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Analysis of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on July 27, 2020 • ( 0 )

Whether one reads A Doll’s House as a technical revolution in modern theater, the modern tragedy, the first feminist play since the Greeks, a Hegelian allegory of the spirit’s historical evolution, or a Kierkegaardian leap from aesthetic into ethical life, the deep structure of the play as a modern myth of self-transformation ensures it perennial importance as a work that honors the vitality of the human spirit in women and men.

—Errol Durbach, A Doll’s House : Ibsen’s Myth of Transformation

More than one literary historian has identified the precise moment when modern drama began: December 4, 1879, with the publication of Ibsen ’s Etdukkehjem ( A Doll’s House ), or, more dramatically at the explosive climax of the first performance in Copenhagen on December 21, 1879, with the slamming of the door as Nora Helmer shockingly leaves her comfortable home, respectable marriage, husband, and children for an uncertain future of self-discovery. Nora’s shattering exit ushered in a new dramatic era, legitimizing the exploration of key social problems as a serious concern for the modern theater, while sounding the opening blast in the modern sexual revolution. As Henrik Ibsen ’s biographer Michael Meyer has observed, “No play had ever before contributed so momentously to the social debate, or been so widely and furiously discussed among people who were not normally interested in theatrical or even artistic matter.” A contemporary reviewer of the play also declared: “When Nora slammed the door shut on her marriage, walls shook in a thousand homes.”

Ibsen set in motion a transformation of drama as distinctive in the history of the theater as the one that occurred in fifth-century b.c. Athens or Elizabethan London. Like the great Athenian dramatists and William Shakespeare, Ibsen fundamentally redefined drama and set a standard that later playwrights have had to absorb or challenge. The stage that he inherited had largely ceased to function as a serious medium for the deepest consideration of human themes and values. After Ibsen drama was restored as an important truth-telling vehicle for a comprehensive criticism of life. A Doll’s House anatomized on stage for the first time the social, psychological, emotional, and moral truths beneath the placid surface of a conventional, respectable marriage while creating a new, psychologically complex modern heroine, who still manages to shock and unsettle audiences more than a century later. A Doll’s House is, therefore, one of the ground-breaking modern literary texts that established in fundamental ways the responsibility and cost of women’s liberation and gender equality. According to critic Evert Sprinchorn, Nora is “the richest, most complex” female dramatic character since Shakespeare’s heroines, and as feminist critic Kate Millett has argued in Sexual Politics, Ibsen was the first dramatist since the Greeks to challenge the myth of male dominance. “In Aeschylus’ dramatization of the myth,” Millett asserts, “one is permitted to see patriarchy confront matriarchy, confound it through the knowledge of paternity, and come off triumphant. Until Ibsen’s Nora slammed the door announcing the sexual revolution, this triumph went nearly uncontested.”

The momentum that propelled Ibsen’s daring artistic and social revolt was sustained principally by his outsider status, as an exile both at home and abroad. His last deathbed word was “ Tvertimod !” (On the contrary!), a fitting epitaph and description of his artistic and intellectual mindset. Born in Skien, Norway, a logging town southwest of Oslo, Ibsen endured a lonely and impoverished childhood, particularly after the bankruptcy of his businessman father when Ibsen was eight. At 15, he was sent to Grimstad as an apothecary’s apprentice, where he lived for six years in an attic room on meager pay, sustained by reading romantic poetry, sagas, and folk ballads. He later recalled feeling “on a war footing with the little community where I felt I was being suppressed by my situation and by circumstances in general.” His first play, Cataline , was a historical drama featuring a revolutionary hero who reflects Ibsen’s own alienation. “ Cataline was written,” the playwright later recalled, “in a little provincial town, where it was impossible for me to give expression to all that fermented in me except by mad, riotous pranks, which brought down upon me the ill will of all the respectable citizens who could not enter into that world which I was wrestling with alone.”

Largely self-educated, Ibsen failed the university entrance examination to pursue medical training and instead pursued a career in the theater. In 1851 he began a 13-year stage apprenticeship in Bergen and Oslo, doing everything from sweeping the stage to directing, stage managing, and writing mostly verse dramas based on Norwegian legends and historical subjects. The experience gave him a solid knowledge of the stage conventions of the day, particularly of the so-called well-made play of the popular French playwright Augustin Eugène Scribe and his many imitators, with its emphasis on a complicated, artificial plot based on secrets, suspense, and surprises. Ibsen would transform the conventions of the well-made play into the modern problem play, exploring controversial social and human questions that had never before been dramatized. Although his stage experience in Norway was marked chiefly by failure, Ibsen’s apprenticeship was a crucial testing ground for perfecting his craft and providing him with the skills to mount the assault on theatrical conventions and moral complacency in his mature work.

In 1864 Ibsen began a self-imposed exile from Norway that would last 27 years. He traveled first to Italy, where he was joined by his wife, Susannah, whom he had married in 1858, and his son. The family divided its time between Italy and Germany. The experience was liberating for Ibsen; he felt that he had “escaped from darkness into light,” releasing the productive energy with which he composed the succession of plays that brought him worldwide fame. His first important works, Brand (1866) and Peer Gynt (1867), were poetic dramas, very much in the romantic mode of the individual’s conflict with experience and the gap between heroic assertion and accomplishment, between sobering reality and blind idealism. Pillars of Society (1877) shows him experimenting with ways of introducing these central themes into a play reflecting modern life, the first in a series of realistic dramas that redefined the conventions and subjects of the modern theater.

The first inklings of his next play, A Doll’s House , are glimpsed in Ibsen’s journal under the heading “Notes for a Modern Tragedy”:

There are two kinds of moral laws, two kinds of conscience, one for men and one, quite different, for women. They don’t understand each other; but in practical life, woman is judged by masculine law, as though she weren’t a woman but a man.

The wife in the play ends by having no idea what is right and what is wrong; natural feelings on the one hand and belief in authority on the other lead her to utter distraction. . . .

Moral conflict. Weighed down and confused by her trust in authority, she loses faith in her own morality, and in her fitness to bring up her children. Bitterness. A mother in modern society, like certain insects, retires and dies once she has done her duty by propagating the race. Love of life, of home, of husband and children and family. Now and then, as women do, she shrugs off her thoughts. Suddenly anguish and fear return. Everything must be borne alone. The catastrophe approaches, mercilessly, inevitably. Despair, conflict, and defeat.

To tell his modern tragedy based on gender relations, Ibsen takes his audience on an unprecedented, intimate tour of a contemporary, respectable marriage. Set during the Christmas holidays, A Doll’s House begins with Nora Helmer completing the finishing touches on the family’s celebrations. Her husband, Torvald, has recently been named a bank manager, promising an end to the family’s former straitened financial circumstances, and Nora is determined to celebrate the holiday with her husband and three children in style. Despite Torvald’s disapproval of her indulgences, he relents, giving her the money she desires, softened by Nora’s childish play-acting, which gratifies his sense of what is expected of his “lark” and “squirrel.” Beneath the surface of this apparently charming domestic scene is a potentially damning and destructive secret. Seven years before Nora had saved the life of her critically ill husband by secretly borrowing the money needed for a rest cure in Italy. Knowing that Torvald would be too proud to borrow money himself, Nora forged her dying father’s name on the loan she received from Krogstad, a banking associate of Torvald.

