Analysis of "A Doll's House"

Metaphor Analysis |

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Metaphors:
Doll in a doll's house
In Act 3, Nora tells Torvald that both her father and Torvald have treated her like a doll-child, with no opinions of her own, and have only played with her. Both men, she says, have committed "a great sin" against her in discouraging her from growing up. Torvald's pet names for her are often prefaced by "little," showing that he sees her as a child. However, the responsibility for Nora's stunted state is not wholly his. In Act 1, she acts like a silly, spoilt child; later, when she is practicing and dancing the Tarantella (for which he dresses her as one would dress a doll), she acts the captivating, decorative plaything. Both doll-like acts are for the benefit of Torvald, who wants her to remain dependent upon him; she gains security and devotion from the arrangement | Some critics see Torvald as another doll in the doll's house. They point out that he is as restricted by his chosen role as Nora is by hers; and that he is sheltered by Nora and Dr Rank from disagreeable truths, as a child would be. As Torvald uses Nora for amusement and as a decorative and beautiful object, so Nora uses Torvald as a provider of money and security.
Little squirrel/skylark/songbird
These are all pet names of Torvald's for Nora that emphasize that he does not see her as an equal. He believes her role is to amuse and delight him. But squirrels, songbirds and skylarks are all wild animals that do not belong in a cage, any more than Nora can tolerate living in the restricted atmosphere of Torvald's house.
Big black hat
In Act 3, Dr Rank has a coded conversation with Nora (designed to protect Torvald from unpleasant truths) in which he says he will attend the next fancy dress ball wearing a big black hat that will make him invisible. This is a way of saying that he will be dead.
Symbols:
Nora's fancy dress costume
Torvald chooses Nora's fancy dress costume, a Neapolitan fisher-girl's dress that he had made for her in Capri. In effect, she is wearing it for him: the sight of her dancing in it throws him into a state of erotic fascination. This reinforces the idea that it is Nora's superficial and transient qualities, such as her beauty, that Torvald most appreciates. It is significant that when the Nurse first brings out the dress (Act 2), Nora notices that it is torn and is tempted to rip it to shreds. This may be symbolic of the flawed state of her marriage and of her feelings about it. Mrs Linde, who is less impetuous and more mature than Nora, suggests repairing it, and it is Mrs Linde who decides that Nora and Torvald must be made to face the truth about Nora's secret. She believes it would be beneficial to the marriage, though in Nora's view the marriage, like the dress, is beyond repair.
The Tarantella
The Tarantella was a wild southern Italian dance, generally danced by a couple or line of couples. The dance was named after the tarantula spider, whose poisonous bite was mistakenly believed to cause 'tarantism,' an uncontrollable urge for wild dancing. The 'cure' prescribed by doctors was for the sufferer to dance to exhaustion. Modern psychologists speculate that the true cause of the disorder, which achieved its highest profile in the nineteenth century and which involved symptoms of what would now be called hysteria, was not the spider's bite but the repressed morals of that age. The only outlet for passionate self-expression, they reason, was the Tarantella.
In this light, it is significant that Torvald tells Nora to practice the Tarantella while he shuts himself away in his office: "I shall hear nothing; you can make as much noise as you please." While Torvald is ostensibly being indulgent towards his wife, the image of her practicing this passionate dance alone and unheard emphasizes her isolation within her marriage. She persuades him to watch her practice the dance in order to prevent him opening Krogstad's letter. He tries to rein in her wildness with his instructions, but she ignores his comments and dances ever more wildly, her hair coming loose. The mythology of tarantism suggests that she is dancing in order to rid herself of a deadly poison. Depending on how we wish to interpret this symbolism, the poison may be the threat posed by Krogstad's revelations, or the poison of deception and hypocrisy that characterizes the Helmer marriage.
Light
Light is most often used to symbolize Nora's state of awareness. After Torvald claims to be man enough to take everything upon himself (Act 2) and while she is talking to Dr Rank, the light begins to grow dark. This symbolism refers to two processes. First, Nora is using her sexual attractiveness to manipulate the dying Dr Rank into giving her money to pay off her loan. When Dr Rank confesses his love for her, she is shocked out of her game. She brings in a lamp, telling Dr Rank that he must feel ashamed of himself now that the lamp has come.
Light also appears to symbolize hope and spiritual redemption when Dr Rank is talking in code to Nora about his coming death (Act 3). He talks of death as a big black hat that will make him invisible, an image of obliteration of life. But Nora brings him a light for his cigar as she wishes him goodbye. Dr Rank loves her, and in spite of her sometimes dubious behavior towards him, she has given him understanding, compassion and acceptance. She also means at this point, it seems, to join him in death by committing suicide. Their bond is represented on stage by the image of them standing together in the pool of light from her match - a frame that excludes Torvald.
Christmas tree
In Norway, Christmas is an important family celebration, but the focus of the festivities and the opening of presents occurs on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day is something of an anti-climax. This is paralleled by events in the play. At the beginning of the play on Christmas Eve, Nora still believes her marriage to be happy. We see her ordering the Christmas tree to be brought in and insisting that it is hidden until she has decorated it. Symbolically, this alerts us to the fact that there are hidden aspects to life in this household, that a carefully created appearance is what matters, and that Nora is the keeper of appearances. Significantly, when she is trying to wheedle Torvald into keeping Krogstad in his job, she draws his attention to how pretty the flowers on the tree look.
By Christmas Day, the tree is stripped of its ornaments and its candles have burnt out (a link with the symbol of light). By this point, Torvald has refused to keep Krogstad in his job and Nora feels sure that Krogstad will reveal all to him. The carefully maintained appearance of the happy marriage is disintegrating under the encroachment of truth.
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is traditionally viewed as a new beginning, and the Helmers at the beginning of the play are looking forward to just such a new beginning. Torvald is due to start a new and better paid job at the bank, and Nora anticipates being "free" from her debt. By the end of the play, Nora has indeed made a new beginning, though it is of a quite different nature, consisting in leaving Torvald and her children.
Other characters too enter new phases in their life. Mrs Linde and Krogstad begin their life together after long periods of suffering, and Dr Rank dies, which can be seen as an end or a transition, depending on one's viewpoint.

