However, as soon as Nora voices her opinion to Torvald, he drops the pet names and insults her as a woman through comments such as; “worries that you couldn’t possible help me with”, “oh, Nora, Nora, just like a woman. (Ibsen 403)”, and even telling her she speaks like a child (Ibsen 456). Torvald is simply a common, even typical husband in his society. The typical marriage of that era was for the woman to serve, to sacrifice herself for her husband and her family.
Nora’s role in the beginning of the play is much like that of a doll. In act one, Nora lacks an identity. She follows the role that society has taught her to play. However, this is not the fault of Nora. Nora has never really been exposed to any other identity, because men have raised her. Throughout her entire life she was spoon-fed by her father and husband. Nora goes along with the status quo marriage, not questioning Torvald’s authority on issues. Thus, she has never acquired the sense of independence that she displays in act 3. She is very flirtatious, and constantly engages in childlike acts of disobedience such as the lies she tells to hide whether or not she bought macaroons. Nora goes through life with the illusion that everything is perfect and stays devoted to her husband throughout their marriage.
When a woman of that time loves as Nora thinks she does nothing else matters. She will sacrifice herself for the family before anything else. It seems that her purpose in life is to be happy for her husband and children. During the play Nora had a passionate and devoted heart that was willing to do anything for her husband. At first, Nora does not realize how her husband operates. Torvald wanted a wife whom gave up no confrontation to issues. At the end of that piece, Nora finally realizes the oppression by Torvald, but by this time Nora has realized the situation he maintains. Torvald call her a “featherbrained woman”(Ibsen 451) and “blind, incompetent child” (Ibsen 450) even though she saved his life. Nora expected Torvald to be happy, but he when he finds out he goes crazy. When Torvald says, “Now you have wrecked all my happiness and ruined my future”(Ibsen 451) and “I’m saved”(Ibsen 452) Torvald displays how he only thinks about himself. The emotion Torvald shows when he opens the letter showed Nora a different man. Someone she had not been a wife to, and someone she did not love. She now realizes that their marriage is a social facade. Nora says, “Yes. I am beginning to understand everything now.”(Ibsen 451) Nora decides that the only way to cure the situation is to leave Torvald and the children to become independent. She comes to realize that her whole life has been a lie and that she had been a follower. When she realizes that her responsibilities to herself are more important, Nora slams the door on not just Torvald but on everything that happened in her past. It took a while for her to change into a new person, but after she did she became a person who could not stand to be oppressed by Torvald any longer. Nora says, “I’ve been your wife-doll here, just as at home I was Papa’s doll-child.”(Ibsen 454) Ibsen uses the idea of a “doll” because a doll always maintains the same facade no matter what situation it comes in contact with. A doll does what ever the person controlling the doll wants them to do. Dolls are silent and never express opinions, and never actually accomplish anything without the aid of others. This doll is Nora’s identity throughout the first two acts of the play.
Nora’s authentic identity is in the process of being built when Torvald calls her his “little lark” (Ibsen 403), “little squirrel” (Ibsen 403), and a child. Nora continues to follow this identity throughout the play until the end. It is complete and presented to the reader when she stands up to Torvald and does the opposite of what he wants her to do. Nora tells Helmer at the end of the play that, “I have to try to educate myself. You can’t help me with that. I’ve got to do it alone. And that’s why I’m leaving you now”(Ibsen 455). Nora also tells Helmer, ”I must stand on my own feet if I am to find out the truth about myself and about life”(Ibsen 455). At this point she does not allow Torvald to use his condescending tone to manipulate her any longer. Sometimes in life even now one must step up and make a sacrifice if he or she is in a bad situation. “Nora realizes that before she can be a wife she must first discover herself through venturing out into the world”(Safford). Nora now must follow her own path and decide for herself what her life will be in the future. “She tells him that given the suffocating life she has led until now she owes it to herself to become fully independent and to explore her own character and the world for herself”(classicNotes). Her rebirth in life has led to her own independence. Another man will never again control her and she is now free of her controlling husband.
In many of Ibsen’s dramas, his interest in individuals struggling for an identity in the face of social settings. This conflict often results in his characters being divided between a sense of duty to themselves and their responsibility to others. Nora Helmer in A Doll’s House is a character struggling to realize her identity. Her husband Torvald has always established her identity for her. Throughout the play Torvald forced her to act and look in a way that pleased him. Nora allowed Torvald to play dress up and no matter what the situation Nora has to constantly remain Torvald little doll. Nora ends her doll life by leaving her dollhouse to learn and explore the world on her own. She is no longer a doll under the control of her master Torvald.
Work Cited
ClassicNotes. Short Summary of A Doll’s House. 18 July. 2002
Henderson, Day, Waller, eds. Literature and Ourselves: A Thematic Introduction for Readers and Writers. 3rd ed. Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc., 2001.
Safford, Noah. Burning Down the Doll House. 25 February. 2000
