Exploring 'A Doll's House' Character Dynamics: Nora's Transformation Free Essay Example

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Changing Relationships in 'A Doll's House': Nora's Transformation's Impact

At the beginning of Henrik Ibsen’s 'A Doll’s House', Nora Helmer is shown as a childish and naive housewife with a knack for spending money. This opinion is transferred mostly through Nora’s “parent – child” dialogue with her husband, Torvald. Torvald’s usual characterization of Nora as an “expensive little person” with a skill of melting his money in her hands clearly illustrates Nora’s relation with her husband as being strikingly similar to that of a spoiled child and his wealthy parents.

However, during the course of the play, as Ibsen takes the reader through the climax of Nora’s pre-liberated life, he shows how Nora develops into a wiser, more determined woman who learns to respect herself. Nora’s development is highlighted and guided with her growing courage, her direct attempts to become more equal with her husband, and her increasingly realistic attitude about herself.

Nora's environment throughout the play can be compared to a 'doll's house'. A doll is make-believe; her life is like a fantasy one can only imagine to live in. The portrayal of Nora's life, as seen by others is similar to a doll, perfect and flawless. Yet Nora's life is confined to her little dollhouse. Her role as a woman, wife and mother shelter her from the boundless outside world. Because of her restricted environment, later her relationship with her husband changes also affecting her relationship with her children.

When Nora's old friend Mrs. Linde came to visit, the two catch up on each other's lives. This is a turning point for Nora's self-image. As she speaks to Mrs. Linde, she sees herself in a different perspective. She realizes that she deserves more than what she is taken for by others. She feels that she is a strong woman, who goes unrecognized for the things she has done for her family. While Mrs. Linde has suffered immensely, Nora feels that she too has endured hardships and has her own reasons to be proud. Although Nora has established her own viewpoint and opinion, she refrains from speaking out about it. She only confides in Mrs. Linde because as another woman, she trusts her.

Nora's Transformation: From Doll-like to Troubled

As the play develops, the on-going internal conflict Nora faces slowly emerges, and is brought to the other characters attention. A major event that contributes to Nora's problems is when Krogstad approaches her with a black male. Years ago, Nora got a loan from Krogstad in order to save her husband’s life. The only way she could get the loan was to forge her dead father's signature. During this time period, it was very rare for women to take the initiative. Nora, bold and independent took it upon herself to do whatever it was possible, even if it meant breaking the law. This action expresses her love and devotion to Torvald. She would do anything for him. Unfortunately, Krogstad threatens to reveal her secret unless she can persuade Torvald, the new bank manager, to let Krogstad keep his job.

As Nora's problems begin to unravel, the audience is able to understand her character in depth. Nora, at first is seen as this helpless little doll that has no mind of her own. She does whatever pleases her husband and children, which only then will make her feel happy. When a sudden twist takes place in her perfect life, she goes through complete turmoil. Her worst fears have come alive. If her husband ever found out the terrible acts of forgery and lying she has committed, she knows her husband will condemn her. She feels without her family, she will have nothing to live for.

At this point in the play, many changes have taken place between the relationships Nora has with other characters. With her husband, she is in constant fear. She no longer sings happily as his pretty little 'skylark'. After Torvald expresses to her how terrible he feels that acts of forgery and deceit are, Nora is extremely frightened. She tries even harder to do anything possible to keep her secrets hidden. She begins to see herself as a poisonous animal, therefore distancing her relationship with her children, in fear that she might infect them. She shows that she is determined; she has the strength and will to do it, in order to keep her family together.

While her conflicts between Torvald and Krogstad are growing for the worse, her friendship with Mrs. Linde is growing for the better. Mrs. Linde becomes Nora's confidante. Mrs. Linde tries to help her with her problem by being there for her; Doing little odds and ends in order to try and keep things away from Torvald. Eventually though, when Nora makes one last plea for Krogstad, Torvald gets fed up and sends his dismissal letter. After this point in the play, Nora's perspectives begin to change. Nora realizes that her whole entire life was lived for others, not herself. She began to see herself as a doll, acting out what other wanted her to do, not what she wanted to do.

Although Torvald forgave Nora for committing forgery, lying, and being deceitful, she did not care. Either way, Nora was confident that she would leave their eight-year marriage. Nora saw how she had been locked up in a dollhouse her entire life. She wanted to go out and educate herself, learn on her own, and make her own decisions and mistakes. She wanted know who she was, or who she could be. So finally, Nora takes the plunge and decides to leave; loosing contact with what was the most important things in her life, her husband and children.

Conclusion

Throughout 'A Doll's House', Nora displays many aspects of her personality. She is seen as a loving and caring mother, a flirtatious and playful wife, a dependable friend, and even a deceitful and dishonest woman. However, each aspect of her personality represents a relationship she has with another character. This all contributes to the main theme in the play. Nora is trying to discover who she is, what her purpose in life is, and what her goals are. Therefore, in the end, she finally sees that her personality was made for her by her husband, not by herself. With no other choice, Nora abandons her old life, in search of a new one.

References

Ibsen, H. (1879). A Doll's House. Translated by R. Farquharson Sharp. Public domain.

Meyer, M. (1994). Henrik Ibsen. Yale University Press.

Templeton, J. (2018). Ibsen's Women. Routledge.

Weinberger, L. S. (1997). 'Motherhood and sexuality in Flaubert and Ibsen.' South Central Review, 14(4), 61-79.

Mitchell, S. (1988). 'The feminist approach in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House.' Modern Drama, 31(3), 370-379.

Freud, S. (1920). Beyond the Pleasure Principle. Hogarth Press.

Martin, R. L. (1991). Ibsen and Freud: A Study of the Playwright's Conception of Human Nature. NYU Press.

Templeton, J. (2006). 'The impact of Ibsen's heroine on the reader.' In Ibsen in Practice: Relational Readings of Performance, Cultural Encounters, Politics, and the Press (pp. 34-46). Routledge.

Maldonado, M. (1999). 'Nora Helmer as a Doll in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House.' Explicator, 57(4), 221-224.