Theme Analysis |

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Appearance and reality
In A Doll's House, very little is as it first seems. Nora at first appears to be a silly, selfish girl, but then we learn that she has made great sacrifices to save her husband's life and pay back her secret loan. By the end of the play, she has realized her true strength and strikes out as an independent woman. Torvald, for all his faults, appears to be a loving, devoted and generous husband. But it later transpires that he is a shallow, vain man, concerned mainly with his public reputation, and too weak to deliver on his promise to shoulder any burden that would fall upon Nora. The Helmer marriage appears loving, but turns out to be based on lies, play-acting and an unequal relationship. Krogstad appears to be a bitter, vengeful extortionist until he is reunited with his true love, Mrs Linde, when he becomes more merciful and generous. Mrs Linde first strikes us as self-sufficient, but we learn that she feels "empty" now that she has no one to look after. Dr Rank acts the role of friend to Torvald and Nora, but we later discover the true motive for his daily visits: he is in love with Nora. Deception
The reason why there is such a gap between appearance and reality is that the characters are engaged in various sorts of deception. Often, this is to enable them to enjoy acceptance or approval by others and society in general. Nora deceives Torvald about the loan and hides her own strength, even lying to him about trivial matters such as eating sweets, because she intuits that he cannot tolerate the truth about their marriage. Torvald in return deceives Nora and himself when he claims, with apparent sincerity, that if he would take upon himself any burden that fell upon Nora. His claim appears to arise from his poor self-knowledge and tendency to fantasize about his and Nora's life together. Dr Rank pretends to Torvald that nothing is amiss with his health because Torvald cannot deal with anything disagreeable, such as death. The role of women
Ibsen's concerns about the position of women in society are brought to life in A Doll's House. He believed that women had a right to develop their own individuality, but in reality, their role was often self-sacrifical. Women were not treated as equals with men, either in relation to their husbands or society, as is clear from Torvald's horror of his employees thinking he has been influenced in a decision about Krogstad's job by his wife. Women could not conduct business or control their own money, for which they needed the authorization of the man who 'owned' them - husband, brother or father. Moreover, they were not educated for responsibility. Nora falls foul of both injustices, by taking out a loan without the authority of her husband or father, and by believing, out of ignorance of the world, that she could get away with forging a signature. In a sense, single women like Mrs Linde were freer than married ones, in that they had a right to the money they earned and did not have to hand it over to the man of the family. But the employment open to women was restricted and poorly paid, as we see in Mrs Linde's case: there was clerical work, teaching or domestic service. Also, women's work was grindingly dull, and likely to leave an intelligent woman like Mrs Linde "empty" inside. Marriage was a trap in another sense, too. Though divorce was available, it carried such a social stigma (not just for the woman, but also for her husband and family) that few women saw it as an option. This is why Torvald would rather have a pretend marriage, for the sake of appearances, than a divorce or an amicable parting. The female characters of Nora, Mrs Linde and the Nurse all have to sacrifice themselves to be accepted, or even to survive. Nora not only sacrifices herself in borrowing money to save Torvald, but she loses the children she undoubtedly loves when she decides to pursue her own identity. Mrs Linde sacrifices the true love of her life, Krogstad, and marries a man she does not love in order to support her dependent relatives. The Nurse has to give up her own child to look after other people's in order to survive financially. What is more, she sees herself as lucky to get her lowly job, since she has committed the sin of having a child out of wedlock. In Ibsen's time, women who had illegitimate babies were stigmatized, while the men responsible often escaped censure. Ibsen does not suggest solutions to what was called "the women question," his aim being rather to shine a spotlight on problems that few were willing to talk about. He left the task of finding answers to others. Letters
In a society in which difficult or 'taboo' topics were not discussed openly, much of the truth in A Doll's House is conveyed via letters and cards. Examples are Krogstad's letter to Torvald revealing the facts of Nora's loan; his subsequent letter retracting his threats and enclosing her bond; and Dr Rank's discreet visiting cards, marked only with a black cross, announcing his death. The individual and society
Victorian society is portrayed as a repressive influence on the individual. It has created a series of conventions and codes that the individual defies at his or her peril. In the character of the Nurse, Ibsen shows us how easy it would be for a person's entire life to be ruined through one youthful mistake - in her case, falling pregnant outside of marriage. Torvald defines his life by what society finds acceptable and respectable. He is more concerned about the attractive appearance of his wife and home than he is about his wife's happiness. When she tries to convince him to keep Krogstad in his job, his main concern is what the bank employees will think of him if they believe he has been influenced by his wife. And even after he has rejected Nora, he wants her to remain under his roof to preserve the image of a respectable marriage. Much of Krogstad's life has been affected by society's moral standards. He spent some time in disgrace after committing an "indiscretion," and resorts to blackmail in an attempt to keep his job as a mark of respectability. His threat of blackmail gains its power from the immense authority that individuals vested in society's moral standards: if nobody cared much what society thought, then Krogstad could tell all and no one would be harmed. Nora begins the play fulfilling a role that society prescribed for women - that of dutiful wife and mother. Her role is restricted to such activities as creating a beautiful home, meeting the needs of her husband and children, and singing and dancing prettily and seductively for her husband. Ibsen does not suggest that there is anything inherently wrong with such duties, but he does point out the dangers of having an individual's life defined by society in a way that ignores their personal identity and journey. In leaving Torvald and her children, she will outrage society and stigmatize herself. This is a terrible price to have to pay for self-fulfillment, but inevitable, given that society and the individual are so much at cross-purposes. Society wishes to preserve the status quo, whereas self-fulfillment often means pushing and breaking boundaries. Money
The nineteenth century saw huge social and economic changes. Society shifted from a largely rural agricultural community of 'landed gentry' and land workers, to urban communities based on manufacturing. More than ever before, what defined one's place in society was one's ability to make and control money. Those who controlled the money were the bankers and lawyers, like Torvald. They were almost invariably male. Their ability to control money enabled them to control others' lives, including defining morals. Torvald, because of his position at the bank, can afford to sit in moral judgment on Krogstad and Mrs Linde, and decide which of them should be allowed a job. The first interactions we see between Nora and Torvald are about money; she knows that if she behaves in a certain subservient way, Torvald will give her more money. She later uses similar manipulations on Dr Rank, drawing attention to the way in which women in an unequal society tend to barter sexual favors in return for money. Torvald teases Nora about being a spendthrift: this is his way of displaying his dominance over her, since he who controls the money controls the relationship. Nora's attempt to take partial control of the money in their marriage by taking out the loan ends in disaster, as Torvald feels morally shamed by her action. It has put him at the mercy of Krogstad and, it is implied, compromised his standing as a man and a moral member of society. Morality
The theme of morality relates closely to that of the individual and society, in that society defines the suffocating moral climate that A Doll's House satirizes. Nora begins to question society's morals when she realizes how it would criminalize her for forging her father's signature, an action that she believes to be morally acceptable in the circumstances, if legally reprehensible. The most heroic action of her life, her sacrifice to save her husband's life, becomes an unforgivable crime in the eyes of society and its dutiful representative, Torvald. It is not surprising that part of her journey of self-discovery at the play's end is to consist of finding out "who is right, the world or I." Before Ibsen revolutionized drama through his embrace of realism, many plays contained a character with the role of 'moral foil', a commentator on the actions of others. Ibsen partially subverts the notion of the 'moral foil' in the characters of Dr Rank and Mrs Linde. They arrive in the play at the same time, which alerts us to the fact that they share a dramatic purpose. To some extent, they are truth-bringers in the false setup of the Helmer marriage. Mrs Linde decides not to persuade Krogstad to recall his letter, as she believes it is time the Helmers faced the truth about their marriage. And Dr Rank talks to Nora as the intelligent person she is, not as the silly doll-child that Torvald prefers. But these characters turn out to be as fallible and morally compromised as most people are in real life. Mrs Linde has betrayed her true love, Krogstad, by marrying another man for money and security, an act which has left her "empty." And Dr Rank is not entirely the selfless friend to Torvald that he first appears to be: he visits because he is in love with Nora. Inheritance
Nineteenth-century breakthroughs in genetic science led to a growing interest in inherited disease and traits. A Doll's House contains several references to the idea that both physical disease and moral traits are passed down through generations. Torvald, after he reads Krogstad's first letter and rejects Nora, forbids her from bringing up their children as he thinks she will taint them morally. She herself is already convinced of this and has begun to distance herself from them. Torvald believes that Krogstad's children will be poisoned by their father's moral crimes. Dr Rank has inherited tuberculosis of the spine, the disease that kills him, from his father, who led a promiscuous life and contracted venereal disease. |

