Analysis of a Doll's House
Analysis of A Doll’s House by Henrick Ibsen Shira Simmons South University Online Kris Shelton March 12, 2013
A Doll’s House has several high points that lead up to what I’ve considered the most defining moment. When Torvald finally reads the letter Krogstad (a fellow schoolmate and an employee at the bank) wrote revealing that it was not from Nora’s father that she borrowed money, but from him, what follows was totally unexpected by me. It seems that the situation of her husband falling ill and the decisions she had to make in regards to that, forced her to grow. In the end, Nora makes a decision that she doesn’t want to be married to her husband Torvald any longer, and she tells him so. The line, “We’ve been married for eight years. Doesn’t it occur to you that this is the first time the two of us, you and I, husband and wife, have had a serious conversation?” (Isben 1879 p. 590) says Nora, licks at where she is going with this conversation between the two of them. As you first read into the play, a perfect “trophy wife” scenario is portrayed. It’s the typical male working and the wife taking care of the kids and other affairs. The time this play was written, it was more common for the woman to stay home while the man worked. Today it isn’t rare to see the woman working and making more than the man. They are experiencing the normal money issues most married couples have and Torvald is expecting a higher salary after the New Year. As the other characters present themselves, you start to pick up on some uneasiness from Nora whenever Krogstad visits their home and one instance from Mrs. Linde whenever she was present. One evening whilst Torvald was away, Krogstad visits and has a chat with Nora. He tells her that if she didn’t convince Torvald to let him keep his job that he would blackmail Nora about the money she borrowed from him and forging her father’s signature on the contract for paying him back. Presenting that maybe
A Doll’s House has several high points that lead up to what I’ve considered the most defining moment. When Torvald finally reads the letter Krogstad (a fellow schoolmate and an employee at the bank) wrote revealing that it was not from Nora’s father that she borrowed money, but from him, what follows was totally unexpected by me. It seems that the situation of her husband falling ill and the decisions she had to make in regards to that, forced her to grow. In the end, Nora makes a decision that she doesn’t want to be married to her husband Torvald any longer, and she tells him so. The line, “We’ve been married for eight years. Doesn’t it occur to you that this is the first time the two of us, you and I, husband and wife, have had a serious conversation?” (Isben 1879 p. 590) says Nora, licks at where she is going with this conversation between the two of them. As you first read into the play, a perfect “trophy wife” scenario is portrayed. It’s the typical male working and the wife taking care of the kids and other affairs. The time this play was written, it was more common for the woman to stay home while the man worked. Today it isn’t rare to see the woman working and making more than the man. They are experiencing the normal money issues most married couples have and Torvald is expecting a higher salary after the New Year. As the other characters present themselves, you start to pick up on some uneasiness from Nora whenever Krogstad visits their home and one instance from Mrs. Linde whenever she was present. One evening whilst Torvald was away, Krogstad visits and has a chat with Nora. He tells her that if she didn’t convince Torvald to let him keep his job that he would blackmail Nora about the money she borrowed from him and forging her father’s signature on the contract for paying him back. Presenting that maybe
References: Ibsen, H. (2011). A doll’s house. In D. L. Pike and A.M. Acosta (Eds.) Literature: A world of writing stories, poems, plays, and essays. [VitalSource digital version] (pp.555-589). Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions.