a doll's house

a doll's house

  • Submitted By: Al-Emeute
  • Date Submitted: 09/23/2014 6:23 PM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 1212
  • Page: 5

The play “A Doll’s House”, written by Henrik Ibsen, focuses on two themes that was present back in the time where the play was written and played, in 1879, Norway. Those two themes are focused on the social lies and the duties, which are the basics of the institution inside the household (doll house).

Torvald and Nora Helmer are the two main characters. They symbolize at first sight, the perfect family. Torvald loves his wife and kids, and he has a good status in his work area. Nora at that time period would be considered as a very lucky woman to have such a family. Nora and Torvald are devoted to each other, one would do the impossible for their beloved half’s. However we can see that Torvald is a very manipulative man, for example he does not want Nora to eat macaroons, a simple pastry, but it shows the control of the husband over the wife in this marriage.
When Nora sees that her husband is sick, to a point that his life may be in danger, she immediately takes action, and forges the signature of her father, so that she could be able to borrow 250 pounds from Mr. Krogstad, “When your husband was ill, you came to me to borrow two hundred and fifty pounds”(page 32), that the husband would be able to get treatment and rest in Italy. She is very innocent, and does not realize what she had done, but she worked very hard to save every penny she had, to pay back what she owed.

Nora is firstly described as a complete doll. A person that is suppose to do what they are asked to do, to be happy and to smile all the time for the sake of her family. She is a very gay person who dances, sings and plays with the kids a lot. However like all dolls, they are not considered to be very bright. Nora is lucky, because back in those days, the husband had to take care of every action that the wife would commit, so Nora is protected, and cared for. She is nicknamed by Torvald as a “squirrel” or even a “little lark” (page12). The little “squirrel”, as Torvald would say,...

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