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1. Why did A Doll's House cause such controversy when it was first performed? Give your own view of the argument.
When the play was first performed in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1879, it provoked a storm. The theme of the play, a woman's right to individual self-fulfillment, was considered highly subversive in an age when women were not allowed to conduct business without the authority of a father or husband, and were considered to be their property. Women were not allowed to vote, and divorce, though allowed, carried a heavy social stigma and was available only when both partners agreed. The row about the play centered on whether Nora was right to leave her husband and children. Critics claimed that her decision to leave was unrealistic, since no "real" woman would do such a thing. Ibsen was forced to write a second ending, in which Nora decides that her children need her more than she needs her freedom, and stays with Torvald. Ibsen called it "a barbaric outrage," and insisted that it must only be used when necessary.
Ibsen's views differed from those held by many modern feminists, since he believed that women were inherently suited to being mothers and wives. However, he also felt that a husband and wife should live as equal partners, free to become their own human beings. This is a major theme of A Doll's House.
As in all his 'social' plays, Ibsen carefully avoids judging Nora's actions. He is concerned simply to place social problems before the audience. He thought that it was not a dramatist's job to identify ways of removing disease in the social system. He merely diagnoses, and leaves the cure to others. Modern critics and audiences will inevitably follow the critics of Ibsen's day in discussing whether or not it was necessary for Nora to leave in order to find her identity. But Ibsen's point is surely to show us why Nora felt that this was what she had to do, and why, conversely, Mrs Linde takes the opposite journey and gives up her independence to be with Krogstad. It is clear from Mrs Linde's case that Ibsen is not criticizing marriage as an institution, but pointing out that many marriages suffered similar problems to those of the Nora-Torvald union.
Since Ibsen's day, women have made great strides in gaining the choice to determine their role in relation to the family and society. However, the most cursory inquiries made of an audience that has just watched a performance of A Doll's House will confirm that the issues that caused such a stir in the nineteenth century continue to touch raw nerves today.
2. Why is A Doll's House is considered a landmark in the genre called realism?
Ibsen was one of a few pioneers of the new theatrical movement of realism, and accordingly he is often called the father of modern drama. We have become so used to seeing drama (whether on the stage or in film or television) founded on the principles of realism that it is easy to forget how revolutionary the concept was in Ibsen's day.
Before realistic plays such as A Doll's House (first performed in 1879) burst upon the scene, most European theatre fell into one of two genres: romanticism, or the French 'well-made play.' Romanticism placed royal or noble characters in heroic tragedies written in formal rhymed verse. The acting style was declamatory and unrealistic. The 'well-made play' aimed for more everyday characters and subject matter, and used prose dialogue, but contained little psychological insight into the characters and depended on elaborate and scarcely credible plots. There was no serious purpose conveyed by such plays, which were meant to entertain.
Realism gained ascendancy in Europe and America in the second half of the nineteenth century. It demanded stories and characters that might be found in real life, and shunned idealized situations, unnaturally heroic characters, and unlikely happy endings. The characters spoke in a naturalistic style and dialogue was written in prose. The growing interest in psychology during this period led to a strong focus on psychological insight into the characters' natures and motives, along with an emphasis on conflict and development of character. Serious social and ethical issues were commonly addressed in these plays.
The realistic nature of the play was supported by Ibsen's adoption of concepts outlined by the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BC) in his Poetics. Aristotle's classical 'unities' demanded that a drama should have only one plot, which should take place in a single day and be confined to a single locale. The events of A Doll's House cover about 60 hours (not the 24 stipulated by Aristotle) and are confined to a single locale, the Helmers' apartment. These factors create a sense of reality and place an almost claustrophobic focus on the characters' psychology within a confined space, intensifying the sense of restraint and repression defined by the plot.
A Doll's House, with its believable, everyday characters, and its sense of opening a door onto a real marriage facing common problems, shocked European theatre-goers and critics. Not only was this not what they were used to seeing in the theatre, but also addressed social problems that were under everyone's nose but that certain sectors of society liked to pretend did not exist. These included the hidden aspects of the outwardly respectable nineteenth-century marriage and the 'women question.'
3. How could the submissive, selfish and silly Nora of the first two acts transform herself into an independent woman by the end of the last act? Is the transformation realistic?
While Nora puts on a convincing performance of being a submissive, selfish and foolish woman during the first act, there are early signs that this is not the real her. When she asks Torvald for more money despite having just been on a spending spree, she appears selfish and grasping. But we soon discover, in her conversation with Mrs Linde, that she is not squandering the money to satisfy her own desires, but using it to pay off the loan she took out in order to save her husband's life. In doing so, she has denied herself new things so that her husband and children can have all they need. Her arranging the loan and the trip to Italy - and her subsequent careful management of money and of her secret - show an astonishing strength of character. In addition, she secretly takes jobs to pay off the loan, a step towards the independence she finally embraces. But in the first two acts, Nora does not dare to acknowledge her own strength, let alone use it. There are many reasons for this. Chief among them are that her beloved Torvald, and society in general, would not comfortably countenance such strength in a woman. So it is easier for Nora to keep her head below the parapet rather than risk the consequences of showing herself as she is.
Nora's submissiveness to Torvald is not all it seems. By playing the doll-child according to his wishes, she manipulates him into the role of indulgent father-figure. But in spite of her skill at 'managing' him, there is one instance in which she desperately wants him to adopt the manly and dominant role: she wants him to rescue her from the ruin caused by Krogstad's revelations. When he fails to provide the strength she needs, she realizes that she no longer loves him, as he is not the man she thought him. It is almost inevitable that she is forced to find that strength within herself. Her realization that she wants to pursue her independence is not so much a transformation as an awakening to a strength she has possessed all along.
4. In what way does A Doll's House explore social issues?
A Doll's House shines a searchlight on Victorian society, drawing attention to its hypocrisy and use of public opinion to suppress individuality. The critic Bjorn Hemmer, in an essay in The Cambridge Companion to Ibsen, wrote: "The people who live in such a society know the weight of 'public opinion' and of all those agencies which keep watch over society's 'law and order': the norms, the conventions and the traditions which in essence belong to the past but which continue into the present and there thwart individual liberty in a variety of ways."
Torvald lives by society's norms, and when faced with a choice of whether to support his wife or society, he sides with society. When he realizes that she has broken the law in forging her father's signature on the loan document, he never questions the morality of such a law: it is left to Nora to do that. His aim is to preserve the appearance of respectability and ensure his continued acceptance in society. He has become so shaped by society's conventions that he cannot see his wife's suffering. In The Cambridge Companion to Ibsen, Gail Finney writes that in Ibsen's own notes for this play, he notes that a mother in modern society is "like certain insects who go away and die when she has done her duty in the propagation of the race." This view is confirmed by Torvald's rejection of Nora when he discovers her secret; he says she is not fit to bring up their children if her reputation is tarnished. For Torvald, public life has obscured and overtaken private self. In order to find out who she is and what she wants, Nora has to reject the life that society prescribes for her as a wife and mother, and strike out on her own. "I am going to see," she tells Torvald in Act 3, "who is right, the world or I."
But this is not simple. The nineteenth century saw a huge shift from the old social order of self-improvement within a stable rural society to a new social order founded on money. But women at the time could not control money without the authority of the man who 'owned' them, be it husband, brother or father. Single and lone women like Mrs Linde had more control over their lives and money than married women, who were discouraged from taking jobs and had to surrender money matters to their husbands. But as Mrs Linde's story shows, having no male 'provider' brought its own problems.
In sum, women had little power. Power lay with people like Torvald, who is a banker and lawyer. Torvald is able to dictate the fate not only of his family but of Mrs Linde (by giving her a job) and Krogstad (by giving away his job). He is gratified by the prospect of sacking Krogstad because he disapproves of his morality. In effect, the Torvalds of this world defined morality. As we have seen with regard to Nora's crime, they also defined the law, and therefore, who was a criminal. It is worth noting that Ibsen based the episode of Nora's forgery on a similar 'crime' committed by a female friend of his, which ended tragically for her, so he was drawing attention to what he saw as a genuine social problem. He supported economic reform that would protect women's property and befriended European feminists.
Other social issues addressed in the play include how women should be educated, both for the responsibilities of family and for self-fulfillment; the right of women to define their role in the family and society; the degrading effects of poverty on self-fulfillment (as with Mrs Linde and the Nurse); and the scourge of venereal disease (as suffered by Dr Rank).
5. How do different characters use the words "free" and "freedom"? How does the use of these words change throughout the play?
It is Torvald who introduces the concept of freedom in the play, claiming that "There can be no freedom or beauty about a home life that depends on borrowing and debt." He defines freedom in economic terms, as befits an age where power depended upon money. He is also adopting society's values, as debt was disapproved of and considered a sign of moral degeneracy. The dramatic irony behind his words lies in the fact that Torvald would not have any life at all if his wife had not gone into debt, though he does not realize this.
Like Torvald, Krogstad sees freedom as moral respectability in the eyes of society. His job at the bank is the means by which he will "cut [himself] free" from the stigma of his "indiscretion" of forgery. The problem with this approach is that his "freedom" depends upon the whim of his employer, who also sits in moral judgment on him and can withdraw his job if he finds that he falls short in that respect.
Mrs Linde feels proud that by working hard, she was able to support her brothers and mother, and "I was privileged to make the end of my mother's life almost free from care." Like Torvald, she is defining freedom in economic terms. But she is operating at a lower economic level than he is. She is talking of being able to provide the necessities of life, whereas he is talking of the relative luxury of being free from debt.
