How Does Nora Change Throughout The Play

Throughout books, short stories, and plays we witness as characters evolve and grow into their roles. These changes sometimes occur as a result of an event or possibly through the influence of another character. Nora Helmer in Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll House” is a character that finds her true self through her interactions with several minor characters. As the play opens, the reader sees Nora, the protagonist of the story, as what appears to be a prancing doll-like wife happy living under her husband’s possessive thumb. Her character give the feeling that she must please her husband by acting the role of the perfect wife. However, all of this changes with the assistance of several of the minor characters as her actual character personality
Nora must be truthful to Torvald and by doing so she becomes truthful with herself. Mrs. Linde is a strong influence for this change in Nora. In the beginning of the play, she is everything that Nora is not; however, by the end of the play when the door slams, the two have almost switched roles. In the play, another character appears in the first act that doesn’t initially seem important. This is Nils Krogstad, a member of the staff at the bank in which Torvald is employed. He is Nora’s antagonist, and even has the undertones of a villain, which like her has committed an indiscretion of forgery in the past. In more ways than one, his character puts Nora on the path that leads to her transformation. He helps in opening Nora’s eyes that possibly her perfect life isn’t so perfect.
When he discovers Nora’s secret, Nils uses the weight of the situation in his favor as he attempts to blackmail her. This is useless however as Torvald condemns Nils for his actions: “I can tell you it’d be impossible for me to work alongside of him. I literally feel physically revolted when I’m anywhere near such a person” (Ibsen 1124). Through the irony of the situation, Nils has an effect on Nora that brings her to realize that she has committed a crime and is a person like her husband
That possibly Torvald will look down upon her as he does Nils. His character causes Nora to re-evaluate how her life may turn out. She also begins to fear that she will corrupt her children as her husband believes Nils is “poisoning his own children with lies and pretense” (Ibsen 1124). She fretfully states as she becomes pale with terror, “Hurt my children- ! Poison my home? That’s not true. Never. Never in all the world” (Ibsen 1124). It is noticeable that her character is changing as she begins to parallel herself with Krogstad and begins to consider the consequences of her actions. With each visit from Krogstad, Nora finds herself dealing with increasing unease to her