A Doll's House : Minor Characters
A Doll's House : Minor Characters
"The supporting characters are important in themselves because they face the same type of problems "(Urban "Parallels"). Minor characters do a fantastic job of dropping hints to the major themes at the end of any play. Nora's father, Mrs. Linde's husband, Nora's children, Krogstad's children, and Anne Marie, the minor characters in A Doll's House, play their roles perfectly in supporting and shadowing the main characters and themes of the play. The first minor character who comes along in the story is Nora's father. The role of Nora's father is to support who Nora supposedly is as a person. For example, Nora seems to let money, "slip through [her] fingers Just like [her] father," according to Torvald (Ibsen 283). Another aspect of Nora's life with her father was how he treated her as if she were an empty-headed doll. Torvald treats Nora during their marriage as an empty-headed wife, which is exactly how Nora's dad treated her as a child. Nora explains this in Act III when she says: I have been your doll wife, just as at home I was Daddy's doll child. And the children in turn have been my dolls. I thought it was fun when you came and played with me, just as they thought it was fun when I went and played with them. (324)
The way Nora was raised by her father supports why she is able to leave her family behind and why she was able to commit a crime as Torvald seems to think. Torvald says, "All your father's irresponsible ways are coming out in you. No religion, no morals, no sense of duty " (321). Nora comments that she can leave the children because she does not know what religion is. "Oh Torvald, I don't really know what religion is," (325). Nora never really knew who she was or what she believed because she has been treated so delicately her whole life. Nora's father shadows who Nora is as a person because of the qualities she gained from him and the way he treated her. The second minor character,
"The supporting characters are important in themselves because they face the same type of problems "(Urban "Parallels"). Minor characters do a fantastic job of dropping hints to the major themes at the end of any play. Nora's father, Mrs. Linde's husband, Nora's children, Krogstad's children, and Anne Marie, the minor characters in A Doll's House, play their roles perfectly in supporting and shadowing the main characters and themes of the play. The first minor character who comes along in the story is Nora's father. The role of Nora's father is to support who Nora supposedly is as a person. For example, Nora seems to let money, "slip through [her] fingers Just like [her] father," according to Torvald (Ibsen 283). Another aspect of Nora's life with her father was how he treated her as if she were an empty-headed doll. Torvald treats Nora during their marriage as an empty-headed wife, which is exactly how Nora's dad treated her as a child. Nora explains this in Act III when she says: I have been your doll wife, just as at home I was Daddy's doll child. And the children in turn have been my dolls. I thought it was fun when you came and played with me, just as they thought it was fun when I went and played with them. (324)
The way Nora was raised by her father supports why she is able to leave her family behind and why she was able to commit a crime as Torvald seems to think. Torvald says, "All your father's irresponsible ways are coming out in you. No religion, no morals, no sense of duty " (321). Nora comments that she can leave the children because she does not know what religion is. "Oh Torvald, I don't really know what religion is," (325). Nora never really knew who she was or what she believed because she has been treated so delicately her whole life. Nora's father shadows who Nora is as a person because of the qualities she gained from him and the way he treated her. The second minor character,