In Act 1, Nora is delighted that soon she will have paid off her debt to Krogstad and will be "free from care, quite free from care; to be able to play and romp with the children; to be able to keep the house beautifully and have everything just as Torvald likes it!" At this point, she defines her freedom in terms of the very things that (as she later realizes) restrict her: her role as a submissive wife and mother.
By the end of Act 2, Krogstad's letter revealing Nora's debt and forgery of her father's signature is sitting in Torvald's letterbox. Nora, who fears yet hopes that Torvald will shield her by taking the entire blame upon himself, means to disappear or commit suicide, thereby saving him from disgrace. She tells him: "Then you will be free." Thus Torvald will maintain his respectability by means of Nora's obliterating herself from his world.
At the end of the play, Nora has been awakened to Torvald's narrow-mindedness and no longer sees freedom in terms of bondage to him or obliteration of herself. On the contrary, she defines freedom for herself and Torvald as complete independence from each other, as she leaves the marriage to forge a new life for herself: "I set you free from all your obligations. You are not to feel yourself bound in the slightest way, any more than I shall. There must be perfect freedom on both sides."
Major Themes
Doll's House:
The whole play takes place in one room. Until the last act, Nora is in every scene; she never seems to leave the room. The action of the play all comes to her. She is literally trapped in domestic comfort. She is given her “housekeeping” money by Helmer as though she is a doll in a doll's house. The play suggests that this treatment is condescending and not an appropriate way to treat one’s wife.
Gender:
This play focuses on the ways that women are perceived in their various roles, especially in marriage and motherhood. Torvald, in particular, has a very clear but narrow definition of women's roles. He believes that it is the sacred duty of a woman to be a good wife and mother. Moreover, he tells Nora that women are responsible for the morality of their children. In essence, he sees women as childlike, helpless creatures detached from reality on the one hand, but on the other hand as influential moral forces responsible for the purity of the world through their influence in the home.
Ideas of 'manliness' are present in more subtle ways. Nora's description of Torvald suggests that she is partially aware of the inconsistent pressures on male roles as much as the inconsistent pressures on female roles in their society. Torvald's own conception of manliness is based on the value of total independence. He abhors the idea of financial or moral dependence on anyone. His strong desire for independence may put him out of touch with the reality of human interdependence.
Frequent references to Nora's father often equate her with him because of her actions and her disposition. Although people think he gave Nora and Torvald the money for their trip to Italy, it was actually Nora. She has more agency and decision-making skills than she is given credit for. Nora seems to wish to enjoy the privileges and power enjoyed by males in her society. She seems to understand the confinement she faces simply by virtue of her sex.
Materialism:
Torvald in particular focuses on money and material goods rather than people. His sense of manhood depends on his financial independence. He was an unsuccessful barrister because he refused to take "unsavory cases." As a result, he switched jobs to the bank, where he primarily deals with money. For him, money and materialism may be a way to avoid the complications of personal contact.
Children:
Nora is called a number of diminutive, childlike names by Torvald throughout the play. These include "little songbird," "squirrel," "lark," "little featherhead," "little skylark," "little person," and "little woman." Torvald commonly uses the modifier "little" before the names he calls Nora. These are all usually followed by the possessive "my," signaling Torvald's belief that Nora is his. This pattern seems like more than just a collection of pet names. Overall, he sees Nora as a child of his.
The Helmer children themselves are only a borderline presence in the play, never given any dialogue to speak, and then only briefly playing hide-and-seek (perhaps a nod toward the theme of deception). Ibsen's alternate ending had Nora persuaded not to leave by the presence of the children. But the play as we have it does not really emphasize their importance. The story focuses on the parents.
Light:
Light is used to illustrate Nora's personal journey. After the turning point of Torvald's claim to want to take everything upon himself and while Nora is talking to Dr. Rank, the light begins to grow dark just as Nora sinks to new levels of manipulation. When Dr. Rank reveals his affection, Nora is jolted out of this fantasy world into reality and insists on bringing a lamp into the room, telling the doctor that he must feel silly saying such things with the light on. Light, enlightenment, and shedding light on something all function as metaphors or idioms for understanding.
Dress and Costume:
Nora's fancy dress for the party symbolizes the character she plays in her marriage to Torvald. Take note of when Nora is supposed to be wearing it and for whom. Note too that when she leaves Torvald in the last act, she first changes into different clothes, which suggests the new woman she is to become.
Religion:
The play takes place around Christmas. The first act occurs on Christmas Eve, the second on Christmas Day, and the third on Boxing Day. Although there is a great deal of talk about morality throughout the play, Christmas is never presented as a religious holiday. Moreover, religion is directly questioned later by Nora in the third act. In fact, religion is discussed primarily as a material experience. Once again, what normally are important values for people and their relationships—children, personal contact, and, here, religion—are subordinate to materialism and selfish motives.
Corruption:
Dr. Rank has inherited his tuberculosis from his father, who lived a morally questionable life, and in much the same way Nora worries that her morally reprehensible actions (fraudulently signing her father's name) will infect her children. Corruption, the play suggests, is hereditary.
The Life-Lie:
Are you really alive, if, like Nora, you are living in a delusional world? The question is important in judging how to respond to the play. Is the end of the play, for instance, the glorious triumph of individualism, the moment at which Nora really becomes herself, or is it a foolish, idealistic decision which is the beginning of the end of Nora's happiness?
ABOUT A DOLL”S HOUSE
A more obvious importance of A Doll’s House is the feminist message that rocked the stages of Europe when the play premiered. Nora’s rejection of marriage and motherhood scandalized contemporary audiences. In fact, the first German productions of the play in the 1880s used an altered ending, written by Ibsen at the request of the producers. Ibsen referred to this version as a “barbaric outrage” to be used only in emergencies.
The revolutionary spirit and the emergence of modernism influenced Ibsen’s choice to focus on an unlikely hero, a housewife, in his attack on middle-class values. Quickly becoming the talk of parlors across Europe, the play succeeded in its attempt to provoke discussion. In fact, it is the numerous ways that the play can be read and interpreted that make the play so interesting. Each new generation has had a different way of interpreting the book, from seeing it as feminist critique to taking it as a Hegelian allegory of the spirit’s historical evolution. This richness is another sign of its greatness.
Yet precisely what sort of play is it? George Steiner claims that the play is “founded on the belief…that women can and must be raised to the dignity of man,” but Ibsen himself believed it to be more about the importance of self-liberation than the importance of specifically female liberation—yet his contemporary Strindberg certainly disagreed, himself calling the play a “barbaric outrage” because of the feminism he perceived it as promoting.
There are many comic sections in the play—one might argue that Nora’s “songbird” and “squirrel” acts, as well as her early flirtatious conversations with her husband, are especially humorous. Still, like many modern productions, A Doll’s House seems to fit the classical definition of neither comedy nor tragedy. Unusually for a traditional comedy, at the end there is a divorce, not a marriage, and the play implies that Dr. Rank could be dead as the final curtain falls. But this is not a traditional tragedy either, for the ending of A Doll’s House has no solid conclusion. The ending notably is left wide open: there is no brutal event, no catharsis, just ambiguity. This is a play that defies boundaries.
Critical Essays
Theme
The interwoven themes of A Doll’s House recur throughout most of Ibsen’s works. The specific problem of this drama deals with the difficulty of maintaining an individual personality—in this case a feminine personality—within the confines of a stereotyped social role. The problem is personified as Nora, the doll, strives to become a self-motivated human being in a woman-denying man’s world.
Refusing to be considered a feminist, Ibsen nevertheless expressed his view of a double-standard society. As he once forced a female character in an earlier play, The Pillars of Society, to cry out, “Your society is a society of bachelor-souls!” he seems to have personified this male-oriented viewpoint by creating Torvald Helmer. In his notes for A Doll’s House, Ibsen writes that the background of his projected drama “is an exclusively masculine society with laws written by men and with prosecutors and judges who regard feminine conduct from a masculine point of view.” Since a woman is allegedly motivated out of love for her husband and children, it is unthinkable to her that laws can forbid acts inspired by affection, let alone punish their infraction. The outcome of this tension is that “the wife in the play is finally at her wit’s end as to what is right and wrong”; she therefore loses her foothold in society and must flee the man who cannot dissociate himself from the laws of society. She can no longer live with a husband who cannot accomplish the “wonderful thing,” a bridge of the mental gap which would bring his understanding and sympathies into agreement with her point of view.
It is quite impossible, however, to write a whole play with such a specific problem in mind. As characters and situations are formed by the dramatist’s imagination, a more general, abstract thesis develops, with the specific problem becoming only a part of the whole. Thus A Doll’s House questions the entire fabric of marital relationships, investigates the development of self-awareness in character, and eventually indicts all the false values of contemporary society which denies the worth of individual personality.
About the play
The thing which filled [Ibsen’s] mind was the individual man, and he measured the worth of a community according as it helped or hindered a man in being himself. He had an ideal standard which he placed upon the community and it was from this measuring that his social criticism proceeded.
Secondary to, and in connection with, his idea that the individual is of supreme importance, Ibsen believed that the final personal tragedy comes from a denial of love. From this viewpoint we see that Torvald is an incomplete individual because he attaches more importance to a crime against society than a sin against love.
When Nora quietly confronts her husband with “Sit down, Torvald, you and I have much to say to each other,” drama became no longer a mere diversion but an experience closely impinging on the lives of the playgoers themselves. With Ibsen, the stage became a pulpit, and the dramatist exhorting his audience to reassess the values of society became the minister of a new social responsibility.
Social lie
Is there anything more humiliating to a woman than to live with a stranger, and have children with him? The lie of the marriage institution decrees that she shall continue to do so, and the social conception of duty insists that for the sake of that lie she need be nothing else than a plaything, a doll, an unknown. "... our home has been nothing but a play-room. I've been your doll-wife here, just as at home I was Papa's doll--child" (Ibsen 976). Nora realizes how much she has been wronged, that she is only a doll for Helmer. She also says to him, "You have never loved me. You only thought it amusing to be in love with me." She decided that she has to leave a house. She wants to become independent. When Helmer reminds her about her "holiest duties" as mother and wife, she tells him that, "I have another duty equally sacred" (Ibsen 977). Nora wants to be independent, not only to be recognized as a mother and wife.

