Doll House Essay

Imagine that you were hiding something, something that you don’t want anyone else to know. In order to keep it hidden, you act like nothing is wrong, and you go on with your normal life. That is exactly what Nora Helmer does in the play,
A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen. For most of her marriage, Nora has been pretending to be someone she’s not. She conforms to
Torvald’s beliefs because she doesn’t want him to stop loving her. At the end of the play, Nora realizes that all she is, is a doll in his house and questions whether Torvald really loves her or not. In the beginning of the story, Nora seems happy.
She responds affectionately to Torvald’s teasing, speaks with excitement about the extra money his new job will provide, and takes pleasure in the company of her children and friends. She does not seem to mind her doll­like existence, in which she is treated as inferior.
As the play progresses, Nora reveals that she is not just a “silly girl,” as Torvald calls her.
The many years of secret labor put into paying off her debt she obtained by illegally taking out a loan to save Torvald’s life, shows that she is understands the business details related to it, and that she is intelligent and independent and much more than a “doll” to play with.
Nora defies Torvald in small yet meaningful ways; by eating macaroons and then lying to him about it, for instance. She also swears, apparently just for the pleasure she derives from minor rebellion against societal standards.
Krogstad’s blackmail and the trauma that follows do not change Nora’s nature; they open her eyes to her unfulfilled and underappreciated potential. Torvald’s severe and selfish reaction after learning of Nora’s deception and forgery is the final catalyst for Nora’s awakening. “I have

been performing tricks for you, Torvald.” Nora comes to realize that in addition to her literal dancing and singing tricks, she has been putting on a show throughout her marriage.
She has pretended to be someone she is not in order to fulfill the role that Torvald, her father, and society at large have expected of her. As the drama unfolds, and as Nora’s awareness of the truth about her life grows, her need for rebellion escalates, culminating in her walking out on her husband and children to find independence.
Throughout the story, Nora acts like someone she’s not. She tries to please Torvald and others by fulfilling their expectations of her. All the while, she is realizes who she really is and that there is much more to her than being Torvald’s “doll”. She finally realizes that for eight years she had been conforming to Torvald’s beliefs, too afraid to do otherwise. It was not until the last scene in the play that Nora comes to life, learning the answers to her questions and that her assumptions were true: appearances do not always depict reality.