The crisis comes when Nora’s old schoolfriend Christina Linde arrives in need of a job. At Nora’s urging Torvald aids her friend by giving her Krogstad’s position at the bank. Learning that he is to be dismissed, Krogstad threatens to expose Nora’s forgery unless she is able to persuade Torvald to reinstate him. Nora fails to convince Torvald to relent, and after receiving his dismissal notice, Krogstad sends Torvald a letter disclosing the details of the forgery. The incriminating letter remains in the Helmers’ mailbox like a ticking time-bomb as Nora tries to distract Torvald from reading it and Christina attempts to convince Krogstad to withdraw his accusation. Torvald eventu-ally reads the letter following the couple’s return from a Christmas ball and explodes in recriminations against his wife, calling her a liar and a criminal, unfit to be his wife and his children’s mother. “Now you’ve wrecked all my happiness—ruined my whole future,” Torvald insists. “Oh, it’s awful to think of. I’m in a cheap little grafter’s hands; he can do anything he wants with me, ask me for anything, play with me like a puppet—and I can’t breathe a word. I’ll be swept down miserably into the depths on account of a featherbrained woman.” Torvald’s reaction reveals that his formerly expressed high moral rectitude is hypocritical and self-serving. He shows himself worried more about appearances than true morality, caring about his reputation rather than his wife. However, when Krogstad’s second letter arrives in which he announces his intention of pursuing the matter no further, Torvald joyfully informs Nora that he is “saved” and that Nora should forget all that he has said, assuming that the normal relation between himself and his “frightened little songbird” can be resumed. Nora, however, shocks Torvald with her reaction.

Nora, profoundly disillusioned by Torvald’s response to Krogstad’s letter, a response bereft of the sympathy and heroic self-sacrifice she had hoped for, orders Torvald to sit down for a serious talk, the first in their married life, in which she reviews their relationship. “I’ve been your doll-wife here, just as at home I was Papa’s doll-child,” Nora explains. “And in turn the children have been my dolls. I thought it was fun when you played with me, just as they thought it fun when I played with them. That’s been our marriage, Torvald.” Nora has acted out the 19th-century ideal of the submissive, unthinking, dutiful daughter and wife, and it has taken Torvald’s reaction to shatter the illusion and to force an illumination. Nora explains:

When the big fright was over—and it wasn’t from any threat against me, only for what might damage you—when all the danger was past, for you it was just as if nothing had happened. I was exactly the same, your little lark, your doll, that you’d have to handle with double care now that I’d turned out so brittle and frail. Torvald—in that instant it dawned on me that I’ve been living here with a stranger.

Nora tells Torvald that she no longer loves him because he is not the man she thought he was, that he was incapable of heroic action on her behalf. When Torvald insists that “no man would sacrifice his honor for love,” Nora replies: “Millions of women have done just that.”

Nora finally resists the claims Torvald mounts in response that she must honor her duties as a wife and mother, stating,

I don’t believe in that anymore. I believe that, before all else, I’m a human being, no less than you—or anyway, I ought to try to become one. I know the majority thinks you’re right, Torvald, and plenty of books agree with you, too. But I can’t go on believing what the majority says, or what’s written in books. I have to think over these things myself and try to understand them.

The finality of Nora’s decision to forgo her assigned role as wife and mother for the authenticity of selfhood is marked by the sound of the door slamming and her exit into the wider world, leaving Torvald to survey the wreckage of their marriage.

Ibsen leaves his audience and readers to consider sobering truths: that married women are the decorative playthings and servants of their husbands who require their submissiveness, that a man’s authority in the home should not go unchallenged, and that the prime duty of anyone is to arrive at an authentic human identity, not to accept the role determined by social conventions. That Nora would be willing to sacrifice everything, even her children, to become her own person proved to be, and remains, the controversial shock of A Doll’s House , provoking continuing debate over Nora’s motivations and justifications. The first edition of 8,000 copies of the play quickly sold out, and the play was so heatedly debated in Scandinavia in 1879 that, as critic Frances Lord observes, “many a social invitation in Stockholm during that winter bore the words, ‘You are requested not to mention Ibsen’s Doll’s House!” Ibsen was obliged to supply an alternative ending for the first German production when the famous leading lady Hedwig Niemann-Raabe refused to perform the role of Nora, stating that “I would never leave my children !” Ibsen provided what he would call a “barbaric outrage,” an ending in which Nora’s departure is halted at the doorway of her children’s bedroom. The play served as a catalyst for an ongoing debate over feminism and women’s rights. In 1898 Ibsen was honored by the Norwegian Society for Women’s Rights and toasted as the “creator of Nora.” Always the contrarian, Ibsen rejected the notion that A Doll’s House champions the cause of women’s rights:

I have been more of a poet and less of a social philosopher than people generally tend to suppose. I thank you for your toast, but must disclaim the honor of having consciously worked for women’s rights. I am not even quite sure what women’s rights really are. To me it has been a question of human rights. And if you read my books carefully you will realize that. Of course it is incidentally desirable to solve the problem of women; but that has not been my whole object. My task has been the portrayal of human beings.

Despite Ibsen’s disclaimer that A Doll’s House should be appreciated as more than a piece of gender propaganda, that it deals with universal truths of human identity, it is nevertheless the case that Ibsen’s drama is one of the milestones of the sexual revolution, sounding themes and advancing the cause of women’s autonomy and liberation that echoes Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and anticipates subsequent works such as Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own and Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique.

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ESSAY: Honesty and Deception in Ibsen’s Play ‘A Doll’s House’

Editor’s Note:   The 1879 European play “A Doll’s House” (by Norway’s Henrik Ibsen)  became famous for being a controversial pre-feminist critique of the demeaning restrictions placed on women within the bonds of traditional marriage.    B ut the author of the following essay does not focus on the feminist angle of the play, the fact that Nora’s financial forgery saved her ungrateful husband’s life, or that his treatment of her inspires her to walk away from him and  their children. Instead, Ms. Sanchez argues that having more honest communication from the beginning of their marriage might have worked better for both husband and wife.  

Ibsen’s play enjoyed many film adaptations. Here’s one from 1973.

By Madison Sanchez

   Based on the plot of the play, “A Doll’s House”, I believe that the title of act three should be “Honesty.”   I think this because throughout act three, Nora was trying to prevent her husband, Torvald from finding out about a crime she committed, and a lie she told, which is one of the main plot points of the play. Instead of confessing the truth to him,  she decided to be dishonest and secretive, which made matters worse.

This one lie uncovered many other hidden  truths about Torvald and Nora’s marriage. For example, in the beginning of act three, Nora said “ No, no, no!-don’t take me in. I want to go upstairs again; I don’t want to leave so early.” This quote exposes how Nora tried to stay at the Tarantella so Torvald wouldn’t be home to open the letter box.