When Nora closes the door of the doll's house behind her, she opens a different door of new life for women. She brought new ideas of women's freedom in the family, and in society. She tried to tell us that nothing but women's freedom will make a true connection between man and woman. That will be a best time without lies, equal opportunities, and without shame.

This play shows us how hard it was being a woman, and not only at that time. I don't know how many Noras were in that society, but I'm sure that we have a lot of victims in our society too. There are a lot of women who are still victims of men. Nora Helmer for sure was ahead of her time, and many women wish that they had her courage. But someone has to make a first step - that was Nora.
Freedom
A woman of the Victorian period, Nora Helmer was both a prisoner of her time as well as a pioneer. In her society women were viewed as a inferior to men and were not provided full legal rights. Women of that era were expected to stay at home and attend to the needs of their spouse and children. Nora was a free spirit just waiting to spread her wings; her husband Torvald would constantly disallow the slightest pleasures that she aspired to have, such as macaroons.

Nora lived a life of lies in order to hold her marriage together. She kept herself pleased with little things such as telling Dr. Rank and Mrs. Linde; "I have such a huge desire to say-to hell and be damned!" (Isben 59) Just so she could release some tension that was probably building inside her due to all the restrictions that Torvald had set up, such as forbidding macaroons. The need for her to consume these macaroons behind her controlling husband's back was a way for her to satisfy her sense of needing to be an independent woman.
We all have wanted to go out on our own and fulfill our responsibility to ourselves. However our need to find our individuality can lead to our downfall our uprising. In Isben's play A Doll’s House, an estranged wife, Nora Helmer; an independent working woman, Kristine Linde; and a morally corrupt man, Nils Krogstad, had all suffered to become individuals in their own right and have taken accountability for their actions to achieve their freedom.

Becoming independent
The ending of Nora and Torvald’s marriage was inevitable. A true couple cannot connect when love and communication are absent, and without these vital necessities a marriage is empty. Nora and Torvald had to learn this before they could commit themselves to any human being. Nora had to understand that she could not rely on Torvald for her identity the rest of her life, and Torvald too had to understand that Nora was a person and he had to treat her as an equal. At first he only viewed Nora as a fulfillment for his need for a wife, but when she left he finally realized that he really did need her. “Empty! She is gone. The most wonderful thing of all” (72). Even though their marriage was shattered, both Torvald and Nora had to experience what they did to then grow and become truly independent themselves. If they were sincere about making their marriage work the two had to know who they were, before they could give themselves over to another person. Because they had not done this, Nora knew that she had “been living together with a strange man and had borne him three children” (70). Marriage is when two people become one, and if those two do not have any identity to bring to that marriage, then they do not successfully unite to make one.

The Struggle for Identity in A Doll's House

A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen, is a play that was written ahead of its time. In this play Ibsen tackles women's rights as a matter of importance. Throughout this time period it was neglected. A Doll's House was written during the movement of Naturalism, which commonly reflected society. Ibsen acknowledges the fact that in 19th century life the role of the woman was to stay at home, raise the children and attend to her husband. Nora Helmer is the character in A Doll House who plays the 19th woman and is portrayed as a victim. Michael Meyers said of Henrik Ibsen's plays: "The common denominator in many of Ibsen's dramas is his interest in individuals struggling for and authentic identity in the face of tyrannical social conventions. This conflict often results in his characters' being divided between a sense of duty to themselves and their responsibility to others."(1563) All of the aspects of this quote can be applied to the play A Doll House, in Nora Helmer's character, who throughout much of the play is oppressed, presents an inauthentic identity to the audience and throughout the play attempts to discovery her authentic identity.

The inferior role of Nora is extremely important to her character. Nora is oppressed by a variety of "tyrannical social conventions." Ibsen in his "A Doll's House" depicts the role of women as subordinate in order to emphasize their role in society. Nora is oppressed by the manipulation from Torvald. Torvald has a very typical relationship with society. He is a smug bank manager. With his job arrive many responsibilities. He often treats his wife as if she is one of these responsibilities. Torvald is very authoritative and puts his appearance, both social and physical, ahead of his wife that he supposedly loves. Torvald is a man that is worried about his reputation, and cares little about his wife's feelings.

