Essay On Ibsen's "a Doll's House"

What methods of convincing readers or persuading them to take a particular point of view has Ibsen adopted in his play, A Doll’s House? The household lost its significance as the framework for the production and labour of both spouses, which it has possessed in the days of predominately agrarian society. In consequence, the hitherto unimportant distinction between the public and domestic spheres was accentuated, and the corresponding masculine and feminine roles of “bread winner” and “home maker” thrown into contrast.i Scandinavia amidst the industrial revolution: with the men now going out to work, the women are left within the household, cut off from the public world. They have lost all influence in society and have become an insignificant accessory. Henrik Ibsen portrays the new disadvantaged and trivialised role of women with his stark analogy of the most trivial of all children toys – a doll’s house. The set of A Doll’s House consists of no physical doll’s house, so it is immediately apparent to the audience that it is the characters themselves who are living in the socalled doll’s house. Nora Helmer is the heroine of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House living amongst the bourgeois society with her newly promoted husband, Torvald Helmer. She has a pretty apartment and a maid to clean it, three young children and a nurse to care for them. Nora is a child in Ibsen’s metaphorical doll’s house; her only expectations are to play with her children and entertain her husband. In Act One, the audience sees her acting like a silly, spoilt child, but it is soon apparent that she must perform like this in order to gain financial security and devotion from Helmer. ... of course when Torvald no longer loves me as he does now; when it no longer amuses him to see me dance and dress up and play the fool for him. Then it might be useful to have something up my sleeve.

Act One

Helmer apparently enjoys having a child-like wife and this is demonstrated further with his pet names for Nora. All are prefixed with “little”; little squirrel, little songbird, little skylark. This greatly emphasises the inequality in their relationship,

and shows how Nora is seen like a child. And not only by her husband: in Act One Nora scorns Mrs. Linde for patronising her. You’re like the rest. You think I’m incapable of getting down to anything serious-

Act One

Here Nora confesses to Mrs. Linde her act of great self-sacrifice for her husband. She borrowed money secretly obliging her to forge her father’s signature. She did this so that she could take Helmer to a warmer country where he could recover from serious illness. She credits herself for saving his life, although she can never receive any praise or gratitude for her deed. In a way, Helmer is also a child in the doll’s house. Nora chooses not to tell him of the loan, as she is worried it will upset him. - he’s so proud of being a man – it’d be so painful and humiliating for him to know that he owed anything to me.

Act One

This is not the only unpleasant reality that he is sheltered from. Helmer’s close friend, Dr. Rank chooses not to tell him about the severity of his illness and imminent death. Helmer’s a sensitive chap, and I know he hates anything ugly. I don’t want him to visit me when I’m in hospital.

Act Two

Helmer’s protection from disagreeable truths is not the only way in which he is comparable to a child. Just as children dress up their toys, Torvald dresses Nora in fancy costumes and puts her on display for his pleasure and enjoyment. What, not look at my most treasured possession? At all this wonderful beauty that is all mine, mine alone, all mine.

Act Three

Helmer’s comment to Nora after the fancy dress ball makes clear to the audience that he regards his wife as an object, rather than a person. Not only is Nora a child-like wife, she also a doll. To further emphasise the way in which Helmer’s love for his wife is predominately superficial, Ibsen has used the character of Dr. Rank to provide a contrast. Rank is Helmer’s friend who visits the household daily. Rank also loves Nora, but unlike Helmer he treats her as an equal. He and Nora engage in serious conversation, and openly confide in each other, something that has never happened between Nora and Helmer. After the ball in Act Three, Rank advises Nora go to the next ball as The Spirit of Happiness.

Your wife need only appear as her normal, everyday self. Act Three This shows that unlike Helmer, who would rather have Nora dress up in something exotic, Rank sees and appreciates her inner beauty. Ibsen has also used this device of contrasting characters with Nora and Mrs. Linde. Mrs. Linde, a widow faced with poverty, has been wizened and self-educated from a life of independence. Nora has spent her entire life dependent on the care of her father and her husband, allowing for no chance of self-discovery. This contrast stresses Nora’s ignorance of the world and the triviality of her role as a childish doll-wife. It is not until the very last stage of the play when Ibsen’s heroine finally realises what the audience has known all along. Nora’s act of forgery is revealed and her miracle of miracles fails to happen. She falsely believed her husband would take the blame for her crime and sacrifice his reputation to protect her, but instead he promises to disown her. When all threat of blackmail is taken back and his reputation is no longer in danger, Helmer tells Nora she is forgiven, but by now Nora has already seen the truth. You have never loved me. You just thought it was fun to be in love with me. Act Three Nora’s final resolution is to leave Helmer and the doll’s house, and to start a life as a new independent woman living in the real world. Nora’s comment to Helmer in her final scene sums up Ibsen’s analogy: …Our home has never been anything but a playroom. I’ve been your doll-wife… And the children have been my dolls. I used to think it was fun when you came in and played with me, just as they think its fun when I go in and play games with them. That’s all our marriage has been, Torvald. Act Three With this speech Ibsen eliminates any ambiguity over the analogy. Nora, the modern 1870s bourgeois wife, represents the trivial doll-like role of women of Scandinavia’s Industrial Revolution.

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Quotation taken from Celsius Centre for Scandinavian Studies,

http://www.ssn.flinders.edu.au/scanlink/nornotes/vol2/atricles/hurrell.html