Nora was so desperate to keep her secrets, that when physical evidence points the finger at her, she goes as far as blaming her own children for something she did just to cover herself.

   Later in the play, Torvald exclaims “All these eight years— she who was my joy and pride—a hypocrite, a liar—worse, worse—a criminal! The unutterable ugliness of it all!—For shame! For shame!” This quote explains how Torvald felt after he found out about what Nora did.  He is understandably very upset and angry after discovering Nora’s crime, and looks at her very differently.

The play also uncovers deep feelings of resentment Nora has been hiding or ignoring.  “ But our home has been nothing but a playroom,” she says. “I have been your doll-wife, just as at home I was papa’s doll-child; and here the children have been my dolls. I thought it great fun when you played with me, just as they thought it great fun when I played with them . That is what our marriage has been, Torvald.”

    This quote reveals how Torvald treated Nora throughout their marriage and how she really felt about it. The lie that Nora told ultimately exposed many other sad truths about her marriage, like how she was treated and how seriously Torvald did or did not  not take her. The plot of this play thus works to explain how honesty can change future events, and how dishonesty can create lingering problems.

Henrik Ibsen ‘A Doll’s House’

Introduction.

Henrik Ibsen’s play ‘a doll’s house’ is intriguing as it provides insight into love and relationships. The author uses several characters to depict various forms of relationships and how each is perceived in the society. From the play, major characters are Nora and Torvald Hermer, Christine Linde, Nils Krogstad and Dr. Rank.

Each character has a different opinion about love and relationship. Portrayal of love in the play reveals why the phenomenon is considered an illusion in the society. In this context lies, deceit, dishonesty and betrayal are common factors that determine the success of a relationship. Few characters in the play seem to understand true love or relationship.

Therefore, lack of understanding and respect affects how people interact when they are in love or marriage relationships.

Character analysis

Nora helmer.

Nora is portrayed as the wife of Torvald Helmer. The author depicts her as a childlike personality to evoke love and admiration from the reader. In addition, this can be evidenced from the childish qualities of Nora when she enjoys a Christmas shopping escapade. The character of Nora exemplifies the traditional matrimonial relationship where the wife is expected to love and be submissive to her husband. Nora playfully obeys her husband even when she is scolded.

In this context, Nora refers to herself as a “doll wife” (106). Her wit is evidenced when she cleverly forges her father’s signature to save Torvald’s life. Such a gesture is portrayed with an utmost element of love. Nora is ready to take risks for the sake of her husband irrespective of the little respects she receives from him. Although, Nora brags about her marriage to her friends, especially to Mrs. Linde, she understands her husband’s devotion is questionable.

In this regard, she is ready to commit suicide and save her husband from the embarrassment. Out of love, she does not want her husband to end up in prison. Ultimately, Nora feels betrayed when she realizes that her husband’s love was artificial. She says, “You have never loved me” (105). In fact, Nora realizes the truth of being a “child-wife” or his “doll” (106).

In the end, Nora leaves Torvald and embarks on a journey of self-realization. The author uses Nora’s character to depict how love turns bitter and leaves people with false hopes and betrayal.

Torvald Helmer

Torvald is the husband of Nora and is depicted as a major character in the play. The author implies that any love or marriage relationship is guided and protected by a man. In this regard, the character of Torvald befits this manly role in marriage. In fact, Torvald embraces this role by treating his wife as a child. Apparently, the author sees Torvald as a moral character. The character makes moralistic statements like “A home that depends on loans and debts is not beautiful because it is not free” (103).

Although such sentiments seem to imply love for the wife they contradict the character’s behavior. For example, Torvald goes into the trouble of acting the figure of father for Nora by teaching her how to dance at a costume party. The author depicts Torvald’s love for his wife in a bizarre manner. Torvald is insecure about his relationship with Nora to a point of envisioning himself as a savior to his wife.

After the costume party, he says, “do you know that I have often wished you were facing some terrible dangers so that I could risk life and limb, risk everything for your sake?” (98). Torvald’s perception of love is wicked and childish. He is an insecure character who portrays naivety by craving for love from his wife and the society. Indeed, Torvald is a selfish man and betrays his wife’s love by asserting how Nora ruined his life.

Christine Linde

The author depicts Mrs. Linde as Nora’s best friend. Mrs. Linde’s character is admirable and attractive considering a sensible worldview she has about life. Besides being a humble woman, Mrs. Linde provides Nora with good advice. Mrs. Linde’s love for parents is incomparable with her love for Nora. A sense of responsibility is noticed when Mrs. Linde assumes the obligations to take care of her sick parents. She says, “My mother was alive then, and was bedridden and helpless” (18).

The author depicts Mrs. Linde as a true heroine who foregoes her right to love. She says “I had to provide for my two younger brothers; so I did not think I was justified in refusing his offer” (18). In this context, Mrs. Linde marries for financial security irrespective of her opinion about relationships. The honesty about love is expressed through Mrs. Linde’s opinion that suffering and compromise are essential in restoring a broken relationship or marriage.

Nils Krogstad

The author presents Krogstad as an antagonist in the play. Krogstad is dishonest and exemplifies an immoral villain. Krogstad is a selfish individual and this is revealed when he allows Nora to suffer under his watch. The reason Krogstad wants to keep his job is based on a false sense of love. In fact, his love for his children and their future welfare are due to family affection. When responding to Nora about his children welfare, he says, “Have you and your husband thought of mine” (70).

Krogstad’s despicable character is driven by Mrs. Linde and society’s rejection. According to him, his moral decadence was initiated by a Mrs. Linde love for money. Therefore, Krogstad is a victim of circumstances. However, this man is not entirely a villain without human feelings. The character sympathizes with Nora’s situation and says “even moneylenders, hacks, well, a man like me, can have a little of what you call feeling, you know” (70).

The author uses the character of Dr. Rank as a symbolic tool in the play. Although Dr. Rank is a friend of Torvald, he seems to be not concerned about others. Dr. Rank’s role in portraying love is neutral considering that he is sensitive about his personal life. He says, “It is no use lying to one’s self” (62). In this regard, Dr. Rank takes part in revealing the characters of other individuals in the play.

For example, he says that Mrs. Linde will assume his place in the house. He says, “She will be my successor in the house” (64). In addition, Dr. Rank’s neutrality about love is revealed through his attitude to both Nora and Torvald. Dr. Rank is loved and admired by every person in the society. His honesty and intellectuality are admired by both Nora and Torvald.

The author’s themes revolve around love and relationship. From the author’s perspective, it is evident that true love does not exist. Portrayal of love in the forms of familial, paternal, maternal and fraternal is intriguing to the reader. Portrayal of romantic love ends up as an illusion to the reader. Nora’s decision to leave her husband and children is evidence of how love ends in pain.

It is clear that love sometimes is marred with lies, dishonesty, deceit, selfishness and betrayal. In addition, the author seems to acknowledge that a true relationship must involve a commitment of equals. The author’s message is that an imbalance due to lack of understanding and respect becomes the bedrock of relationship breakups.

Works Cited

Ibsen, Henrik. A doll’s house . Maryland: Arc manor LLC, 2009. Print.

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A Doll's House

The morality of relationships in 'a doll's house' amy allison 11th grade.

In his play ‘A Doll’s House’ Henrik Ibsen provides the audience with an insight into life in 19th Century Norway and the injustices that existed in society at the time. Throughout the narrative Ibsen uses the Nora and Torvald’s relationship as a vehicle through which he explores the constitution of marriage and the morality of this kind of relationship, particularly the rigid gender roles that were prominent within the society.

In the play, a woman is expected to accept her societal role, acquiescing to her husband in all things, by subtly highlighting the inequality of this, Ibsen explores the morality of their relationship. One of the first thing Torvald says to address his wife is “You mustn’t disturb me!” Here, the imperative creates a very forceful tone, establishing unequal power dynamics within the relationship, indicative of the inequalities that existed between men and women in the mid-19th Century. Men adopted the dominant role that came so naturally to them in such a phallocentric culture, in which women were denied the same rights as men. Critic Brian Downs states “When Henrik Ibsen wrote A Doll’s House, the institution of marriage was sacrosanct”, and this notion emphasised by how naturally Nora and Torvald embrace...

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A Doll’s House

The following analysis reveals a comprehensive look at the Storyform for A Doll’s House . Unlike most of the analysis found here—which simply lists the unique individual story appreciations—this in-depth study details the actual encoding for each structural item. This also means it has been incorporated into the Dramatica Story Expert application itself as an easily referenced contextual example.

Story Dynamics

8 of the 12 essential questions

Once it is clear that Torvald puts himself and his reputation before his wife, Nora realizes she is no longer in love with him, gives her wedding ring back, and prepares to leave him.

Nora must stand on her own and start a new life.

As a child in her father’s home, and as a wife in her husband’s home, Nora does everything in her power to adapt herself to her environment-even to the detriment of her self-esteem and peace of mind:

“It’s perfectly true, Torvald. When I was at home with Papa he told me his opinion about everything, and so I had the same opinions; and if I differed from him I concealed the fact, because he would not have liked it. He called me his doll child, and he played with me just as I used to play with my dolls. And when I came to live with you…I was simply transferred from Papa’s hands to yours. You arranged everything according to your taste, and so I got the same tastes as you-or else I pretended to.” (Ibsen, 1879, p. 195)

Nora effectively assesses what she needs to do to maintain the balance in her marriage.

Mrs. Linde decides to visit Nora; Nora decides to forge her father’s signature to obtain a bond; Krogstad decides to threaten Nora with exposure if she doesn’t help him keep his position; Nora decides to leave her husband; and so forth.

Nora and Torvald’s marriage will strengthen if only “the wonderful thing happens”-it doesn’t.

Nora’s decision to leave Torvald ends their marriage.

By leaving Torvald, Nora will have the opportunity to explore who she really is and learn to stand on her own.

Overall Story Throughline

"Keeping House, Keeping Secrets"

Nora endeavors to maintain a happy marriage; Mrs. Linde comes to town looking for work (and Krogstad); Krogstad attempts to save his job and rehabilitate his nature; Torvald prepares to take on the position of bank manager; Dr. Rank readies himself for death.

Nora makes certain that Mrs. Linde understands she is not a superficial creature, but a strong woman who used her intelligence and wit to save her husband’s life; Krogstad is concerned that Mrs. Linde understand the desperate lengths he had to go to in the past; Dr. Rank informs Nora when he sends one of his cards with a black cross upon it, she is to understand the process of death has begun for him; Torvald cannot understand what he considers is Nora’s betrayal; and so forth.

What Mrs. Linde sees in the Helmer household she interprets as concealment and falsehood; Krogstad senses Nora’s desperation and determines she may be contemplating suicide; Torvald fails in fully employing his senses to correctly interpret his wife’s actions and emotions; Dr. Rank’s impending death heightens his senses:

“‘Why shouldn’t one enjoy everything in this world?-at any rate as much as one man and as long as one can. The wine was capital-’” (Ibsen, 1879, p. 185)

Thinking of others to the exclusion of oneself is the source of problems in the Objective Story, although Torvald claims “‘No man will sacrifice his honor for the one he loves’” (Ibsen, 1879, p. 199), Nora points out that “‘It is the thing hundreds of thousands of women have done’” (Ibsen, 1879, p. 200); Mrs. Linde’s sensitivity to her loved ones without regard to her own needs has left her alone, a childless widow of a loveless marriage-arranged only to provide for her bedridden mother and two younger brothers. As a physician, Dr. Rank is conscious of other people’s disorder’s without considering his own illness.

Mrs. Linde becomes self-appreciating and allows herself happiness by planning to marry her first love, Krogstad. Once he is certain his own end is near, Dr. Rank takes the time to appreciate his own existence; and so forth.

Mrs. Linde perceives Nora to be superficial; Torvald perceives Nora as his “doll”; Nora chooses to see her husband as a man who loves her absolutely and will protect her at all costs; it is Nora’s perception that once she pays her debt and obtains her bond back, her problems will be resolved; and so forth.

After spending time in the Helmer household, Mrs. Linde is able to determine the true state of affairs; Dr. Rank tells Nora the true state of his heart-he is in love with her; Mrs. Linde accepts Krogstad for who he actually is; and so forth.

Mrs. Linde’s observation of how the Helmers are accustomed to interacting, leads her to change her mind about enabling Nora in her deception, and making sure Torvald will discover the truth. Torvald discovers the truth when he conforms to his habit of reading his daily mail, even after a late night at the fancy-dress ball.

Because Nora is slow to realize her true self, an honest understanding between her and Torvald is long in coming; Dr. Rank’s revelation of his true self to Nora, and his feelings about her, stops her from asking him for a favor, a favor that may have put an end to her dilemma.

Mrs. Linde makes progress towards fulfilling an empty life as she relocates to the Helmer’s town, enlists Nora’s help in finding a job, and revives her relationship with her former love, Krogstad; Krogstad is not satisfied with the slow progress he is making in rehabilitating himself, avoiding dishonorable acts and working his way up in the bank are not enough; the more Nora is able to do to pay off her debt, the more progress she feels she is making toward becoming carefree; and so forth.

Additional Overall Story Information →

It is Nora’s wish to maintain her happy household; its only shadow being the payment of her debt to Krogstad. When Krogstad, driven by the fear of losing his position (and therefore, any chance at respectability) at the bank, ups the ante and threatens to blackmail Nora with exposure of the bond she forged, she frantically tries to satisfy his demand that she use her influence with her husband (the new bank manager) to keep his job. As Nora is unable to comply, Krogstad exposes her past actions to Torvald, who turns on Nora. Nora, expecting her husband to stand by her, is hurt and angered by his reaction. Once Krogstad, redeemed by the love of Mrs. Linde, returns the bond to Torvald, he forgives Nora and prepares to resume their marriage. In Nora’s eyes, the marriage is irretrievably damaged, and she leaves.

