A Doll’s House
by
Henrik Ibsen
(Themes)
The Sacrificial Role of Women
In A Doll's House, Ibsen offers a vague
picture of the sacrificial role held by women of all economic classes in his
society. In general, the play's female characters exemplify Nora's assertions,
that even though the men refuse to sacrifice their integrity, "hundreds of
thousands of women have." To support her mother and two brothers, Mrs.
Linde finds it necessary to renounce Krogstad, her true love, and marry a rich
man.
The nanny had to abandon her own child
to support herself by working as Nora’s caretaker. As she tells Nora, the nanny
considers herself lucky to have found the job. Although Nora is financially
more favored than the other female characters in the play, she lives a
difficult life as society decides that Torvald be the marriage’s dominant
partner.
Nora has to hide her debt from Torvald
because she knows, that Torvald would never accept the idea, that his wife has
helped save his life. In addition, she must work in secret to pay her debts
because it is illegal for a woman to obtain a loan without her husband's
permission. The attitudes of Torvald—and society—leave Nora vulnerable to
Krogstad’s blackmail.
Nora’s abandonment of her children can
also be interpreted as an act of self- sacrifice. Despite Nora’s great love for
her children, she chooses to leave them. She believes, that the nanny will be a
better mother and that leaving her children is in their best interest.
Parental and Filial Obligations
Nora, Torvald, and Dr. Rank believe,
that a parent’s immorality is passed on to his or her children like a disease.
In fact, Dr. Rank does have a disease, that is the result of his father’s immorality.
Dr. Rank implies that his father’s immorality led him to contract a venereal
disease that he passed on to his son, causing Dr. Rank to suffer for his
father’s misdeeds. Torvald says, that one’s parents determine one’s moral character.
He also refuses to allow Nora to interact with their children after he learns
of her deceit, for fear that she will corrupt them.
The play also suggests, that children
too are obligated to protect their parents. Nora knows this obligation, but she
ignored it, choosing to be with her sick husband instead of her sick father.
Mrs. Linde abandoned her hopes of being with Krogstad and undertook years of
labor in order to tend to her sick mother. Ibsen uses the idea of a child’s
debt to her parent, to demonstrate the complexity of familial obligations.
The Unreliability of Appearances
In the play, A Doll’s House,
appearances prove to be misleading veneers that mask the reality of the play’s
characters and -situations. Nora initially seems a silly, childish woman, but
as the play progresses, we see that she is intelligent, motivated, and, by the
play’s conclusion, a strong-willed, independent thinker. Torvald, though he
plays the part of the strong, benevolent husband, reveals himself to be
cowardly, petty, and selfish when he fears that Krogstad may expose him to
scandal. Krogstad too reveals himself to be a much more sympathetic and
merciful character than he first appears to be. In the end of the play, we see,
Krogstad as an earnest lover, Nora as an intelligent, brave woman, and Torvald
as a simpering, sad man.
Situations too are misinterpreted both
by us and by the characters. The seeming hatred between Mrs. Linde and Krogstad
turns out to be love. Nora’s creditor turns out to be Krogstad and not, as we
and Mrs. Linde suppose, Dr. Rank. Dr. Rank, to Nora’s and our surprise,
confesses that he is in love with her. The seemingly villainous Krogstad
repents and returns Nora’s contract to her, while the seemingly kindhearted
Mrs. Linde ceases to help Nora and forces Torvald’s discovery of Nora’s secret.
The instability of appearances within
the Helmer household at the play’s end results from Torvald’s devotion to an
image at the expense of the creation of true happiness. Because Torvald craves
respect from his employees, friends, and wife, status and image are important
to him. Any disrespect—when Nora calls him petty and when Krogstad calls him by
his first name, for example—angers Torvald greatly. By the end of the play, we
see that Torvald’s obsession with controlling his home’s appearance and his
repeated suppression and denial of reality have harmed his family and his
happiness irreparably.
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