Nora's Patriarchy
To be or not to be. That is the questions that plagues Nora’s whole existence. On the one hand should she be who she feels she is, despite her being wrong in the world’s eyes, or should she just give into society's expectations of her and be a naïve mother and wife who doesn’t have much purpose but the ones that were given to her by her dominant male figures in her life. Since an early age Nora felt like a doll or something less. Nora remembers the times her father would play with her, “He used to call me his doll-child, and he played with me the way I played with my dolls” she is aware the position she holds in the patriarchy. Torvald and Nora appear to share a idealistic marriage and family life. This perfect image is terrorized when Nora's act of forgery is in jeopardy of being disclosed. The following episodes that take place leads Nora to slowly realize that
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their marriage and lives has all been sculpted by illusions, and she is soon left doubtful about what is right and wrong. In the beginning of the play, Nora was in a hallucination state, believing herself to be the ideal mother and wife. She acts out this role fully, charming her husband with pretty tricks and amusing the children. Her fidelity to her husband and naïve understanding of the world makes her do something that she feels was just and would be greatly appreciated when the time came.
The author shows us society's view on the position of women in those times. Women were not treated as equals with men, they often had to make sacrifices to keep the family well and happy, such sacrifices include trading the all the wonders in their minds to live a life of conformity. Nora could not conduct business and was given an allowance for home supplies, in
general women needed the permission of the man who took care of them; husband, brother or father. Also they were not educated for responsibility, when something wrong was done by the wife it was the man who took care of her that was at fault, in this case Torvalds. The man is responsible for instilling values in women. Nora Decided her fate by taking out a loan without the authority of her father or husband, and by believing, out of ignorance of the world, that she could get away with forging a signature.
In order for Nora to pay the loan that she owed to the bank, Nora saved money that Torvald gave her for dresses, and she also found a little job. Nora says, “Last winter I was lucky enough to get a lot of copying to do; so I locked myself up and sat writing every evening until quite late at night. Many a time I was desperately tired; but all the same it was a tremendous pleasure to sit there working and earning money. It was like being a man.” When Nora says she felt like a man she is saying that she enjoyed the responsibility of being independent just like a man, it gave her a sense of purpose in life besides the one that was planned by her father and husband. Nora’s appearance of her being a doll starts to diminish as time goes on, and she starts to realize the wonderful thing will never happen.
Nora is a non conformist. She can't believe in the law because “according to it a woman has no right to spare her old dying father, or to save her husband’s life. I can’t believe that.” Nora is also confused with religion, she doesn’t know anything “but what the clergyman said.” She also acknowledges that most people in society would agree with with Torvald but that she can no longer continue life by what people or books say. After Torvald found the letter Nora wrote to
him, she started to tell him how she really felt about life.
Nora’s desertment of her kids can be interpreted as an act of self- sacrifice. Despite Nora’s great love for her kids, causes her to do what no mother would want; to abandon her kids but her fear of corrupting them with her naive views of the world,she chooses to leave them. She truly believes that the caretaker will be a better mother than her and that leaving her children is in their best interest because she needs to discover what's right and wrong in the world, instead of going with what the men in the world expect. The main reason why Nora left Torvald was because the wonderful thing never happened. the wonderful thing was going to be the day that Torvald finds out about Nora’s loan and accepted all the repercussions that came with it. but according to the following quote it’s far from it, Torvald says to her “Miserable creature – what have you done?” Nora replies “Let me go. You shall not suffer for my sake.”Meaning that Torvald didn’t respond how she hoped, and that she didn’t want him to suffer for what she thought was a noble
act.
Her final disappointment came when the 'wonderful thing' did not happen and instead Torvald worries about his own reputation. "You've never loved me, you've only found it pleasant to be in love with me." Nora tells Torvald. Torvald and Nora's lives have been formed by different illusions. Nora had believed herself to be the ideal wife and mother, and abides by her own standards, trusting that the law will allow criminals acts go unpunished because their was good intent. These illusions were all shattered when she learns from Torvald and Krogstad that the law does not care if it was in good deed; or to save a loved one. Nora became aware that her
forgery has made her a criminal, and that her deception can corrupt and poison her children. In despair Nora hangs on to the idea of Torvald as the ideal mate who will protect her at any costs.
