The first example we see this is in act 2 when Torvald focuses more on what society thinks of him, or his reputation. He tries to live up to the societal expectations. He cares about what society thinks and wants to maintain a strong role in the family. In all this, Nora’s opinions are ignored and only Torvald has a say on everything. As the male and husband of the entire family, he feels that it is his duty to be the breadwinner, the provider and the head of the household.
She realizes that this is not the way she wants to live or be treated and leaves her life behind to find herself. It was essential for Ibsen to end the play this way, because respect is needed for one to be happy. Throughout the play Nora is treated as if she was a child. The way Torvald refers to her, is somewhat degrading.
The sneaking of macaroons put up with a result of Nora’s role as a child within the marriage. The macaroons show that Nora is not the perfect doll that Torvald tries to mold her into; nevertheless, she is not able to think of any other way where she can prove herself like her husband’s doll. Still, she tries to disguise her real personality and is constantly lying about many things. She hasn’t been taken seriously and treated with very less respect by her husband. Her lies are less a thought of her own character and more a reflection of her husband’s surroundings .She does feel the need to keep up her self –respect, while satisfying her own needs.
Torvald exhibits patriarchy in his relationship with Nora as he calls her pet names and controls her eating. Nora’s demeanor is ditzy, carefree
He was too focused on the fact that her actions would make him lose his manly pride. But later on when Torvald is informed that Krogstad wont tell anyone about this, Torvald calms down and tells Nora that they’r saved. Nora seems upset and he continuously keeps on telling her that he forgives her, as if Nora needed his forgiveness. At this point it becomes clear to Nora that she had been living all these years with a strange man, and had born him three children. Nora realizes that his love for her is not as deep as his self-pride.
The play closes on a positive note with Nora, representative of the supressed female, overcoming Torvald, representative of the oppressive male, however to express the true extent of this achievement, Ibsen makes evident the context of the struggle that society dictated women live by. The progressive characterisation of the protagonist Nora encapsulates Ibsen’s intention of pushing theatrical and societal norms through showing how women deserve to create their own identity and not be restricted by their male oppressors. Ibsen crafted every line to show the development of her dialogue, actions, setting and properties, and in doing so he potently slammed the door on the patriarchal society of the 19th
This points out the chauvinistic character of Torvald Helmer. He calls her with pet names and thinks that she is not intelligent and that she cannot think on her own. We can see Torvald’s dominance when he makes statements like; “worries that you couldn’t possibly help me with” and “Nora, Nora just like a woman.” We can also say that Torvald, here, is acting like a typical husband in his times. He doesn 't allow Nora to act however she wants and even to the extent that he doesn 't let her think on her own and suppresses her
To Torvald, Nora’s figure is only an accessory to his public life. It was the standard in the society and time she lived in, the husband 's fathers were there to protect and provide, they were the heroes writing the story. Therefore, Nora realizes that she doesn’t know who Nora is, she doesn’t know who Nora is, she doesn’t have an identity and decides to be her protagonist. “I have been your doll-wife, just at home, I was papa’s doll-child, and even the children have been my dolls,” accordingly, she has trapped in a vicious cycle that Nora herself allowed the building of. Furthermore, slamming the door means
In the modern world divorce is not something that is considered overly strange or obtuse regardless of whether the person to instigate the divorce is the husband or wife. For many people, marriage is both a legal contract between two individuals who decide building their life together but also the divine union of two separate spirits. In A “Doll House” by Henrik Ibsen, the character of Nora leaves her husband of several years in order to pursue her own goals in life and find herself. While many people might still see this as a controversial decision as the woman had children with her husband, others instead point out the ways in which Nora acts as a kind of precursor to the women's rights movement as she decides to make a change for her own betterment instead of for the betterment of her family. It is in this light that Nora’s perspective on her life, the changes that she needs to make, and the overall way she is treated by her husband that allows her to make her decision as one that is not only understandable but preferential to the alternative of staying with Torvald.
In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Nora, the protagonist, is awakened from her controlled life by her husband causing her to come out of her shell and examine her domestic married life as a wife. To a greater extent, Nora is presented as a submission to her husband, Torvald Helmer, through the use of devices such as imagery, allegory and symbolism. “Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities.” The development of Nora’s character relies greatly on Ibsen’s use of symbols such as the use of the Christmas tree and even the title to explore Nora’s role as a woman and a wife. The title A Doll’s house is a strong and the most effective metaphorical symbol used by Ibsen in portraying how Nora is controlled and played with by