A Doll House - Response

A Doll House Response

A Doll House, a play written by Henrik Ibsen, begins on Christmas Eve at the Helmer’s residence. Torvald Helmer is promoted at the bank as a manager, thus he will be making more money and become more powerful. The news excites his wife Nora because she believes that with the raise in his pay, she will be able to pay off her loan. When they went on their trip to Italy, Nora paid for the trip which was four thousand eight hundred crown, but Torvald believes that Nora’s father paid for the everything. Nora persuades her husband to give her childhood friend Mrs. Linde a job at the bank where he works and is successful. When Krogstad, a lawyer who loaned money to Nora to pay for her trip to Italy, discovers that Mrs. Linde is hired at the bank, he asks Nora to influence her husband to give him a job at the bank also. Nora denies that she will be able to influence her husband and Krogstad basically threatens her by saying that he will tell her husband that she owes him money and that she forged her father’s signature that guaranteed the loan she took. Nora’s attempts at convincing Torvald to hire Krogstad at the bank are futile, for Torvald believes that Krogstad is morally corrupt and he is impossible to work with. The Christmas tree decorations have been taken down and the candles burned out in Act Two. Nora worries that Krogstad will reveal the secret that she borrowed money from him to Torvald. Preoccupied with preparations for a dress at a party at the neighbor’s apartment, Nora’s anxieties are lessened. Nora continues to plead on Krogstad’s behalf to Torvald, but be refuses and sends a termination notice to Krogstad. Dr. Rank tells Nora that after auditing his internal accounts he is bankrupt and she attempts to cheer him up and also flirts with him. He professes his love for her as she was about to ask him for financial help. They are interrupted by Krogstad’s arrival and Dr. Rank leaves. Krogstad reveals that he will not her secret, but he sends a letter explaining his story to Torvald, which is his attempt to make Torvald feel the need to help Krogstad restore himself and get a job at the bank. To prevent Torvald from reading Krogstad’s letter, Nora utilizes her charms and asks him to help her with the tarantella for the party that would be held the next night. He agrees to help and the letter remains unread. Act three is the next night and Mrs. Linde and Krogstad reunite in the Helmer’s place and asks Krogstad if she could take care of him and his children and help him become the better man he is able to be. Delighted, Krogstad says he will take his letter back before Torvald reads it and discovers Nora’s secret, but Mrs. Linde would rather he leave the letter, for the truth will be better for Torvald and Nora. Dr. Rank stops by to say his goodbyes, especially to Nora. Torvald sees two visiting cards with black crosses about the name that were from Dr. Rank and Nora says that they were to announce his death. Nora tells him that he must read his letters, for she no longer wishes to delay the inevitable truth. Nora is about to leave to commit suicide but Torvald stops her and is angry after reading the letter. He accuses Nora for ruining his life and then begins to think about the future- they will stay as a married couple but Nora will not be allowed near their children and will basically be divorced in a sense. A maid interrupts the scene with a note from Krogstad for Nora, but Torvald takes it and is relieved after reading it, for Krogstad changed his mind and send back the bond. Torvald tells Nora that everything is over- he has forgiven her and that he understands that she was just trying to help even though it was the wrong way to help him. Nora tells Torvald that she has been wronged by both her father and her husband, for Torvald never loved her for herself but rather it was satisfying to be in love with her. She claims he treated her as if she were a doll that was to be played with and the world revolved around him, this she was never truly happy. Nora tells him that she is leaving him and Torvald is shocked and argues that she must not love him and she agrees. She tells him that she deserves to become independent and explore the world for herself, for she was always under oppression. After returning their wedding rings and she leaves her keys, Nora tells Torvald that they may have another shot at another chance in the future if they both change their ways to be able to have a real marriage. Reading this play turned out to be quite enjoyable and read it at a good pace. Nora is the play’s protagonist and wife to Torvald Helmer. Nora evolves throughout the play as an independent woman who realizes the reality of her marriage. Torvald Helmer has been Nora’s husband for eight years and is promoted as the manager of the bank in the very beginning of the play. He perceives himself to be financially responsible for his family, thus Nora taking out the loan and having money hurts his pride. Dr. Rank is a family friend and Torvald’s doctor who desires Nora and dies in the end, which his visiting cards with the black cross symbolized. Mrs. Linde is a childhood friend of Nora whose husband passes away a few years back and come to Nora to ask Torvald to get her a job at the bank. Krogstad is the man who Nora borrows money from that paid for the Helmer family’s trip to Italy. He had a setback in his career due to a work scandal that happened a while ago and asks Nora to get Torvald to get him a job or else he will tell Torvald about Nora’s loan. Women did not have much rights in the nineteenth century, thus in the play the men were the providers and the women were the caretakers who were expected to be a good wife and mother. The entire play takes place in once room of the Helmer’s home and Nora does not leave the room, but the action of the play gravitates towards her, until she leaves at the end of the play. Throughout the play, Nora is referred to as either little squirrel, skylark, or songbird, which gives a sense that Torvald does not see Nora as an equal.