Main Character Throughline

Nora — Wife

Nora maintains the conviction that if she can keep Torvald from discovering her past indiscretion, all will be well in their marriage.

Nora is concerned with recalling the difficulty of obtaining the money necessary to save her husband’s life.

Krogstad has evidence that Nora forged her father’s signature and is blackmailing Nora to influence her husband to keep him on at the bank; Nora’s adherence to this pressure serves to arouse Torvald’s suspicions.

Nora is aware of her husband and children’s needs, without paying attention to her own.

Once Nora chooses to be self-aware, she will be a better person for herself and others:

“I believe that before all else I am a reasonable human being just as you are-or, at all events, that I must try and become one…I can no longer content myself with what most people say or with what is found in books. I must think things over for myself and get to understand them.” (Ibsen, 1879, p. 197)

Nora focuses on the motivation to change her situation.

Nora is able to improve her situation by work:

“Well, then, I have found other ways of earning money. Last winter I was lucky enough to get a lot of copying to do, so I locked myself up and sat writing every evening until quite late at night. Many a time I was desperately tired, but all the same it was a tremendous pleasure to sit there working and earning money. It was like being a man.” (Ibsen, 1879, p. 130)

If Nora can maintain the fabrication she has created-her happy marriage will be maintained as well.

Try as she might to prevent Torvald from discovering the truth, it is inevitable he find out about her past indiscretion, which will have a tremendous impact on their future (or lack thereof) together.

Nora judges Torvald’s true feelings for her by his immediate response to her confession.

Additional Main Character Information →

“Warm, vibrant, childish…a devoted wife and mother who romps with her children…” (Flaxman, 1959, p.9)

Influence Character Throughline

Torvald Helmer — Husband

Torvald is concerned with his and his family’s status in the home and community.

Krogstad’s past misconduct assures him of losing his position at the bank, and his past relationship with Torvald determines there is no chance of Torvald trying to understand he is a changed man; Torvald alludes to Nora’s father’s past transgressions, and how they may have influenced his wife’s nature; Torvald has no desire to share his wife with anyone from her past; and so forth.

Torvald is deciding upon the future state of affairs at the bank, and fending off his wife’s efforts to change the course he has pre-determined; when Torvald learns of Nora’s forgery and the impending ruination of the Helmers’ reputation, he determines how they will act in the future to minimize any damage done to their image-his plans are halted by Krogstad’s returning Nora’s bond.

Torvald has established what he thinks is the perfect marriage, based on his ideals and what he believes to be the right way of doing things, and he wants to keep it that way:

Helmer: Nora-can I never be anything more than a stranger to you?

Nora: Ah, Torvald, the most wonderful thing of all would have to happen.

Helmer: Tell me what that would be!

Nora: Both you and I would have to be so changed-Oh, Torvald, I don’t believe any longer in wonderful things happening. (Ibsen, 1879, p. 202)

If Torvald could change his possessive and unbending nature, he would have a chance at a happy marriage.

Torvald’s perception of Nora as a doll, (not a real woman) and their life in the doll’s house (not a real marriage), causes problems for Nora, and ultimately, for himself.

Torvald’s actual nature turns Nora away from him.

Torvald’s destiny as bank manager is what forces Krogstad to put pressure on Nora.

Torvald values the truth more than Nora.

Torvald measures the progress he is making in his career by how it affects his status in the community.

More Influence Character Information →

Self-righteous, concerned with his status in the home and in the community.

Torvald Helmer, a pompous and self-satisfied man, is preparing to take on an important position of bank manager. He does not understand why his wife, a woman he considers no more than a decorative doll, pleads with him to retain Krogstad, a shady lawyer and friend of his past. Once he finds out Nora had borrowed money (and forged her father’s signature) from Krogstad, he turns on his wife, despite the fact she did it to save his life. He is willing to forgive and forget after Krogstad returns the bond, but it is too late-Nora leaves him.

Relationship Story Throughline

"The Wonderful Thing"

Nora and Torvald come into conflict because their ways of thinking differ; Torvald’s basis of evaluation is honor, Nora’s is love.

What Nora visualizes as to what makes a happy marriage is at odds with what Torvald values and sees as important.

Nora and Torvald’s status as a respectable married couple must be maintained, regardless of circumstances that may cause difficulties, as explained by Torvald:

“‘The matter must be hushed up at any cost. And as for you and me, it must appear as if everything between us were just as before-but naturally only in the eyes of the world’” (Ibsen, 1879, p. 191).

Nora submits to Torvald’s awareness of what he thinks is the right way to run a marriage, keeping the two from ever addressing their personal issues.

If each becomes aware of their own concerns they stand a chance of a happy marriage, but as Nora becomes self-aware, and Torvald does not, their marital problems are not solved.

Nora is subjected to Torvald having the upper hand in their marriage, emotionally and economically.

Nora thinks once Torvald’s salary increases, and once she has paid off her loan to Krogstad, her marriage will be stable; Torvald has no intention of their marriage ever achieving emotional or financial parity.

Torvald’s concern for his self and family’s image, and lack of concern for Nora’s feelings, hastens the breakup of their marriage.

Nora’s instinct to keep her doings away from Torvald impedes understanding between them.

The lack of growth in the Helmers’ marriage is based upon how well Nora fulfills the role of a little doll to Torvald’s role of the benevolent master.

Additional Relationship Story Information →

Nora and Torvald operate within their marriage according to the rules Torvald has set forth. Because each has a different way of thinking, conflict occurs when Nora steps outside these boundaries, even though it is to save Torvald’s life.

Additional Story Points

Key Structural Appreciations

The goal of common concern is Torvald and Nora maintaining a happy marriage, with a complete and honest understanding between them.

As Torvald fails to understand Nora, he must visualize a life without her; Nora must visualize a life without her husband and children.

In order to achieve the goal of understanding between Nora and Torvald, the past must be exposed, which effectively destroys the marriage.

Mrs. Linde and Nora reminisce about their days as schoolgirls; Nora has fond memories of her Nurse raising her; Dr. Rank has happy memories of his time spent in the Helmer household; Mrs. Linde’s memory of the love she and Krogstad shared brings her to town; and so forth.

Krogstad must write a letter to Torvald exposing Nora’s actions; Mrs. Linde must stop Krogstad from retrieving his letter before Torvald reads it; Nora must let go of her fear of Torvald discovering her dealings with Krogstad; Torvald, upon discovering the truth, must stand up for his wife.

Torvald has to fulfill the role of bank manager; Mrs. Linde must be a good friend to Nora; Nora plays the role of a doll to Torvald’s role of benevolent master; and so forth.

The way things are going, Krogstad’s position at the bank is in jeopardy with Torvald assuming the job as bank manager; for Krogstad, Nora repaying the loan is no longer sufficient-she must help him save his position at the bank.

