., Anna D. Higgins, Bill Day, and Sandra S. Waller. 2009. p 332-389. Print.