Torvald's unforeseen outburst and worry for his own reputation forces her to tackle reality. After all these disillusions and the wonderful thing never happening, Nora makes up her mind to leave him to pursue her own life of reality and to discover “who is wrong the world or I.” Then all we hear is the door slam.The last sound in the play symbolizes Nora’s awakening where she starts a new chapter in her life. It’s a bold statement saying that she will no longer be dominated. when one door closes another one opens.
their marriage and lives has all been sculpted by illusions, and she is soon left doubtful about what is right and wrong. In the beginning of the play, Nora was in a hallucination state, believing herself to be the ideal mother and wife. She acts out this role fully, charming her husband with pretty tricks and amusing the children. Her fidelity to her husband and naïve understanding of the world makes her do something that she feels was just and would be greatly appreciated when the time came.
The author shows us society's view on the position of women in those times. Women were not treated as equals with men, they often had to make sacrifices to keep the family well and happy, such sacrifices include trading the all the wonders in their minds to live a life of conformity. Nora could not conduct business and was given an allowance for home supplies, in
general women needed the permission of the man who took care of them; husband, brother or father. Also they were not educated for responsibility, when something wrong was done by the wife it was the man who took care of her that was at fault, in this case Torvalds. The man is responsible for instilling values in women. Nora Decided her fate by taking out a loan without the authority of her father or husband, and by believing, out of ignorance of the world, that she could get away with forging a signature.
In order for Nora to pay the loan that she owed to the bank, Nora saved money that Torvald gave her for dresses, and she also found a little job. Nora says, “Last winter I was lucky enough to get a lot of copying to do; so I locked myself up and sat writing every evening until quite late at night. Many a time I was desperately tired; but all the same it was a tremendous pleasure to sit there working and earning money. It was like being a man.” When Nora says she felt like a man she is saying that she enjoyed the responsibility of being independent just like a man, it gave her a sense of purpose in life besides the one that was planned by her father and husband. Nora’s appearance of her being a doll starts to diminish as time goes on, and she starts to realize the wonderful thing will never happen.
Nora is a non conformist. She can't believe in the law because “according to it a woman has no right to spare her old dying father, or to save her husband’s life. I can’t believe that.” Nora is also confused with religion, she doesn’t know anything “but what the clergyman said.” She also acknowledges that most people in society would agree with with Torvald but that she can no longer continue life by what people or books say. After Torvald found the letter Nora wrote to
him, she started to tell him how she really felt about life.
Nora’s desertment of her kids can be interpreted as an act of self- sacrifice. Despite Nora’s great love for her kids, causes her to do what no mother would want; to abandon her kids but her fear of corrupting them with her naive views of the world,she chooses to leave them. She truly believes that the caretaker will be a better mother than her and that leaving her children is in their best interest because she needs to discover what's right and wrong in the world, instead of going with what the men in the world expect. The main reason why Nora left Torvald was because the wonderful thing never happened. the wonderful thing was going to be the day that Torvald finds out about Nora’s loan and accepted all the repercussions that came with it. but according to the following quote it’s far from it, Torvald says to her “Miserable creature – what have you done?” Nora replies “Let me go. You shall not suffer for my sake.”Meaning that Torvald didn’t respond how she hoped, and that she didn’t want him to suffer for what she thought was a noble
act.
Her final disappointment came when the 'wonderful thing' did not happen and instead Torvald worries about his own reputation. "You've never loved me, you've only found it pleasant to be in love with me." Nora tells Torvald. Torvald and Nora's lives have been formed by different illusions. Nora had believed herself to be the ideal wife and mother, and abides by her own standards, trusting that the law will allow criminals acts go unpunished because their was good intent. These illusions were all shattered when she learns from Torvald and Krogstad that the law does not care if it was in good deed; or to save a loved one. Nora became aware that her
forgery has made her a criminal, and that her deception can corrupt and poison her children. In despair Nora hangs on to the idea of Torvald as the ideal mate who will protect her at any costs.
Torvald's unforeseen outburst and worry for his own reputation forces her to tackle reality. After all these disillusions and the wonderful thing never happening, Nora makes up her mind to leave him to pursue her own life of reality and to discover “who is wrong the world or I.” Then all we hear is the door slam.The last sound in the play symbolizes Nora’s awakening where she starts a new chapter in her life. It’s a bold statement saying that she will no longer be dominated. when one door closes another one opens.