Torvald’s immediate response to Nora’s entreaties on Krogstad’s behalf is negative; Nora instinctively hides the forbidden macaroons from Torvald; when Dr. Rank confesses his love to Nora, she instinctively moves away, and so forth.

Plot Progression

Dynamic Act Appreciations

Overall Story

The Helmers’ household prepares for Christmas; Mrs. Linde arrives in town to renew her friendship with her childhood school-mate, Nora, and to look for work; Krogstad meets with Torvald in regard to his position at the bank; and so forth.

Krogstad asks Nora if the woman he saw Torvald with was Mrs. Linde, and if so, is she to have an appointment (his) at the bank; Nora learns that Krogstad has determined she had forged her father’s signature; Nora learns that the law cares nothing for motives; and so forth.

Nora wants to get her bond back; Dr. Rank lets Nora know he would give his life for her sake; Krogstad wants to obtain Torvald’s help in rehabilitating his reputation; and so forth.

Mrs. Linde tries to make Krogstad understand why she had to break with him in the past; Mrs. Linde makes clear to Krogstad she understands why he has acted as he has in the past; Mrs. Linde and Krogstad reach an understanding about their future together; Mrs. Linde explains to Krogstad why he must not retrieve his damning letter:

“‘Helmer must know all about it. This unhappy secret must be disclosed; they must have a complete understanding between them, which is impossible with all this concealment and falsehood going on’” (Ibsen, 1879, p. 180).

Once Torvald has read the letter, he demands of Nora her understanding of her actions. He condemns her without forgiveness until he receives Nora’s bond back from Krogstad. His harsh words and actions lead Nora to understand he has never loved her and she has been served a great injustice.

Main Character

Nora shares with Mrs. Linde her recollections of how she borrowed money years before to save Torvald’s life.

Nora’s unthinking responses to Krogstad’s prodding creates more animosity between the two, undermining Nora’s bid for understanding from the loan shark.

Nora is driven by the fear of discovery.

Once the truth is out, Nora considers all of Torvald’s words and reactions, and decides she can no longer live with him.

Influence Character

Torvald is in the dark about what really happened in the past, how Nora was able to raise the money to make their trip to the south to save his life, and how it has impacted their home life. For example, he recalls how dull the three weeks before last year’s Christmas were when Nora had shut herself away from the family every night, ostensibly to make ornaments, when in reality she was doing copy work to pay off her debt.

Torvald is concerned with moving forward on his new authority at the bank by making use of the Christmas week to implement staff changes.

Because of Torvald and Krogstad’s past association as youths, Torvald is concerned that if he does not dismiss Krogstad, it will make his future position in the bank intolerable.

Torvald is concerned with what he feels is his wife’s betrayal, and the fact that he is now to live without her.

Relationship Story

Nora and Torvald come into conflict over how Nora plans to spend the money they anticipate from his new position.

Torvald unwittingly airs his views to Nora about how those who do not openly admit their guilt and take their punishment are hypocrites, and “‘such an atmosphere of lies infects and poisons the whole life of a home’” (Ibsen, 1879, p. 147), silencing Nora, who does not think in the same black and white terms.

Representative of her daily subjugation, Torvald wants Nora to transform herself into a Neapolitan fishergirl and dance the tarantella for the Stenborg’s fancy-dress ball; Nora wants Torvald to overcome his narrow-mindedness in regard to Krogstad keeping his post at the bank.

Torvald cannot conceive of Nora’s “betrayal”; Nora initially cannot conceive that her husband does not understand the lengths she was forced to take to save him, and how he now refuses to stand by her side.

Plot Progression Visualizations

Dynamic Act Schematics

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A Doll’s House Essay

A Doll’s House was written by Henrik Ibsen in 1879. A Doll’s House is not only one of Henrik Ibsen’s most famous plays, but it has also been seen as the starting point for realist drama. A Doll’s House, along with Brand and Peer Gynt, are often considered to be the first modern plays written in Europe. A Doll’s House is a play about power, money, guilt, duty, and family relationships.

A Doll’s House starts with Mrs. Nora Helmer who decides that her family should have an evening at home to celebrate Torvald’s birthday even though there are various outside activities planned earlier on that day. After getting all the children to bed Nora makes some coffee and brings some cake for herself and Torvald. She notices that the maid is not coming in to clear the table, despite several requests. As it turns out, Aune (the maid) is sick and unable to come to work. Nora remarks on Aune’s “poor condition”, saying she will take up Aune’s duties while Aune is ill.

Eventually, Nora forgets about Aune entirely as she becomes engrossed in her own thoughts of how their life together has become stifling; all play rather than essential sustenance of family life had ceased, with Torvald preferring to read newspapers alone in his study each evening rather than engaging with his wife or children. Nora decides she must break free from the chains that bind her. Aune, who turns up at one point is too sick to help with Nora’s children. Nora promises Aune that she will hire a nurse for Aune once Aune has recovered from her illness.

Aune leaves and Torvald enters. He asks about Aune, not believing that an important event would prevent Aune from attending work. The two converse until Nora suggests that they go out to visit Mrs. Linde (who had earlier announced temporary departure due to poor health). Torvald becomes irate over this suggestion as he does not have time to waste on “unimportant” people currently immersed in newspaper reading. He complains of the dinner being cold, further displaying his ignorance of his family and Aune’s conditions.

Nora sees past Torvald’s narrow-mindedness and decides to sit down and play the piano without his permission. He becomes even angrier because Nora has lost track of time while playing; instead of taking up Aune’s duties, she should be finishing the housework such as what Aune would typically do. Nora sees that her husband is quite ignorant in not understanding why Aune is unable to come into work, yet he will not allow Aune a few days’ leave when needed. She tells Torvald about Aune’s illness, but he does not believe it to be a serious affliction.

Not wanting to argue with him so late night, Nora decides to postpone Aune’s endeavor to find a nurse for Aune. The play moves to the following morning, as Nora narrates her daily routine (how she is to be “the perfect wife”). She is aware of Torvald’s explicit caresses every time he returns home from work, but his attentions are merely symbolic gestures signifying their financial arrangement. Aune enters, having recovered from her illness enough to return to work.

Aune relates that one of Mrs. Linde’s family friends has offered Aune a better-paid position in another town. Aune asks Nora whether she believes she is doing the right thing by leaving Nora in need of help with the children and housework. Aune also asks Nora if Torvald will speak to Aune about her departure. Aune requests that Nora not mention Aune’s leaving to Torvald, because Aune does not want him to feel obliged to give Aune a reference. Aune also discloses why she has taken the position, stating she is leaving for “personal reasons”.

Mrs. Linde enters, stating that an old friend of hers who works as a lawyer in Rome has offered her well-paid work caring for his motherless daughter. She requests permission from both Aune and Nora before accepting the job offer. The two are supportive; they will need help while Aune is gone. Mrs. Linde remarks on how overjoyed she is by the prospect of finding employment once again after such a long period of unemployment. Aune also shares her plans of finding a nurse for Aune, but Nora is reluctant to share the news, Aune, leaving with Torvald because he will be disappointed at Aune’s departure.

