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A Doll's House Psychoanalysis

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The play ‘A Doll’s house’ is a three act play written by Henrik Ibsen. - BLABLA BLA-. The story, however could be interpreted differently by different readers greatly depending on their cultural context. In this essay will be discussed how a Freudian and a Feminist reader might interpret the plot, the character relations and the ending differently. A Feminist might argue that the story’s underlying message is to unveil the power dynamic during the 19th century between men and women. Nora is depicted as a dependant, childish and unexperienced woman (as said by mrs.Linde p.34). Torvald sees Nora as a dimwitted person as can be seen on p.89 where Torvald finds it impressive when ‘little Nora’ used to word ‘Scientific experiment’. Evidently Torvald …show more content…

The ego considers and makes a compromise between both the carnal desires of the ID and the social norms and morals contained by the ego using reasoning and logic. The ego can often be conflicted due to poor decision making or prolonged suppression of either the ID or superego, forcing the ego to employ a Defence mechanism. The protagonist’s conflicted ego can be seen to employ several defence mechanisms in the play, in order to protect her from a mental breakdown. A mixture of repression and denial can clearly be seen in the second act, where Nora pushes the threatening thought of Torvald finding out about the forgery away, when however this thought again arises she denies to herself that Torvald will ever open the letter. Displacement is seen on p… where Nora want to rip her Italian clothing ‘to a million pieces’ this shows how Nora wants to express her anger on the fabric, which she had bought on the trip that was the cause of this conflict. When Nora dances the Tarantella and dances more violently, her ego then employs the sublimation defence. This is to express her distress and unhappiness on Torvald almost finding out, however this is done on a socially acceptable way. The relationship between Nora and Torvald is also remarkable, for it resembling that of a father and daughter. The resemblance can be seen

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