Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House was considered scandalous in its time. In the final scene of the play, wife and mother Nora leaves her husband and children in order to find herself. At that time, a woman's place was in the home taking care of her husband and children, so to have Nora abandon her family was seen as outrageous and immoral. In response to criticism and fears surrounding the play, Ibsen wrote an alternate, "happy" ending, in which Nora sacrifices her own freedom to stay with her family. Because the final scene is so crucial to the themes of the play, the alternate ending changes its entire meaning.
The play begins with Nora making preparations for Christmas. In the first act, she appears to be happy with her role as wife and mother. She believes that her marriage to Torvald is a great success, and his lucrative job at the bank will provide her with all the material things she desires. Outwardly, Nora seems to be nothing more than her husband's doll, a possession that he shows off. However, we learn that there is more to Nora. When her husband faced a medical emergency, it was Nora who took it upon herself to raise the money for a life-saving trip to Italy. Not only did she act against the conventions of society by borrowing money, she also broke the law by forging her father's signature on the loan.
Nora believes she did what any loving spouse would do and calls the law "very poor". She doesn't want her husband to know how she got the money for fear it would destroy his "masculine pride." Secretly, however, Nora imagines that if he found out, her husband would shoulder all the blame out of love for her. .
When Nora is blackmailed by Krogstad, a bank employee with a shady past, she is forced to reexamine her husband, her marriage, and herself. In the third and final act, Torvald receives a letter from Krogstad explaining how Nora borrowed the money.
In A Dolls House, Nora's character is child-like and carefree. ... The setting of A Doll House takes place at Christmas time in a nicely implemented house. ... Symbolism in A Doll House is seen considerably throughout the play. The title of the play "A Doll House" symbolizes the level of maturity in the house. Nora symbolizes the "doll" in the house and the house itself is her playground. ...
Nora's Relationships The story "A Doll House" by Henrik Ibsen is about a young woman named Nora, who is trying to cope with a secret she has kept away from her husband, Torvald. ... In "A Doll House", Henrik Ibsen uses conflict to show Nora's subservient relationship with Torvald, Nora's Hostile relationship with Krogstad, and Nora's misunderstood relationship with Kristine. ... Torvald approaches Nora as if she was his doll telling her what to do and when to do things. ... In the "A Doll House", Henrik Ibsen uses conflict to show the unpredictable outcomes of Nora...
"Ibsen's ars dramatis centres on the way his heroines find that their doll's houses are turning, or have turned, into prisons."" ... In order to discuss the morphing of doll house' into prison' in A Doll's House and Hedda Gabler one must first examine what makes their domestic situations doll houses' in the first instance. ... Unsurprisingly the publication of A Doll's House greatly offended and upset Laura and has left Ibsen the title of being a greater artist than man'. ... Torvald is often criticised and blamed for creating the doll house howev...
The Dedicated Husband Torvald Helmer is the breadwinner and foundation for his household in Henrik Ibsen's play, A Doll House. His authoritative personality that holds the family together throughout the beginning of the play is what ends up tearing them apart in the end. His initial actions giv...
A DOLL"S HOUSE written by, Henrik Ibsen is recognized as a landmark contribution to modern theater. ... In Ibsen's play, A DOLL"S HOUSE, he says what can I not say. ... Being on of the most controversial part of the play, the end comes, and with it the doll's house tumbles down, and Nora discards her doll's dress, she shed her skin, as it were. ... When Nora closes behind her the door of her doll's house, she opens wide the gate of life for women, and proclaims the revolutionary message that only perfect freedom and communion make a true bond between man and woman, meet...
To what extent is "The Doll's house" a Modern story? "The doll's House" to a great extent is a modern short story. ... Like every modern short story "the Doll's House" is concerned with nuances of the characters rather than the construction of a fast paced plot. ... One of the epiphany's in this story was when Lil finally spoke in the end of the story, proving to us all she needed was affection and love to make her talk; the love Kezia showed them for barely a few minutes by showing them the doll's house made her speak, may it be a little. ... Many of the situations...
A Dolls House Gender. ... Men a shown to be more superior to women, but unaware the true person a women is in A Dolls House. ... The women of A Dolls House are portrayed as lower than man. ... This idea is stressed in the symbol of the title of the novel as A Dolls House. ... He believes that Nora is a doll and his house is her little toy house that he can furnish to try and keep her comfortable, but in the end it is still a false house and is artificial. ...
The ending pages of A Doll's House were very entertaining for me. A Doll's House seemed to lean towards using extreme drama and creating dramatic situations in order to capture the reader's attention. ... I could really sense the importance of being independent to this family in A Doll's House. ... A Doll's House stresses the significance of women during the 1800's. ...
The play A Doll's House, by Henrik Ibsen, is concerned with the conflict between social distinctions and duty. ... Together they have a cozy house, and three darling children. ... I've been your doll-wife here, just as at home I was Papa's doll--child" (Ibsen). ... She decided that she has to leave a house. ... When Nora closes the door of the doll's house behind her, she opens a different door of new life for women. ...