Aune warns Mrs. Linde that she must not mention Aune’s departure to Torvald either. Aune leaves and Mrs. Linde takes over Aune’s duties in the kitchen while Nora continues playing the piano. Torvald once again returns from work, ruining his routine when he finds no one in the sitting room waiting for him. He calls out “Nora”, and Nora responds by going into her bedroom where Torvald sits on a chair reading a newspaper. She tells him about Aune having left the house. Aune, Nora points out, will definitely provide a reference for Aune.

Torvald begins to worry about Aune leaving, citing that Aune’s work has been outstanding and she would be an exceptional nurse even to his children. He accuses Nora of not being considerate enough towards Aune in allowing Aune the choice of whether or not to stay. Torvald proceeds with his newspaper reading while Nora returns to playing the piano; he comments on how well-played the piece is and praises her talent at playing it so excellently together with such speed and agility. Torvald remarks that Nora never ceases to amaze him (“”Det star mig sa n? som for/Og det driver mig saa forf? rdeligt til vanvidd””).

Aune returns from the kitchen, where Aune has been packing her belongings. Aune asks Nora if she could have a few moments alone with Torvald to say goodbye. A few minutes later Aune asks Mrs. Linde to take a peek at Aune and Torvald to see whether they are finished talking yet because Aune cannot hear anything from Aune’s bedroom. Mrs. Linde enters first before calling for Aune; she tells Aune that it would be best for Aune not to come inside as it appears that there is trouble between them.

Aune stays anyway, deciding that enough time should have passed by now as Mrs. Linde re-enters Aune’s room. Aune enters the bedroom to see Torvald embracing Aune; they are back in love. Aune overhears that Torvald has no idea Aune is leaving until Aune hears Torvald describe how it feels like Aune has left him all alone with three children—he knows exactly how much Aune means to Nora (and vice versa); he wants Aune to stay, even though he can offer her very little except for his gratitude and admiration of Aune’s work.

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A Doll's House

Henrik ibsen, everything you need for every book you read..

As a play focused around the marriage between Nora and Torvald , A Doll's House can be seen as an exploration of love and marriage, or even, more profoundly, on whether there can be love in marriage. At the beginning of the play, Nora and Torvald appear to be very happily married, even to themselves. Nora talks joyfully about her love for Torvald, and Torvald refers to Nora using affectionate pet names. Their loving marriage stands in stark contrast with the lives of the other characters: the marriages of Krogstad and Mrs. Linde were based on necessity rather than love, and were unhappy. While Dr. Rank was never married, and, it is revealed, has silently loved Nora for years. Yet although Nora and Torvald’s marriage is based on love (as opposed to necessity, as was the case with Krogstad and Mrs. Linde), it is nonetheless still governed by the strict rules of society that dictated the roles of husband and wife. It is clear that Nora is expected to obey Torvald and allow him to make decisions for her; meanwhile, it is important for Torvald’s career that he is able to show off a successful marriage to a dutiful woman.

At first it seems that Nora and Torvald both enjoy playing the roles of husband and wife in a way that is considered respectable by society. However, Nora soon reveals to Mrs. Linde that she went behind Torvald’s back by borrowing the money from Krogstad, and therefore has already broken both the law and the rules of marriage at the time. This creates a dilemma: Nora broke the rules of marriage, yet did so in order to save her husband’s life—a true act of love. Yet this is an act of love that society condemns, thereby placing the rules of marriage above love. In the final moments of the play, it's revealed that Nora's fear of the secret getting out is not a fear that she will end up shamed and punished, but rather is based on her certainty that Torvald will protect her by taking the blame, and in so doing will ruin himself.

Nora is certain that beneath the role Torvald is playing, that he loves her just as deeply as she loved him when she secretly broke the rules of society. Of course, Torvald's reaction reveals that he's not in fact "playing a role" at all—he really does put his reputation first, and he would never sacrifice it to protect Nora. What Nora thought was role-playing was in fact the entire reality. This cements Nora’s disillusionment with her marriage, and with marriage in general—she comes to the conclusion that not only does Torvald not love her, but that the institution of marriage, as it is conceived and practiced in her society, may make love impossible. While Krogstad and Mrs. Linde's joyous choice to marry may suggest that the play does not entirely share Nora's view, it is important to note that their marriage does not at all conform to the norms of society. Mrs. Linde yearns for the purpose she would get by truly caring form someone she loves, while Krogstad sees Mrs. Linde not as some ornament to augment his reputation but as the source of the salvation of his integrity.

Love and Marriage ThemeTracker

Love and Marriage Quotes in A Doll's House

Nora! Just like a woman. Seriously though, Nora, you know what I think about these things. No debts! Never borrow! There’s always something inhibited, something unpleasant, about a home built on credit and borrowed money.

I would never dream of doing anything you didn’t want me to.

Oh, I think I can say that some of us have a little influence now and again. Just because one happens to be a woman, doesn’t mean… People in subordinate positions, ought to take care they don’t offend anybody… who… hm…

Just think how a man with a thing like that on his conscience will always be having to lie and cheat and dissemble; he can never drop the mask, not even with his own wife and children. And the children— that’s the most terrible part of it, Nora… A fog of lies like that in a household, and it spreads disease and infection to every part of it. Every breath the children take in that kind of house is reeking evil germs.

When a poor girl’s been in trouble she must make the best of things.

You see Torvald is so terribly in love with me that he says he wants me all to himself. When we first married, it even used to make him sort of jealous if I only as much as mentioned any of my old friends back home. So of course I stopped doing it.

A man’s better at coping with these things than a woman…

If it ever got around that the new manager had been talked over by his wife… As long as the little woman gets her own stubborn way…! Do you want me to make myself a laughing stock in the office? Give people the idea that I am susceptible to any kind of outside pressure? You can imagine how soon I’d feel the consequences of that!

Now Dr. Rank, cheer up. You’ll see tomorrow how nicely I can dance. And you can pretend I’m doing it just for you—and for Torvald as well, of course.

Tell me what to do, keep me right—as you always do.

But my dear darling Nora, you are dancing as though your life depended on it.

What else is there to understand, apart from the old, old story? A heartless woman throws a man over the moment something more profitable offers itself.

Without work I couldn’t live. All my life I have worked, for as long as I can remember; that has always been my one great joy. But now I’m completely alone in the world, and feeling horribly empty and forlorn. There’s no pleasure in working only for yourself. Nils, give me somebody and something to work for.

Helmer must know everything. This unhappy secret must come out. Those two must have the whole thing out between them. All this secrecy and deception, it just can’t go on.

His suffering and his loneliness seemed almost to provide a background of dark cloud to the sunshine of our lives.

The thing must be hushed up at all costs. And as far as you and I are concerned, things must appear to go on exactly as before. But only in the eyes of the world, of course… From now on, their can be no question of happiness. All we can do is save the bits and pieces from the wreck, preserve appearances…

I wouldn’t be a proper man if I didn’t find a woman doubly attractive for being so obviously helpless.

