Nora Foil In A Doll's House
In the play, A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen depicts a foolish, fragile, very self-centered young lady that rarely has to do anything for to help herself. Nora is cared for and lavished by her husband now that he has obtained a new position at the bank. She has no concerns but her appearance in society and the role of woman in a man's eye. Nora's husband believed that borrowing was not an option because it would lead to debts. Therefore, he was the one in control of money; this included making money and spending it. However, when Nora's husband turned ill, she realized that she had to develop her own individuality. Nora could no longer pretend to be someone that others would like her to be rather than being her true self.
Helmer is a very prosperous businessman, what we would expect from a husband of the 19th century. He recently moved up in the banking industry and cared deeply for his wife Nora. Helmer cared so …show more content…
deeply for Nora that she could at like a doll, very fragile, and sheltered from society, always kept nicely done up like a doll should be. Helmer did not allow his wife to hold a job so he provided her with money she needed to purchase items. "Bought, you say? All that there? Has the little spending thrift been out throwing money around again" (Ibsen 785)? Because of Helmers position at the bank, it allowed Nora to act foolishly and arrogant. She became silly with spending and concentrated more so on what society thought of her. "Oh yes, Torvald, we can squander a little now. Now that you've got a big salary and are going to make piles and piles of money" (Ibsen 785). Nora did not understand the concept of her actions of being self-centered and care-free. She relied on her husband to take care of her financially and just wanted to think about lavishing herself and the children now that her husband made more money. Little did Nora know that to purchase items it required money, she had only the money that was provided to her by her husband and therefore did not realize the consequences of borrowing because it was always handed to her.
Nora lives a carefree life, she has no outlook on the struggles of women working in a man's world to make ends meet, that is until she is visited by Mrs. Linde. Nora is visited by an old friend and hardly recognizes her. Nora goes on and on about how blessed she is and fortunate she is, "Oh, these last eight years have been a happy time, believe me" (Ibsen 789). Nora realizes after much time that women are not treated as equals in a man's working environment. She discovers that Mrs. Linde is widowed and her husband left her with nothing. Mrs. Linde lost everything and has to work for everything she has with no one to support her as Nora has. Nora was speechless to not know how something like this could happen. When she asked Mrs. Linde how could it be that she had been left with nothing, not even food to feed on, Mrs. Linde replied back with, "Oh, sometimes it happens, Nora" (Ibsen 790). This is an issue for Nora because she knows nothing of the hardships a woman must endure when they have nothing. She has never been out of money or faced with a hardship. Nora lived her life as a housewife, and with Mrs. Linde's visit, she caught a glimpse of what it would be like outside of her dollhouse and have to work for everything she would need. "Nora's exit from her dollhouse has long been the principal international symbol for women's issues, including many that far exceed the confines of her small world" (Templeton).
As the visit with Mrs.
Linde progressed, Nora found herself venturing outside of her comfort zone by discussing what lead up to her husband's sickness. At this point in Nora's conversation, we see her trying to become equal to Mrs. Linde by expressing her ill-fated encounter. "Mrs. Linde has a particularly crucial role in the drama, for she, far more than Torval, is Nora's Foil" (Gelber). Nora felt comfortable for the first time that she was not alone in this society. She felt that Mrs. Linde could be sympathetic to her situation. Nora went on to explain to her husband taking on several jobs to make ends meet, so she too took on odd jobs such as needlework, crocheting, embroidery more housewife jobs too. She continued to explain that her husband became ill from so much work that the doctors advised it was essential for him to travel south. This was also the time that her father became sick and died. What Nora doesn't demonstrate to Mrs. Linde is that the odd jobs taken were to pay for the loan taken out behind Torvalds back
illegally.
Women were not treated as equals; they could not take out loans without their husband's approval. "A wife can't barrow without her husband's consent" (Ibsen 793) Had Nora asked Helmer for his approve on a loan for travel, he would think it was frivolous. Helmer thought that loans would be demoralizing to a man and his duty to provide for his family. Nora quickly learned of some independence and realized with a little business knowledge she could gain access to money without legally borrowing the money. Due to the loan that needed to be taken out to pay for the trip to Italy, Nora worked odd jobs and scraped money together as she could. Since women could not conduct business, she went as far as to spend only half of what her husband would give her on clothing purchasing simple and cheap outfits. Nora actually began to enjoy working for money, she found herself locked in a room for hours making copies. "But still it was wonderful fun sitting and working like that, earning money. It was almost like being a man" (Ibsen 795). Women found it very difficult to obtain a job and when they did it was usually petty jobs not fit for a man. Mrs. Linde not only learns of Nora getting this loan behind Torvald's back through her ramblings but in the legal process of obtaining it, how she was forced, due to the circumstances, to forge her father's signature so that she could get the money in time to save her husband's life.
