- Pranav Chheda

A Dolls House Essay

To what extent does the character of Nora change as expected by the
reader during the progress of Henrik Ibsens A Dolls House ?

Henrik Ibsens A Dolls House is a genius work displaying a modern

and pragmatic drama. The play creates a realistic dialogue and an
uncertain flow of occasions that interests the readers. Ibsen learnt the
fact that in the 19th century the role of a woman was to stay at home,
take care of the children and attend her husband. This was intelligibly
seen in the play and so most people thought that the play spoke about
the importance of womens right, which at those times was neglected.
But that wasnt all what Ibsen focused on, he wrote it during the time
of Naturalism, so it also reflected about the society. There was an
evolution in the character of Nora throughout the play due to certain
circumstances.
The play was set in Norway at Helmers house. This made it important,
as although the setting of the play was at Helmers house the
characters did not act naturally to each other and kept secrets. This
made the play more interesting as then only the true essence of
characters were brought out. The characters in the play pretended to
be what the society expected them to be, and not what solitarily they
wanted to be. Nora and Torvald's relationship appears to be happy

from outside but that isnt true. Nora is an impeccable character who
lived two different lives in the play, Torvalds subservient wife and
unknowingly a strong and determining woman. Ibsen embodied a
womans struggle towards the society of that time in her character. As
the play progressed we saw a drastic change in her persona from a
booty wife to a self-empowering and disposed woman. Her first
impression as a reader was of an obedient, childish and nummamorous
wife. She just seems to want money from her husband, likely seen in
the play, as when asked for a Christmas gift- her answer was money. It
is also splendid how Torvald addresses Nora as a loving pet, it looks as
if he is talking to a young child so the way he gives her money would
also suggest like a parent giving money to a child. This made Nora a
more of prized possession that an equal partner of marriage. Torvald
does all this as he thinks that Nora is not brilliant so whenever she
begins to voice her standpoint he quickly insults her through different
comments. This showed that he was a paradigmatic husband of the
19th century. He denied her to think the way she liked, he wanted her
to be a vacuous and stupid person agreeing to all his views and
matters. These were the simple sides of Nora, but as we progress
through the play and reach the plot we see a change in her character.
When Torvald was sick in the past in order to pay for the trip to save
his life she was forced to take a loan from a rich man, Mr. Krogstad.
There is a little delicacy here as not only does she borrow a loan

behind her husbands back but also for obtaining the bond legally she
forged the signature of her father. It was astonishing that how Nora
took the loan, through the eyes of her friend, Ms. Linde as according to
her a woman cannot borrow money without the consent of her
husband. And here we could see the refined temperament of Nora, she
was no longer a simple childish wife but a disposed and strong
individual ready to do anything to save her husband. The plot becomes
amazing when the Krogstad is revealed as an employee at Torvalds
bank and Torvald thinks of firing him for his inefficient work. Krogstad
now blackmails Nora to give him back his position in the bank or else
he would tell Torvald about the loan and the forgery attempted by her.
Nora is now frightened of her familys image being ruined due to
Krogstads dishonesty. The twist in the plot completely changes the
understanding of the reader to judge Nora. It leaves the readers in a
condition of transitory confusion without knowing how to judge her.
This scene of the play shows the strength possessed by Nora to carry
the burden someone else alone could not have.
This was admirable, as picturing a 1700s woman who has two children
with no stable income it would be difficult to make the payments
behind the husbands back. Some people think her decision of not
disclosing as coward but I think it was a good sense of responsibility
that reflected in her character, saving the life of her loved one without
even letting him know, thats true love and affection. But when in the

end when Torvald reads the letter he gets enraged over Nora, and then
she understands what she had been living all these years and what
should have been done. It becomes clear to her that she was nothing
more than a doll to her husband throughout the whole marriage life.
Another character development seen in her here is that now she
becomes self-determined, confident and a conscious woman. She
decides to leave the house thinking that first she should learn about
herself and who is right- She or the Society? She understood that there
were different conventional values taught by the society that she
might not be able to understand and use in her daily life. So Torvald
then offers to teach her the values she insisted on, but she preferred to
learn it herself.
In the end of the play Nora comes out as an independent, selfdetermined and with a sense of altruism in her. Ibsen pictures Nora as
a strong woman character countering the theories placed by the
society to lower down the status of women. He helps the reader to
point out that sometimes society may fail to recognize the true
qualities possessed in a human. All of this was explained through the
secret life possessed by Nora. In outer appearance she may look like a
beautiful doll played by her husband and father but it is only when we
know about her secret life when we validate she possesses deeper
strengths. Her second life is only what helped her to sustain the burden
and get free from the Dolls House in the end.

- Pranav Chheda