For a man, there is something indescribably moving and very satisfying in knowing that he has forgiven his wife—forgiven her, completely and genuinely, from the depths of his heart. It’s as though it made her his property in a double sense: he has, as it were, given her a new life, and she becomes in a way both his wife and at the same time his child.

I have been your doll wife, just as at home I was Daddy’s doll child. And the children in turn have been my dolls. I thought it was fun when you came and played with me, just as they thought it was fun when I went to play with them. That’s been our marriage, Torvald.

I believe that first and foremost I am an individual, just as much as you are—or at least I’m going to try to be. I know most people agree with you, Torvald, and that’s also what it says in books. But I’m not content anymore with what most people say, or what it says in books. I have to think things for myself, and get things clear.

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Marriage and Morality in a Doll's House

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Marriage in Plays “A Doll’s House” and “Fences” Essay

The theme of marriage has often been a subject of many plays, novels, essays, and poems. It is a transcendent topic that is relevant at any time in the history of human development. While gender norms and expectations change, the desires of partners to have a strong, lasting, and loving relationship never vanish. This paper aims to explore the theme of marriage using two couples from notable plays, Nora and Torvald from A Doll’s House (1879) and Rose and Troy from Fences (1985). The couples are similar because both of them are heterosexual, have one or more children, and follow traditional gender roles. While marriages start well at first, acts of betrayal, although of different types, contribute to spouses’ disillusionment and their ultimate breakup.

A Doll’s House explores love and marriage in great detail by illustrating the relationship between Nora and Torvald. Notably, the play aims to discover whether there can be love in marriage, which lasts a long time. At the beginning of the play, the two spouses appear to be in a happy relationship; Nora speaks lovingly of her husband, while Torvald affectionately uses pet names to refer to his wife. While their marriage has been built on love, it is still ruled by social norms and expectations, with Nora having to obey her husband and allow him to make decisions on behalf of their couple. Torvald must present to his peers as an individual who has a successful marriage with a beautiful and dutiful spouse.

Thus, as Nora goes behind her husband’s back to borrow money from Krogstad, she seemingly breaks his trust in Torvald. The family needed money for Torvald’s treatment as his doctor underlined the importance for him to be in a different place to survive. Thus, the wife decides to borrow some money to fund a year that her husband can spend in Italy. She even forges her late father’s signature for the loan because, at that time, money could only be borrowed by a man, and the whole process was socially condemned. Keeping this secret is crucial to Nora because she is sure that if it is revealed, her husband will sacrifice his reputation by taking the blame for the loan, ruining himself. Even though her husband has played the role of a reputable man who values his place in society, Nora believes that Torvald’s love for her is much stronger and more profound.

However, as everything comes to light, the wife discovers that her husband has not been playing a role but instead cares about his reputation more than anything, and he will never risk it to protect his wife. Torvald says, “I would gladly work night and day for you, Nora – bear sorrow and want for your sake. But no man would sacrifice his honor for the one he loves” (Ibsen 84). To this, Nora replies, “It is a thing hundreds of thousands of women have done” (Ibsen 84). The revelation of her husband’s true character and perspective on life causes Nora’s disillusionment with her relationship and the institution of marriage in general. The woman understands that not only does her husband not love her, but the entire structure of marriage, which is being practiced and supported by society, makes love irrelevant and sometimes impossible.

In Fences , the themes of love and marriage are illustrated in the example of Troy’s and Rose’s couple. They are married and have two sons, with the wife being ten years younger than her husband. Because of this, the younger woman sees it as her duty to obey her spouse, and most probably not only because of love but also due to the recognition that she would be nowhere without him given the position of woman in society (Rosenberger). Rose considers that it is wise to forgive her husband for his past indiscretions and faults; after all, she does love him. However, Troy ruins the marriage with his wife as he cheats with Alberta. Besides, he does not understand Rose’s desire to keep the family together because he never had a close family himself.

Although, being submissive to a powerful male character does take a toll on Rose because, as a woman, she is not expected to have any hopes and dreams. She says, “I been standing with you? I have been right here with you, Troy. I have eighteen years of my life to stand in the same spot as you. Don’t you think I ever wanted other things? Don’t you think I had dreams and hopes? What about my life?” (Wilson 165). Troy does not seem to understand the fact that being a woman and abiding by the gender norms and expectations often means swallowing her pride and living her life as her husband creates it: “But I held on to you, Troy. I took all my feelings, my wants, and needs, my dreams… and I buried them inside you” (Wilson 166). Such a gesture is seen by Troy as a given as being a wife for a woman often means not being true to who she is or wants to do in life.

The theme of disillusionment with marriage unites the relationships in both plays, and it must be the wives who are the first to understand their “mistakes.” Both Rose and Nora have played by the rules of society and acted as obedient wives who will push their desires and dreams aside for the sake of their husbands. Relying economically and socially on their husbands, Rose and Nora put their families’ needs above their own, believing that their husbands love them, explaining their negative behaviors with their male nature. Inevitably, women’s suppression of their individuality for the sake of others turned out tragically because their sacrifices were perceived as a given and were not valued.

Sadly, there are still married couples in which women’s individuality is being suppressed and overlooked. Confined to their homes, relying on their husbands, and restricted by social expectations, Rose and Nora kept their opinions to themselves without realizing that marriage is never about the oppression of one’s individuality and desires. Different situations, such as Torvald’s betrayal and Nora’s lending money, shed light on the nature of the couples’ relationship, giving wives the push to understand their values, dreams, and desires. Therefore, the relationships of both couples illustrate the need for communication, the setting of boundaries, and agreement regarding spouses’ responsibilities. Thus, a man’s role is not only to provide for his family and have a reliable reputation in society but also to value his wife’s contribution.

Works Cited

Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll’s House: And Two Other Plays. Penguin Classics, 2016.

Rosenberger, Leah. “A Close Reading of Fences: Rose and the Cult of Domesticity.” Sites UTexas, 2021, Web.

Wilson, August. Three Plays. University of Pittsburgh Press, 1991.

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IvyPanda. (2022, December 17). Marriage in Plays “A Doll’s House” and “Fences”. https://ivypanda.com/essays/marriage-in-plays-a-dolls-house-and-fences/

"Marriage in Plays “A Doll’s House” and “Fences”." IvyPanda , 17 Dec. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/marriage-in-plays-a-dolls-house-and-fences/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'Marriage in Plays “A Doll’s House” and “Fences”'. 17 December.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Marriage in Plays “A Doll’s House” and “Fences”." December 17, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/marriage-in-plays-a-dolls-house-and-fences/.

1. IvyPanda . "Marriage in Plays “A Doll’s House” and “Fences”." December 17, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/marriage-in-plays-a-dolls-house-and-fences/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Marriage in Plays “A Doll’s House” and “Fences”." December 17, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/marriage-in-plays-a-dolls-house-and-fences/.

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