Pretending was not an option for Nora; she could no longer sit back and watch her husband become iller. She took matters into her own hands. Since women were not allowed to borrow in addition to many other things, she illegally borrowed by forging her father's signature. Little did Nora realize that by forging her father's signature, though with good intentions at mind, this would make her a target for blackmail. Nora was just not educated well enough for this type of responsibility. Krogstad knows of Nora's forgery and is prepared to use it against her. Nora has never been in trouble and doesn't know the first thing about what she has done. Her intentions were to help her father and to do so at any cost. Unfortunately, Krogstad uses her good intentions against her by demanding that he keep his job or else her secrete would be told to her husband. "That's because you haven't the will to—but I have the means to make you" (Ibsen 802). The perception Nora has on the society is full of innocence and is very carefree. Never did Nora imagine herself seeking independence to help her husband could tear her family apart. Against all odds to keep her secret from her husband and to keep her husband from thinking less of her as a wife and what society would think, she had to convince her husband to allow Krogstad to keep his job.
Nora began to question the morals of society when she realizes how she could be criminalized for forging her father's signature, an action that she thought to be morally acceptable in the circumstances, if legally reprehensible. So she tries to convince her husband to let Krogstad keep his job so that Krogstad would keep her secret. However, Helmers main concern is what the bank employees will think of him if they believed that his wife had influenced him. Helmer was determined to fire Krogstad because he knew of an illegal action that Krogstad was involved in and could not have an unfaithful employee. This would not look well for him at the bank and would affect what people saw of him as a person. It was important to Helmer that he upholds the image of an honest banker and has a respectable marriage. Helmer was a believer in honesty and integrity; actions taken or allowed in public can be depicted in the household. Krogstad would not keep his job at the bank; in Helmers' eyes, he is a liar and a cheat that deceives all sides. He felt that Krogstad could not be trusted and in no way could earn any kind of trust back. "That kind of atmosphere of lies infects the whole life of a home. Every Breath the children take in is filled with germs of something degenerate" (Ibsen 807).
The type of atmosphere that Helmer was describing was the same type of environment he was living. Nora was deceitful and kept secrets from him. Though she did this out of love she claims, she still did it to try to prove a point, that women are not worthless housewives. She sought out independence and a purpose. Society wishes to preserve the status quo, whereas self-fulfillment often means pushing and breaking boundaries. Nora did this by going behind her husbands back and trying to help and retain that responsibility of her obligation to pay back the debt. She no longer wanted to live the life of someone that need to rely on her husband. She wanted to make a stand and be bigger than what society thought a woman in the 19th century should be. When her husband found out of her wrongdoing from the letter Krogstad had left, Nora made many frivolous attempts at keeping him from reading it. Helmer was beside himself and could not believe his reading, he was furious; "a hypocrite, a liar—worse, worse—a criminal! How indefinitely disgusting it all is! The shame" (Ibsen 835)! Everything that he had spoken of about Krogstad was also true of his perfect doll. Helmer idolized Nora, and put her on a pedestal just as society expected of him, he looked at her like his pride and joy and she represented her role as a wife well. Helmer proceeds to blame her for his entire future to be wrecked. "Now you've wrecked all my happiness—ruined my whole future" (Ibsen 835).
Both Helmer and Nora throughout the course of this play pretend to be someone they are not. Both Helmer and Nora "shared the ambition to climb the social ladder—Nora, by managing the domestic and social end of their lives and Torvald, by managing their fiscal as well as their ethical affairs"(Kelly) Helmer is looked at as a successful upcoming bank manager in society and treats a women with respect, dignity and lavishes her. Only later through the play when Helmer discovers Nora's secret he unleashes a different side of him. Very verbal, downgrading and self-centered, he is only worried about how her wrongdoing will affect him and how he may be looked at. "I could be falsely suspected as your accomplice. They might even think that I was behind it—that I put you up to it. And all that I can thank you for—you that I've coddled the whole of our marriage. Can you see now what you've done to me" (Ibsen 836)? Nora pretended to be happy in her marriage, caring for her husband and stand-up women for her husband. When in reality, she was seeking that individualism, freedom from her marriage. She no longer wanted her life to be defined by what society found acceptable and respectable any longer.
