At the beginning of the play we meet Nora a puppet needing a puppet master. Nora is a fully grown married woman but, throughout the play acts as a child. Nora’s rhythm of speech is very childish in front of her husband Torvald. “Oh Torvald, songbirds, squirrels, you how we spend and spend.” However, in front of Dr. Rank it changes to a very grown-up tone one which a woman would use. “Scientific work, Dr Rank? Investigation?” Nora’s tone changes because of her relationships with different people within the play, she acts as a child in front of Torvald because their relationship is built on lust and physical attraction rather than love however, Nora doesn’t realise it till the end of the play where, she eventually finds the courage to leave. When Nora is around Anne-Marie her tone yet again changes to a very kindly humble grown-up tone. This is because Nora has been brought up by Anne-Marie she is like her second mother. “Dear old Anne-Marie. You were such a good mother to me when I was little.” I realised that Nora respects Anne-Marie alot through the practical work that I did in class. Also that there is alot of thought tracking when Nora speaks as what she says isn’t what she always means. “Never mind that...Are the children alright?” this is when Nora is speaking to Anne-Marie at the start of act two, and even though she is asking if her children are alright. She could be thinking why am I asking her they aren’t her children they are mine. I should know but, I don’t why don’t I know? What Nora says and what she means to say are two completely different things. Mrs Linde is Nora’s friend and has known her since their school years together. Mrs Linde and Nora both speak kindly towards each other in a very friendly manner, but Nora lets her childish boastful self take over in the beginning. “Completely alone. That must be awful. I’ve got three beautiful children. They aren’t here now; they’re out with the nanny. But tell me everything. Nora’s language grows through the play and she begins to become more selfless every time Mrs Linde is introduced. When Nora talks to Krogstad though, her use of language becomes very professional and mature. “If you’re impertinent about my husband, you can leave my house.” I think that the reason she talks to him in this manner is because mainly she is afraid of the damage he will cause if Torvald finds out but, also because she genuinely knows that her childish self won’t get her anywhere in this situation. We learn that throughout the play Nora grows to become an individual and stand on her own, without needing a puppet master to support her. By the end of the play Nora’s use of language has completely changed because in the beginning Nora is dependent on Torvald her husband, and thinks that she needs to be told what to do and obey what he wants her to do. This is why her sentences are so short and sweet. “Please, Torvald, please. I’ll wrap them up in pretty paper and hang them on the tree. They’ll be so pretty.” However by the end of the play Nora is more self confident, independent, more sophisticated and she has realised her mistakes, she has grown-up to become the woman she always thought she could never be. “Torvald listen to me. When a wife deserts her husband, as I am deserting you, the law frees him of all obligations towards her. And in any case. I set you free. You’re not bound in any way. You’re free. We’re both free on both sides: freedom. Take back your ring. Give me mine.” As you can tell from the start of the play to the very end, Nora’s sentence length and use of words have varied alot, because she has exchanged herself from being a puppet to being the puppet master of her own life.
The next character we meet is Torvald Nora’s husband and puppet master. Torvald is a very strong character and believes that Nora should obey his requests. This is because of an old tradition that a woman should honour her husband. Torvald is a very rich, helpful, ignorant, stereotypical kind of character because even though he thinks he loves Nora he knows love isn’t what he feels. We can tell that by the way he treats her. “I wouldn’t have you any different. Dear little bird, little darling. But what is it? There’s something, isn’t there? There is.” There is alot of Irony between the couple due to the nature that Henrik Ibsen makes Torvald use throughout the play. For instance Henrik has Torvald compare Nora to squirrels, Skylarks, Singing birds all of which are flight mammals. They are free unlike Nora who is trapped in her own home. Torvalds rhythm of speech is very formal and business like because he sees himself as the leader of his family. He is the type of man that believes his family should be seen not heard but even though he is stern and strict he is also caring and hardworking. His rhythm remains constant throughout the play until the very end where his sentence lengths shorten and he becomes less dominant then Nora. I found this through the practical assessment I did in class I played the part of Helmer and I seen him as a broken man by the end of the play. I and my partner represented the less dominant Torvald by having Nora standing and Torvald sitting so he had to look up at Nora. For the first time at the very end of the play we see Torvald for what he really is, a caring man who was blinded by control. “Tell me the miracle.” “I believe. Tell me. If we changed. If we-“All of a sudden Torvald begins to treat Nora as an equal but she feels it is too late to amends.
The third character we meet is Mrs Linde a friend of Nora. Mrs Linde is the exact opposite of Nora because Nora has been spoon fed everything her whole entire life whereas Mrs Linde has had to fight and work hard for everything she has achieved. Mrs Linde’s language is very formal and mature throughout the play. The audience realises the reason Mrs Linde is played like this is because of what she has been through like losing her husband and being left nothing to live on. Mrs Linde then went into business for herself and has worked hard for everything she achieved. Mrs Linde like Torvald treats Nora as a child because of the way Nora acts but when she finds out about the loan Mrs Linde begins to realise how grown-up Nora is and starts to treat her equally. When Mrs Linde is talking to Krogstad she suddenly becomes all kind hearted and begins to see her life with him. “I need someone to mother; your children need a mother; you and I need each other. I trust you, Nils, the man you really are.” At first Krogstad thinks that Mrs Linde’s kindness is an attempt of saving Nora’s relationship with Torvald but Mrs Linde genuinely still likes Krogstad and wants to rekindle what they had many years ago. Mrs Linde believes that Torvald must see the letter Krogstad wrote so that Nora and Torvald can “understand each other.” When Mrs Linde is talking to Krogstad her vocabulary is quite sophisticated but her sentence lengths are small. This is probably because she is trying to get straight to the point quickly but at the same time she doesn’t want to say what she means to say all in one breathe. Mrs Linde is quite a clever character as she knows what people want her to do like, Nora asking her to persuade Krogstad to take the letter back but, her intentions are exactly the opposite. This is because Mrs Linde is a caring character and sees things for what they really are, she feels not saying anything is a bad thing because then Nora gets to carry on living a lie and she will never see her true relationship with Torvald. Whereas if Torvald knew he would show his true colours towards Nora and she would figure out if her miracle could come true.