Nora and Torvald's relationship, on the outside appears to be a happy. Nora is treated like a child in this relationship, but as the play progresses she begins to realize how phony her marriage is. Torvald sees Nora's only role as being the subservient and loving wife. He refers to Nora as "my little squirrel" (p.1565), "my little lark" (p.1565), or "spendthrift"(1565). To him, she is only a possession. Torvald calls Nora by pet-names and speaks down to her because he thinks that she is not intelligent and that she can not think on her own. Whenever she begins to voice an opinion Torvald quickly drops the pet-names and insults her as a women through comments like; "worries that you couldn't possibly help me with," and "Nora, Nora, just like a woman."(1565) Torvald is a typical husband in his society. He denied Nora the right to think and act the way she wished. He required her to act like an imbecile and insisted upon the rightness of his view in all matters.

Nora is a dynamic character in this play. Meyers quote is stating that Ibsen has characters who struggle with their "authentic identity." Nora is clearly an example of one of these characters. She goes through many changes and develops more than any other character. Nora, at the beginning and throughout most of the play, is "inauthentic character." An inauthentic identity is when a person believes their personality is identical to their behavior. However subconsciously they know that it is not true. Nora was inauthentic because her situation was all that she was ever exposed to. She is a grown woman that was pampered all her life by men. Nora was spoon-fed all of her life by her father and husband. She believes in Torvald unquestionably, and has always believed that he was her god or idol. She is the perfect image of a doll wife who revels in the thought of luxuries that she can afford because she is married. She is very flirtatious, and constantly engages in childlike acts of disobedience such as little lies about things such as whether or not she bought macaroons. Nora goes through life with the illusion that everything is perfect.

When a woman of that time loves as Nora thinks she does nothing else matters. She will sacrifice herself for the family. Her purpose in life is to be happy for her husband and children. Nora did believe that she loved Torvald and was happy. She had a passionate and devoted heart that was willing to do almost anything for her husband. At first she did not understand that these feelings were not reciprocated. Torvald does not want a wife who will challenge him with her own thoughts and actions. The final confrontation between the couple involves more oppression by Torvald, but by this time Nora has realized the situation he wishes to maintain. Torvald calls her a "featherbrained woman" (1606) and "blind, incompetent child " (1609) even though she saved his life. Nora expected Torvald to be grateful to her. This does not happen. When Torvald says, "Now you have wrecked all my happiness- ruined my future..."(1606) and "I'm saved!"(1606), Torvald exhibits his self-absorbed nature. The fury Nora saw after Torvald's opening of the letter showed Nora a strange man. Someone she had not been wife to, someone she did not love. Their marriage is fake and mutually beneficial because of their social status. They are not really in love. Nora says, "Yes. I am beginning to understand everything now."(1606) It is now that she can begin to apprehend her forgery was wrong, not because it was illegal, but because it was for an unworthy cause. This is when the readers see Nora embark into her transformation of her authentic character. Nora decides that the only way to fix the situation is to leave Torvald and her children and find herself independently.

Slowly Nora's character is forced to discontinue her inauthentic role of a doll and seek out her individuality, her new authentic identity. She comes to realize that her whole life has been a lie. She lived her life pretending to be the old Nora, and hid the changed woman she had become. The illusion of the old Nora continues well after she becomes a new person. When she realizes that responsibilities for herself are more important, Nora slams the door on not just Torvald but on everything that happened in her past. It took time to evolve into a new person, but after she did she became a person who could not stand to be oppressed by Torvald any longer. Nora says, "I've been your wife-doll here, just as at home I was Papa's doll-child."(1608) Ibsen uses the idea of a "doll" because a doll always maintains the same look, no matter what the situation. A doll must do whatever the controller has them do. Dolls are silent and never express opinions or actually accomplish anything without the aid of others. This doll is Nora's inauthentic identity.

Her authentic identity is in the process of being built while Torvald calls Nora his "little lark", his "little squirrel", and a child. Nora grows even stronger. It is complete and presented to the readers when Nora when she stands up to Torvald and does the opposite of what he wants. Nora tells Helmer at the end of the play that, "I have to try to educate myself. You can't help me with that. I've got to do it alone. And that's why I'm leaving you now" (1609). Nora tells Helmer, " . . . I'm a human being, no less than you-or anyway, I ought to try to become one." (1609) She does not tolerate Torvald's condescending tone or allow him to manipulate her any longer. Nora must follow her own convictions now and decide for herself what her life will be in the future. Her rebirth has led to her own independence. Another man will never again control her and she is now free of her controlling husband.

In conclusion Michael Meyers quote "The common denominator in many of Ibsen's dramas is his interest in individuals struggling for and authentic identity in the face of tyrannical social conventions. This conflict often results in his characters' being divided between a sense of duty to themselves and their responsibility to others." is applicable to Nora in A Doll House. Nora Helmer is a character struggling to realize her authentic identity. Her husband Torvald has always established her identity. Throughout the play Torvald was condescending towards Nora and forced her to act and look in a way that pleased him. Nora allowed Torvald to play dress up with her and no matter what the situation Nora has to consistently remain Torvald's quiet, happy, little doll. Nora ends her doll life by leaving her doll house to learn and explore on her own. She is no longer a doll under the control of her master.

Henrik Ibsen and Women's Rights Sometime after the publication of "A Doll's House", Henrik Ibsen spoke at a meeting of the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights. He explained to the group, "I must decline the honor of being said to have worked for the Women's Rights movement. I am not even very sure what Women's Rights are. To me it has been a question of human rights" ( ). "A Doll's House" is often interpreted by readers, teachers, and critics alike as an attack on chauvinistic behavior and a cry for the recognition of women's rights ( ). Instead its theme is identical to several of his plays written around the same time period: the characters willingly exist in a situation of untruth or inadequate truth which conceals conflict and contradiction ( ). In "A Doll's House", Nora's independent nature is in contradiction the tyrannical authority of Torvald.

This conflict is concealed by the way they both hide their true selves from society, each other, and ultimately themselves. Just like Nora and Torvald, every character in this play is trapped in a situation of unturth. In "Ghosts", the play Ibsen wrote directly after "A Doll's House", the same conflict is the basis of the play. Because Mrs. Alving concedes to her minister's ethical bombardment about her responsibilities in marriage, she is forced to conceal the truth about her late husband's behavior ( ). Like "A Doll's House", "Ghosts" can be misinterpreted as simply an attack on the religious values of Ibsen's society. While this is certainly an important aspect of the play, it is not, however, Ibsen's main point. "A Doll's House" set a precedent for "Ghosts" and the plays Ibsen would write in following years. It established a method he would use to convey his views about individuality and the pursuit of social freedom. The characters of "A Doll's House" display Henrik Ibsen's belief that although people have a natural longing for freedom, they often do not act upon this desire until a person or event forces them to do so.

Readers can be quick to point out that Nora's change was gradual and marked by several incidents. A more critical look reveals these gradual changes are actually not changes at all, but small revelations for the reader to see Nora's true independent nature. These incidents also allow the reader to see this nature has been tucked far under a facade of a happy and simple wife. In the first act, she admits to Christine that she will "dance and dress up and play the fool" to keep Torvald happy ( ). This was Ibsen's way of telling the reader Nora had a hidden personality that was more serious and controlling. He wants the reader to realize that Nora was not the fool she allows herself to be seen as. Later in the same act, she exclaims to Dr. Rank and Christine she has had "the most extraordinary longing to say: 'Bloody Hell!'" ( ). This longing is undoubtedly symbolic of her longing to be out of the control of Torvald and society. Despite her desire for freedom, Nora has, until the close of the story, accepted the comfort and ease, as well as the restrictions, of Torvald's home instead of facing the rigors that accompany independence. Ibsen wanted the reader to grasp one thing in the first act: Nora was willing to exchange her freedom for the easy life of the doll house.