Helmer is a very prosperous businessman, what we would expect from a husband of the 19th century. He recently moved up in the banking industry and cared deeply for his wife Nora. Helmer cared so …show more content…
deeply for Nora that she could at like a doll, very fragile, and sheltered from society, always kept nicely done up like a doll should be. Helmer did not allow his wife to hold a job so he provided her with money she needed to purchase items. "Bought, you say? All that there? Has the little spending thrift been out throwing money around again" (Ibsen 785)? Because of Helmers position at the bank, it allowed Nora to act foolishly and arrogant. She became silly with spending and concentrated more so on what society thought of her. "Oh yes, Torvald, we can squander a little now. Now that you've got a big salary and are going to make piles and piles of money" (Ibsen 785). Nora did not understand the concept of her actions of being self-centered and care-free. She relied on her husband to take care of her financially and just wanted to think about lavishing herself and the children now that her husband made more money. Little did Nora know that to purchase items it required money, she had only the money that was provided to her by her husband and therefore did not realize the consequences of borrowing because it was always handed to her.
Nora lives a carefree life, she has no outlook on the struggles of women working in a man's world to make ends meet, that is until she is visited by Mrs. Linde. Nora is visited by an old friend and hardly recognizes her. Nora goes on and on about how blessed she is and fortunate she is, "Oh, these last eight years have been a happy time, believe me" (Ibsen 789). Nora realizes after much time that women are not treated as equals in a man's working environment. She discovers that Mrs. Linde is widowed and her husband left her with nothing. Mrs. Linde lost everything and has to work for everything she has with no one to support her as Nora has. Nora was speechless to not know how something like this could happen. When she asked Mrs. Linde how could it be that she had been left with nothing, not even food to feed on, Mrs. Linde replied back with, "Oh, sometimes it happens, Nora" (Ibsen 790). This is an issue for Nora because she knows nothing of the hardships a woman must endure when they have nothing. She has never been out of money or faced with a hardship. Nora lived her life as a housewife, and with Mrs. Linde's visit, she caught a glimpse of what it would be like outside of her dollhouse and have to work for everything she would need. "Nora's exit from her dollhouse has long been the principal international symbol for women's issues, including many that far exceed the confines of her small world" (Templeton).
As the visit with Mrs.
Linde progressed, Nora found herself venturing outside of her comfort zone by discussing what lead up to her husband's sickness. At this point in Nora's conversation, we see her trying to become equal to Mrs. Linde by expressing her ill-fated encounter. "Mrs. Linde has a particularly crucial role in the drama, for she, far more than Torval, is Nora's Foil" (Gelber). Nora felt comfortable for the first time that she was not alone in this society. She felt that Mrs. Linde could be sympathetic to her situation. Nora went on to explain to her husband taking on several jobs to make ends meet, so she too took on odd jobs such as needlework, crocheting, embroidery more housewife jobs too. She continued to explain that her husband became ill from so much work that the doctors advised it was essential for him to travel south. This was also the time that her father became sick and died. What Nora doesn't demonstrate to Mrs. Linde is that the odd jobs taken were to pay for the loan taken out behind Torvalds back
illegally.
Women were not treated as equals; they could not take out loans without their husband's approval. "A wife can't barrow without her husband's consent" (Ibsen 793) Had Nora asked Helmer for his approve on a loan for travel, he would think it was frivolous. Helmer thought that loans would be demoralizing to a man and his duty to provide for his family. Nora quickly learned of some independence and realized with a little business knowledge she could gain access to money without legally borrowing the money. Due to the loan that needed to be taken out to pay for the trip to Italy, Nora worked odd jobs and scraped money together as she could. Since women could not conduct business, she went as far as to spend only half of what her husband would give her on clothing purchasing simple and cheap outfits. Nora actually began to enjoy working for money, she found herself locked in a room for hours making copies. "But still it was wonderful fun sitting and working like that, earning money. It was almost like being a man" (Ibsen 795). Women found it very difficult to obtain a job and when they did it was usually petty jobs not fit for a man. Mrs. Linde not only learns of Nora getting this loan behind Torvald's back through her ramblings but in the legal process of obtaining it, how she was forced, due to the circumstances, to forge her father's signature so that she could get the money in time to save her husband's life.
