A Dolls House Analysis

Hugo Sanchez
English IV AP
Mrs. Perez
February 5, 2013

A Doll’s House Analysis on Self Responsibility Mothers are known to be the true base of a family, and without one families tend to fall apart. They put their children and spouses before them all the time, and more often than not their self responsibility revolves around taking care of their family. This has been the case since the dawn of time and has remained prevalent throughout the world. In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, the theme of self responsibility is exploited through the use of Situational Irony. Nora appears to be the typical selfless mother at the beginning of the play, but through situational Irony Nora leaves as a selfish, cruel, and cold hearted woman at the end of the play. Nora comes off as a wonderful mother, and like most mothers thinks very highly of her kids. This is shown when Nora is talking to Mrs. Linde and says “I have three lovely children” (Ibsen 7). Nora puts her kids on a pedestal and refers to her kids as lovely just like most mothers would say they have the most handsome son, or the most beautiful daughter. Nora mentions to Mrs. Linde that life is quite wonderful and she’s “able to be free from care, quite free from care; to be able to play and romp with the children; to be able to keep the house beautifully and have everything just as Torvald likes it!”(Ibsen 13) Nora describing these things as wonderful show where her responsibilities truly lie as a person and that is with the well being and happiness of her family. Lastly to defend Nora’s selflessness, there is the confrontation with Krogstad at the end of Act I when Krogstad is threatening Nora claiming he will divulge her secret of falsifying documents on her father’s behalf. Nora asks “Is a daughter not to be allowed to spare her dying father from anxiety and care? Is a wife not allowed to save her husband’s life?” (Ibsen 24). At that point in the story Nora’s actions are nothing short of those of a saint. She goes through troublesome times to try and please everyone, or basically maintain peace. In today’s modern age Nora’s actions probably wouldn’t be so rare, but in those times were completely unethical and taboo. Towards the end of the play when Torvald finds out about Nora’s deceitfulness he claims that Nora has “No religion, no morality, no sense of duty” (Ibsen 62). These claims on Torvald’s behalf don’t become true until Nora walks out entirely on her family. Critic Stephanie Forward states that at this point Nora “needs the opportunity to find her ‘self’ ” (Forward) this means that Nora’s life duties are not restricted to that of the welfare of her family anymore. “Torvald [was] shocked that she will neglect her ‘most sacred duties’—to her husband and children—but Nora points out that she has other duties that are just as sacred: ‘Duties to myself’” (Forward, Ibsen 68). The portrayal of Nora as the perfect loving mother has gone out the window, and now regards her well being and happiness as the most important thing to her. Critics of the play in those times “regarded Nora as an unnatural woman for leaving her husband and children, because such behavior undermined and threatened the stability of society.”(Forward). What bothers people the most is how a mother could simply walk out on her children and spouse and feel no remorse and do it so easily. Ibsen displays situational irony in A doll’s house by leading one to believe that Nora’s actions will benefit her family, but in the end her self-responsibility becomes her welfare. She believes she is entitled to desert her family so that she may find her “self”, which in turn dooms her family because mothers are the glue that holds a family. The actions of Nora would be frowned upon not only in the society she lived in but today’s society as well. A mother’s love for her family is forever binding, and without it the world would fall apart.

Works Cited
Forward, Stephanie. “A new world for women? Stephanie Forward considers Nora’s Dramatic exit from Ibsen’s A Doll’s House.” The English Review 19.4(2009): 24+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 31 Jan. 2013.
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll’s house. New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1992. Print.

Cited: Forward, Stephanie. “A new world for women? Stephanie Forward considers Nora’s Dramatic exit from Ibsen’s A Doll’s House.” The English Review 19.4(2009): 24+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 31 Jan. 2013. Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll’s house. New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1992. Print.