Ibsen shows that it takes a dramatic event to cause a person to reevaluate to what extent he can sacrifice his true human nature. For Nora, this event comes in the form of her realization that Torvald values his own social status above love ( ). It is important to understand Nora does not leave Torvald because of the condescending attitude he has towards her. That was, in her eyes, a small price to pay for the comfort and stability of his home. In Bernard Shaw's essay on "A Doll's House", he expresses that the climax of the play occurs when "the woman's eyes are opened; and instantly her doll's dress is thrown off and her husband is left staring at her"( ). To the reader "it is clear that Helmer is brought to his senses" when his household begins to fall apart ( ). It is important that Shaw's grammar is not overlooked. The statements "the woman's eyes are opened..." and "Helmer is brought..." both indicate that the subject of the statement is not responsible for the action. Rather, some other force pushes them both into their new realization. Shaw's clever analysis directly adheres to Ibsen's view of a person's reluctant approach to freedom.

Although Nora is the central character of the play, she is not the only person to cross the turbulent thresh hold of freedom and bondage. Christine Linde leaves the symbolic harshness of winter and enters the warmth of Nora's place of captivity early in the first act. Christine gives the reader an initial impression of Nora's opposite. She is a pale, worn woman who is completely independent. Her conversation with Nora reveals that Christine was left poor and alone after her husband, for whom she did not care, passed away. Christine had accepted marriage with her husband because she reasoned her present situation left her no other option. She felt she had to take care of her two brothers and bedridden mother. If she had not married this wealthy man, she would have had her freedom, but it would have been a difficult struggle. Instead, she surrendered her freedom for an easier life. Eight years later, the death of her husband gave her enough of a jolt to set her back in control of her own life.

Torvald is certainly not the hero of "A Doll's House", but he is not the villain either ( ). He is just as trapped in the same facade of a happy house as Nora. He feigns security and unrelenting support for his wife, but this mask is quickly dropped when he finds himself in danger. The discovery of Krogsdad's letter leads Torvald to believe his life and social position are on the brink of destruction. Torvald spouts out ridiculous and stupid remarks as Nora's face draws tighter and colder with each statement. Nora is freed. When Torvald finishes babbling apologies and forgiveness after the second letter from Krogdad arrives, Nora takes control of the conversation and control of her life. Moments before Nora slams the door on her former life, Torvald's eyes are opened ( ). He pleads with Nora, "I have the strength to change", but it is already too late ( ). It takes the departure of his wife before Torvald can awaken to his shallow existence. The shake-up in Torvald's life ushers him across the discordant threshold of freedom and bondage.

"A Doll's House" is the most socially influential of Ibsen's plays ( ). It shocked the public into taking a much more serious look into Women's Rights. "Ghosts" and "An Enemy of the People" caused equally large shock waves but repercussions were not nearly as phenomenal. The three of these plays, regardless of the extent their social impact, have each earned the title of Classic. Each play is the result of the one written before it. In a letter to Sophie Aldersparre, Ibsen explained, "After Nora Mrs. Alving had to come" ( ). The same idea two years letter spawned "An Enemy of the People". The three plays share the common idea of characters existing in situations of falsehood until something causes them to reevaluate their existence. Instead of exploring their personal freedom every moment of their lives, Ibsen's characters had their eyes cast down on the path of least resistance. This is simply a more strict version of Ibsen's primary theme in all his works: the importance of the individual and the search for self-realization.
The growth of Nora

Torvald, being so busy with his life and his big ego, is never concerned about Nora's thoughts and feelings upon any subject at all. He assumes, like most men at the time, and still some today, that all Nora needs is protection and amusement, just like children that need to be sheltered from all harm, and taught how to behave properly. He orders her around throughout the whole play, and fancies showing her off to his friends, as a proud father would do so. Nora, when aware of the situation, realizes there is nothing else to do but to make him see her as a woman and an adult. When she tells him of the whole story, she is shocked to see his reaction. Then she realizes that while so busy doing tricks for him in order to make him happy, and always agreeing with him, behaving as she did with her father, she never really got to know the real Torvald. She tells him that: " I'm saying that we've never sat down seriously together and tried to get to the bottom of things". She never understood the real man; the stranger behind the husband and protector, as he never got to really know her, the woman behind the doll wife, the one he pampered and protected during the whole marriage. Her final discovery, that she had been living with a man who she has never known, and that she does not know herself at all, is the main motive for leaving her house.

Knowing that only she can make the changes she needs in order to grow, Nora walks out of the house to find and educate herself. With the realization that her marriage had been a lie, the world is different outside, and that there are people who will help her get through life, Nora decides to become her own person. As many women do today, Nora decides it is time to meet the world and to think for herself, with no other person to please but herself. To find oneself is the most important task in a person's life, and sooner or later, every woman comes to this realization. As time goes by, there is always hope the realization comes sooner than later.

* Irony in A Doll's House

A Doll's House contains many instances of irony. The main characters, Nora and Torvald, are especially involved in this.Many of the examples of irony in this play are types of dramatic irony. Dramatic irony usually refers to a situation in a play wherein a character's knowledge is limited, and he or she encounters something of greater significance than he or she knows. Throughout the play, most of the dramatic irony displayed is between Nora and Torvald, with Torvald being the character whose knowledge is limited. Early on in the play, when Mr. Krogstad is threatening to tell Torvald of Nora's secret, Nora pleads with him and asks him not to. She says to him that "It would be a rotten shame. That secret is all my pride and joy - why should he have to hear about it in this nasty, horrid way........hear about it from you" (1431). This is ironic in that her "pride and joy" is something that her husband would completely disapprove of.

Torvald tells Nora "No debts! Never borrow! There's something inhibited, something unpleasant, about a home built on credit and borrowed money" (1415). But nevertheless, she has borrowed money, and it is her pride and joy. She takes pride in the fact that she was able to borrow money, since women are not supposed to be able to, and that she has been able to save and work for enough money to be able to make the payments on her loan. What makes it even more joyful for her is that she knows this helped save her husband's life.

The most joyful thing in Nora's life is something her husband disapproves of. What makes this even more ironic is a statement Torvald makes to Nora after discovering her secret. He says to her "Oh, what a terrible awakening this is. All these eight years...this woman who was my pride and joy...a hypocrite, a liar, worse than that, a criminal!" (1462). He also uses the words "pride and joy" to describe Nora, just as she describes her secret.

Another illustration of irony is the way Nora treats her children as if they were dolls. This is situational irony because Nora is treated like a doll by her husband, and by her father when he was alive. She says "I passed out of Daddy's hands into yours. You arranged everything to your tastes, and I acquired the same tastes" (1465). She, in turn, influences her children in the same way. Nora buys clothes for the children, and shows them off to visitors, but she doesn't actually mother them, Anne Marie does. Nora leaves her home and family in the end because she realizes the way she has been treated, and she wants to be her own person in the future. But ironically, she treats her children like dolls, and leaves them there to be treated like dolls in the future. Another instance of dramatic irony again involves Torvald. He makes the statement "Oh, my darling wife, I can't hold you close enough. You know, Nora...many's the time I wish you were threatened by some terrible danger so I could risk everything, body and soul, for your sake" (1461). He clearly says that he wants Nora to need him, and to need his help. Then, when the time comes where she needs and expects his help, he does not come to her rescue. He tells her "Now you have ruined my entire happiness, jeopardized my whole future" (1462). After everything is clear, Torvald forgives her, which makes Nora realize that all he cares about is himself and he would have never helped her.

