A Dolls House Essay

Chen 1! Vicky Chen Mrs. Morris English IV-Block B October 29 2018 Torvald is an Morally Ambiguous Character In A Doll’s House by Henrik Isben, Torvald, as Nora’s husband, is one of the main characters in the play. Each of the characters in this play is a complex human being who is neither completely good nor completely bad. Accordingly, Torvald is a morally ambiguous character who on the one side loves control, reputation, and money, but in the other side loves his wife very much. Torvald cares about money very much. Although he gives people a good impression of loving his family so much that he doesn’t want them to burden the inessential debts, actually he cares more about himself than anyone. He feels in deep love with Nora, but he becomes so angry when Nora spends lots of money on decorating the Christmas Tree. In his opinion, Nora’s action is a kind of wasting money. He says “Don’t deny it, my dear little Nora. Spendthrifts are sweet, but they use up a frightful amount of money. It is incredible what it costs a man to feed such a bird”(Isben 8), and he thinks there is no need to spend money on trifles which causes additional debts to the family. It seems that the family come first in Torvald’s mind, but in fact he tries to avoid the things that hurts his reputation. Torvald treat Nora as a child, so that he tries to control what she does and what she thinks. He likes showing his knowledge off and educating Nora. Particularly, when Torvald is in conflict with Nora in terms of money, he says to Nora, “Nora, Nora, how like a woman! No, but seriously Nora, you know what I think about that. No debts! Never borrow”(7)! He considers Nora to have a short sight. Instead, he forces Nora to believe that only his concepts

Chen 2! are right, which could make the family be better and better. Eventually, Nora has no choice but to depend on him. Even when Nora prepares for dancing at the party, she has to ask Torvald to practice dancing with her, saying to him, “I can’t dance tomorrow if I don’t practice with you”(57). It is so important for Torvald to play an irreplaceable role in Nora’s life. The more Nora depends on him, the better Torvald enjoys himself. However, if Nora does something to betray him, Torvald is furious. For example, when Torvald teaches Nora how do dance, Nora obey him says “ Has to be just like this,” and Torvald says “No, no that won’t do at all”(57). He treats Nora as a Doll, Torvald tries to shape her to be anyone he likes. Torvald thinks himself to be the most important, so he always sees Nora as a child who should depend on him all the time but not betray him. Torvald gets very angry, when he finds out that Nora asked others for a loan to heal his illness, he says “Now you are wrecked all my happiness—ruined my whole future”(73). His words are full of hate and he cannot understand why Nora does not follow his will and borrowed money from other people although she had already known he hates that sort of thing. Torvald thinks it has ruined not only his happiness but his reputation. However, when he sees the IOU posted back, he changes his attitude towards Nora immediately and explains that he lost his temper on impulse. Nora has a better understanding of the marriage and she decides to leave Torvald, he says “ I would gladly work for you day and night, Nora—and take on pain and deprivation. But there’s no one who gives up honor for love”(80). In this way, Torvald acknowledges that his reputation has been always in the first place in his mind, which proves that Torvald pays more attention to himself than to Nora. Sometimes, Torvald can also act as a kind person. For instance, when he realizes that his actions have hurt Noral, he often acknowledges his faults. Being informed of Nora’s leaving, Nora talks him“The way I am now, I am no wife for you”, then Torvald says “I have

Chen 3! the strength to make myself over”(81). He tries to communicate with her and get to know her pain in marriage, so he decides to make up for his faults. He reflects on himself deeply and wants to change the way he treats Nora, according to which it is found that Torvald loves Nora. Only because of that kind of love, will Torvald change himself. Torvald feels ashamed of Nora, although she wants to leave assertively. He says “Or help you if you need it”(82). Therefore, Torvald still wants to help Nora even though she rejects his help. It is obvious that Torvald is kind because of his final action in the novel, which shows his demeanor. There is no doubt that Torvald’s concept of money, desire for control and arrogance can never cover his kindness and demeanor. Being greedy for money, controlling Nora in all aspects, and considering himself to be the most important, these three characteristics above show that Torvald’s bad side of the play. There is no doubt that Torvald’s concept of money, desire for control and arrogance can never cover his kindness and demeanor. According to Torvold’s characteristic show that he is an ambiguous character. He tries to give other people a good impression that he loves his family very much. Meanwhile, he also wants other people to know his irreplaceable domestic status. Moreover, in order to build a good reputation, he always disguises himself with his false love for Nora.