The fourth character introduced is Dr. Rank; he is a very good friend of the Helmer’s who visits them daily. Dr. Rank is the opposite of Torvald as he treats Nora as an intelligent human being and she in return speaks more openly to him than she does to her husband. Dr Rank is dying. He refrains from telling Torvald of his death because it is too "ugly" an idea for Torvald to tolerate, but he does tell Nora, this shows a strong bond between them. He talks with her about his coming death in a code that excludes Torvald and protects him from harsh reality. However, Dr Rank is not entirely the straightforward truth-teller of dramatic tradition. His real motive for visiting the Helmer’s is that he is in love with Nora. However Nora isn’t aware of this until Dr. Rank confesses to her. As Rank is a dr. His use of language is formal and direct when talking to anybody. He tries to keep his personal side professional especially when it comes to his friendship with Nora. However when he learns that he is going to die, he feels that he can’t leave without admitting his true feelings. “I swore I’d tell you before I...went. Now. Nora, now you know. And you know that you can rely on me, as on no-one else.” The only time we see Dr. Rank come out of his professional character and into a regular average everyday person is the scene in which he acts as a smitten teenager with Nora. This is a very flirtatious scene between them and it holds great lust between the pair. In this scene the audience begin to realise that Dr. Rank’s feelings for Nora are more than just friendship by the way he speaks and behaves. “I’ve no possible way of telling!” “Tut tut you bad boy!” The pair both act immaturely but at the same time they are both thinking different things will come of their carrying on with each other.
The fifth character is Nils Krogstad. Krogstad is an employee at the bank which Torvald is made manager. Krogstad is a mean clever character who leant Nora the money to take Torvald to Italy to recover. He has committed an offence in the past involving a crime similar to Nora's - forging a signature on a document. Since then, he has struggled to regain and maintain his respectability in the eyes of society. His job at the bank is a major part of this respectability. So when Torvald, who sees Krogstad as an irresponsible repulsive man, decides to give his job to Mrs Linde, Krogstad then resorts to blackmailing Nora about the loan. Unless Nora persuades Torvald to keep Krogstad in his job and give him a promotion, he will tell Torvald about her loan and her forgery of her father's signature. At first, Krogstad appears to be a grasping and vindictive villain. But as soon as Mrs Linde tells him that she has always loved him and asks him to resume their relationship, he reveals himself as a more loving, joyful and merciful character. Mrs Linde, unlike Torvald, believes that Krogstad can change for the better, and indeed, from this point on, his life appears to be set on a positive course. Krogstads use of questions throughout the play is mainly interrogation and cross examination questions. “I left the date blank. Your father was to fill it in: the date he signed the document. You remember that, Mrs Helmer?” “Let’s keep to the point, Mrs Helmer. That must have been a very difficult time for you.” Krogstad is a very cunning and clever character he knows how to manipulate his opposition. Nora is the innocent victim which he chooses to blackmail because of her child like factor which is good at persuading Torvald to get Krogstad what he wants. It is all about control and whether or not he chooses to use the power he has over Nora or just give –up and build his respectability in society back-up from square one. Near the end Krogstad chooses to do exactly that with the help of Mrs Linde he realises his mistakes and his tone becomes alot softer and language simpler.
The final character is Anne-Marie. Anne-Marie has brought up Nora since she was a young girl herself and is now helping to bring up Nora's children. Having a child of her own with no help from her partner meant that she couldn’t support her own child so she considers herself lucky to have been offered her job, even though she had to give up her own child in order to take up her position. Anne-Marie exemplifies the self-sacrificial role of women that Ibsen highlights in this play. Nora finally leaves her children in Anne-Marie’s care, believing that they will be better off with Anne-Marie than they would be with her. Anne-Marie is a very strong respectable woman who knows her place within the Helmer’s household. However Nora is the only one who sees her as more than a nanny she sees Anne-Marie as her motherly figure. Anne-Marie isn’t a very main character in the play and only has one major scene which is between herself and Nora where there is alot of subtext present. Anne-Marie speaks to Nora quite casually whereas to every-one else she is formal and acts like a worker of the household where she is seen but not heard. Nora feels quite strongly for Anne-Marie and is entirely grateful for all she did for her when Nora was younger. “Dear old Anne-Marie. You were such a good mother to me when I was little.”
The overall use of language within the play is quite formal the only child within the play is Nora who learns to grow up to a respectable woman. The sentence lengths are short and sweet at the beginning but by the end are long and explanative. This is to show the progression in complexity within the play. Nora, Torvald, Mrs Linde and Krogstad all grow as characters throughout the play and by the end come out being better and stronger people. Nora and Torvald mainly because of all the deceit and lies that are told and Mrs Linde and Krogstad through the love they still held for each other. The main Character who grew within this play is Nora as her short sentences became long ones. Her vocabulary went from simple to complex. Her speech pattern changed from unnatural to a constant natural pattern and finally her overall woman broke through her child like self changing her from a doll to a person.