Pretending was not an option for Nora; she could no longer sit back and watch her husband become iller. She took matters into her own hands. Since women were not allowed to borrow in addition to many other things, she illegally borrowed by forging her father's signature. Little did Nora realize that by forging her father's signature, though with good intentions at mind, this would make her a target for blackmail. Nora was just not educated well enough for this type of responsibility. Krogstad knows of Nora's forgery and is prepared to use it against her. Nora has never been in trouble and doesn't know the first thing about what she has done. Her intentions were to help her father and to do so at any cost. Unfortunately, Krogstad uses her good intentions against her by demanding that he keep his job or else her secrete would be told to her husband. "That's because you haven't the will to—but I have the means to make you" (Ibsen 802). The perception Nora has on the society is full of innocence and is very carefree. Never did Nora imagine herself seeking independence to help her husband could tear her family apart. Against all odds to keep her secret from her husband and to keep her husband from thinking less of her as a wife and what society would think, she had to convince her husband to allow Krogstad to keep his job.
Nora began to question the morals of society when she realizes how she could be criminalized for forging her father's signature, an action that she thought to be morally acceptable in the circumstances, if legally reprehensible. So she tries to convince her husband to let Krogstad keep his job so that Krogstad would keep her secret. However, Helmers main concern is what the bank employees will think of him if they believed that his wife had influenced him. Helmer was determined to fire Krogstad because he knew of an illegal action that Krogstad was involved in and could not have an unfaithful employee. This would not look well for him at the bank and would affect what people saw of him as a person. It was important to Helmer that he upholds the image of an honest banker and has a respectable marriage. Helmer was a believer in honesty and integrity; actions taken or allowed in public can be depicted in the household. Krogstad would not keep his job at the bank; in Helmers' eyes, he is a liar and a cheat that deceives all sides. He felt that Krogstad could not be trusted and in no way could earn any kind of trust back. "That kind of atmosphere of lies infects the whole life of a home. Every Breath the children take in is filled with germs of something degenerate" (Ibsen 807).
The type of atmosphere that Helmer was describing was the same type of environment he was living. Nora was deceitful and kept secrets from him. Though she did this out of love she claims, she still did it to try to prove a point, that women are not worthless housewives. She sought out independence and a purpose. Society wishes to preserve the status quo, whereas self-fulfillment often means pushing and breaking boundaries. Nora did this by going behind her husbands back and trying to help and retain that responsibility of her obligation to pay back the debt. She no longer wanted to live the life of someone that need to rely on her husband. She wanted to make a stand and be bigger than what society thought a woman in the 19th century should be. When her husband found out of her wrongdoing from the letter Krogstad had left, Nora made many frivolous attempts at keeping him from reading it. Helmer was beside himself and could not believe his reading, he was furious; "a hypocrite, a liar—worse, worse—a criminal! How indefinitely disgusting it all is! The shame" (Ibsen 835)! Everything that he had spoken of about Krogstad was also true of his perfect doll. Helmer idolized Nora, and put her on a pedestal just as society expected of him, he looked at her like his pride and joy and she represented her role as a wife well. Helmer proceeds to blame her for his entire future to be wrecked. "Now you've wrecked all my happiness—ruined my whole future" (Ibsen 835).
Both Helmer and Nora throughout the course of this play pretend to be someone they are not. Both Helmer and Nora "shared the ambition to climb the social ladder—Nora, by managing the domestic and social end of their lives and Torvald, by managing their fiscal as well as their ethical affairs"(Kelly) Helmer is looked at as a successful upcoming bank manager in society and treats a women with respect, dignity and lavishes her. Only later through the play when Helmer discovers Nora's secret he unleashes a different side of him. Very verbal, downgrading and self-centered, he is only worried about how her wrongdoing will affect him and how he may be looked at. "I could be falsely suspected as your accomplice. They might even think that I was behind it—that I put you up to it. And all that I can thank you for—you that I've coddled the whole of our marriage. Can you see now what you've done to me" (Ibsen 836)? Nora pretended to be happy in her marriage, caring for her husband and stand-up women for her husband. When in reality, she was seeking that individualism, freedom from her marriage. She no longer wanted her life to be defined by what society found acceptable and respectable any longer.