A Doll's House is rich in symbols and imagery, and things such as that. But the irony, more than anything in this play, is very clear. Some examples are more obvious than others, but it is all very clear. It is easy to see the irony in the characters situations. Basically, Torvald Helmer has very limited knowledge throughout the play. And therefore, he gets into situations in which he encounters things of greater significance than he anticipates.

Final conversation
The complementary nature of their characters, something which worked so well in their marriage, here leaves them incapable of understanding one another: she cannot fathom why he must always defer to social rules, and he cannot grasp why she wants to challenge them so drastically. So there is no common ground in their understanding of the issue. This point emerges in an exchange that is probably the most quoted passage from the final scene:

TORVALD: Nobody sacrifices his honour for the one he loves.

NORA: Hundreds and thousands of women have.

This quotation has been appropriated for all sorts of ideological concerns to the point where its dramatic complexity may be overlooked. For what's evident here is that these two have radically different notions of what honour means. Torvald is saying, in effect, no man will abandon his earned social position, the public recognition he has attained, his identity in the eyes of his fellow citizens for a personal relationship. Nora's response says, in effect, hundreds and thousands of women have surrendered their integrity (their personal sense of identity, their self-generated sense of themselves) in the service of society, specifically in marriage. The impasse here points to something above and beyond the gendered vocabulary in which it is presented: the clash between different aspects of the human identity, an issue that Ibsen is not concerned to solve but which this scene serves to illuminate and explore.
TRANSFORMATION OF NORA
Nora was a very doll-like character, more plastic than human. Nora showed very little sign of having an original thought of her own, and dumbly fondled her way along life to the condescending comments of her arrogant husband, Helmer. When confronted with the possibility of Helmer's death due to his own stubborn nature, she had taken a leap of faith into a loan of money, one that she would seemingly never pay back. She initially displayed this money as an act of goodwill on her father's behalf, mainly to supress undue commentary from Helmer. through this act we start to see the first hints of dynamic change in Nora. Events in the story lead to Nora's eventual independence quite rapidly upon the introduction of Christine, and the revelation of the truth surrounding her father's death and the loan. Nora's unsympathetic nature towards her father's death suggests a deeper material to her seemingly plastic shell. As the story progresses, we find many more forward changes in the personality of Nora. her longing to say ..."Bloody Hell"... is among the most prominent signs of mental change in her character. Her complete transformation is realized at the end of the play when she finally leaves her husband. This is a far cry from the Nora first introduced. Her dynamic change as a protagonist is a change of values, a revelation in the way she handles situations. She is now blunt and independent, no longer searching for her husbands mocking approval. Nora is the embodiment of change in our world, she represents a change of ideology from the old ways, to the new ways. In A Doll's House Ibsen connects Nora with the tides of change in humanity, showing that a change in ideology can result in the casting off of our dependence on the Helmers', who represent the status quo.
Comparing Characters in The Problem of Women

This article explores the evident contrasts between Nora and Mrs. Linde. As described it is a "doll meets not-doll" (94) relationship. The article goes into great detail about these differences and how they further the plot of the play. Mrs. Linde is used to make a sharp contrast, Nora is happy; Mrs. Linde is downcast and hesitant. She is pale and thin and much older than Nora is, even though they are the same age. Nora is happy because she has a family and Mrs. Linde desolate because she is alone. "From the moment Mrs. Linde enters the play, the significant juxtapositions are clearly established: a displaced, prematurely aged traveler steps into the world of the comfortably well-established young wife, the subdued diffidence of the intruder nicely balancing the effervescent garrulity of the other" (95). This article continues to discuss "the problem of women" in the play by relating the structure of the play to Ibsen's theme of freedom. It addresses the differences of freedom to Mrs. Linde and Nora. "Mrs. Linde is free to reshape her life, redefine her relationships and correlate her need with the needs of a lover and a family" (106). Whereas Nora is "free from but not yet free to. Ibsen leaves her at that moment of tragic crisis…"(107). Through this reading it is clear that the "problem of women" is a central theme throughout "A Doll's House."
The Tarantella Dance in A Doll's House

In A Doll's House, Ibsen uses many symbols. One symbol that is used to symbolize Nora's character; is a dance called the Tarantella. The Tarantella is a folk dance from southern Italy. It goes from an already quick tempo to an even quicker one, while alternating between major and minor keys. It is characterized by swift movements, foot tapping, and on the women's part, exaggerated ruffling of petticoats. It involves a lot of very fast spinning and jumping until one cannot dance anymore and is so exhausted they fall to the ground. It is in constant uncertainty, like Nora's character.

Just as the dancer is trying to get rid of the venom ( of the spider’s bite) , Nora was trying to rid herself of the deadly outside poison. The tarantella serves as her last chance to be Torvald's doll, to dance and amuse him. "HELMER: But, my dear Nora, you look so worn out. Have you been practising too much?" "NORA: No, I have not practised at all." "HELMER: But you will need to -" "NORA: Yes, indeed I shall, Torvald. But I can't get on a bit without you to help me; I have absolutely forgotten the whole thing" Rather, than taking care of the problem right away she let the music and her life continue to accelerate and spin out of control, just as the dance the Tarantella does.
Humanist view

Nora and Torvald both hide from each other. Although she hides from her husband, Nora starts seeking truth. She is playing the game on both sides. She hides and she seeks. She is trying to learn about life. Nora wants to find that there can be a life where she does not have to hide from the one she should be closest to. She is looking to find the world where a man will "treat her as a human being like himself, fully recognizing that he is not a creature of one superior species, Man, living with a creature of another and inferior species, Woman"(Shaw 143). Nora wants to be able to stop hiding. To be able to do that, she must be treated like an equal. That is something that Torvald will not do for her. He will not "sacrifice his honor for the one he loves"(Ibsen 548). Torvald will not bear all of Nora's weight, even though he does not want her to carry herself. Nora realizes that "[Torvald was] not the man [she] had thought [him]"(Ibsen 547). The most wonderful thing that could have happened to Nora would be to have Torvald take her problems upon him, and when that did not happen and she was abandoned, she must seek another life. She seeks a life where her sacred duties are "to [herself]"(Ibsen 546) before her husband and children. M. C. Bradbook acknowledges that "in leaving her husband Nora is seeking a fuller life as a human being"(87). Nora is leaving a life in hiding to find a life that is richer and more full than the one where she had to hide her true self.

In fact, the only character who ultimately does not gain another dimension of depth as the story goes on is Torvald, who seems to be so dogmatic about the man-woman dynamic that eventually ends up ruining his marriage, that he can't see the painfully evident hollowness that comes to be at the heart of his relationship with Nora. With wild mood swings that range from being pseudo-patriarchic to angry and hostile, and then right back again (after he learns about his wife's pardon), Torvald is painfully lacking in depth and integrity, and Nora ultimately does herself the justice long overdue her, by leaving him to finally realize the liberation she had secretly achieved so long before. He doesn't seem to realize the way he reveals his consideration of her as property, nor does he realize that, upon seeing it, she has the capacity to evaluate the relationship and determine that she's better off out of it. She leaves an unformed soul, determined to become a full person rather than the doll of the male figures in her life.
Ibsen is an advocate for the women he sees as being oppressed and under appreciated, and the believability of the tale allows readers to understand why. Perhaps, in this light, it's easy to see how the play might have impacted culture so much more greatly when it was written.
Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House painted the picture of a strong and independent woman standing up to an oppressive and dominating society; the lead character, Nora, abandons not only her husband, but her entire family, in an effort to discover herself and become a liberated woman. The play is known for its universal appeal, and the strong blow it dealt to a male-dominated society, by showing not only that a woman could break free from the restraints which society placed upon her, but that men were actually quite powerless in the face of a strong woman; Nora's husband, Torvald, is left weeping as she leaves him at the close of the play.