"I'm Not a Doll and This Isn't a Doll's House" (3)

The deeper I read into Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, the more I dislike Torvald’s role in the Helmer family.  He is rude, impulsive, and most of all controlling, just like a doll keeper would act towards his dolls, his property.  Priscilla Renea, a modern day woman in the same possition as Nora Helmer, puts it perfectly in "Doll House."  Nora is definitely like Torvald’s personal doll in the way that he controls her.  Nora even says, in a conversation with Dr. Rank that Torvald is like a father to her, like HER father to her (Ibsen 52).  Even earlier in the story, you can tell that she wants to please him as a child would to her father in even the smallest ways such as looking intelligent for a dinner (Ibsen 43).  I remember when I was about ten years old I always wanted to be the best for my parents.  I always wanted to impress them by being better than everyone else, including my sister, who did not like me very much for that.  In this way, I could very easily compare myself to Nora and my parents to Torvald.          

Did you forget? (3)

Just a few pages into the third quarter of A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, I noticed that even Nora is beginning to realize that she is changing as a result of everything going on in her life.  I became aware of this when Nora casually asked the nurse, “Do you think they would forget their mother if she went away altogether?”  What I took the most into consideration was not her comment on going away altogether, although it did catch my attention along with the nurse’s, but more her comment about people forgetting each other.  Nora herself is starting to become conscious of her actions, or better said neglect, towards her children (Ibsen 39-40).  Although I know that this is not a real story, ever since I read Nora's line on neglect, I had one song stuck in my head.  The reason i connected the two is because the singer if the song says one line,"Did you forget, that I was even alive?  Did you forget, everything we ever had?  Did you forget?  Did you forget, about me?" This line, for some reason, instantly reminded me of this. (Demi Lovato's "Don't Forget") This theme of forgetting people pops up again later on when Mr. Rank pays a visit.  As he and Nora are talking about his recent bankruptcy and how soon he would be dead because of the child abuse from his father that caused his back problems in his later life and how their loss would be an easy one to get over and would soon be forgotten (Ibsen 49-50).  Mr. Rank's story on how he was abused by his father reminded me of a movie I have recently seen, Pay it Forward, in which he was raised by an alcoholic mother and an abusive father.  I think that this may be an important idea or theme and may even come out again in Act III because of how often it is used in Act II.   

Things change. People change. (2)

After reading the second quarter of Henrik Ibsen’s, A Doll’s House, I could not help but notice the many changes running through the pages.  There are changes in the character’s point of view, the character’s stories, and even the characters themselves, and most, if not all, refer to Mrs. Nora Helmer. 

One of the main point of view changes that I noticed was that of Nora Helmer.  In the beginning of the play you can clearly see that Nora was proud of her choice to obtain the money at any cost in order to get her husband the medical care he needed, but as the play continues, you can see her point of view change from prideful to guilty.  When Torvald admits to Nora that he was planning on firing Mr. Krogstand because he committed forgery, but even more so tried to cover it up, she instantly tries to justify her choices through Mr. Krogstand’s situation, because of the guilt of her actions and cover up.  Her guilt only elevates as Torvald describes how much he hates evil.  As he himself describes it, “Such an atmosphere of lies infects and poisons the whole life of a home.  Each breath the children take in such a house is full of the germs of evil (Ibsen 36).”   

The main character’s story that changed was also Nora Helmer’s.  In the beginning of the play, Nora says she got the money from her late father.  As the story continues she reveals that she got a loan, but now, the truth, or the latest story, is revealed.  In this story, Mr. Krogstand loaned Nora 250 pounds, and now Mr. Krogstand needs help in return (Ibsen 30-32).  While Mr. Krogstand is already struggling to keep his job, he decides he will not go down alone, and decided Nora was the perfect person to bring down with him.  Also, it was so simple to do considering Nora made an obvious fraud mistake in an agreement with him (Ibsen 36).

The last aspect that I will be covering is the main character change, and this is once again about Nora Helmer.  Nora changes in many small ways, one being her attitude towards her children.  In the beginning of the play, no one could get in between her and her children, but as the plot continues, you can see her slowly begin to separate from them (Ibsen 33).  Another way Nora changes is in the beginning of her conversation with Mr. Krogstand, she is sobbing and begging him not to do this, but that mask was quickly broken when out of impulse, she yells.  The last way that Nora changes comes from within.  She used to see herself as the hero for doing what needed to be done in order to help her husband, but later she sees what she did as evil because of all the lies she brought into the family (Ibsen 36).   

Breaking into Pieces (1)

While reading A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, I noticed a small component that I think may connect or even foreshadow the ending of the play.  I recognized that as Nora was showing her husband, Torvald, all the gifts that she had bought to give away for Christmas, she came across the gift she was planning on giving her daughter, Emmy.  She purchased a doll accompanied with a dolly’s bedstead.  Nora described them as “very plain, but anyways she will soon break them in pieces.”  This leads me to infer that perhaps Ibsen was foreshadowing what may be happening soon in the plot (Ibsen 7).  I believe that the Nora and the Helmer children may be an allusion to the people of the doll house, and that Torvald may be the person controlling them.  I believe this because of Torvold’s character traits that describe his constant urge to be in control (Ibsen 7).  I believe that those very traits are going to cause their happy utopia like family to “break them in pieces .”   

Scratching the Surface and Characters Analysis (1)

     Having read the first quarter of A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, I was able to just barely scratch the surface of what the rest of the story would be on.  Henrik Ibsen generally writes plays that express the general stresses of modern day life by demonstrating the inner pressures and quarrels that hinder the individual.  In other words, he illustrates man versus self conflicts in a modern day setting.  In his popular piece, A Doll’s House, he follows this specific style very closely.

     Henrik Ibsen develops the plot of A Doll’s House through the setting he himself sets up.  I noticed that the stage directions are very specific down to which side of the room an armchair or a window lay on.  The way he sets the mood for this stage play is by putting everything just as he had envisioned it.  Either Ibsen has a specific purpose for all of these props, or he just wants to use them to set the specific mood he had planned on.

     Another way Henrik Ibsen develops the plot of A Doll’s House through all of the many diverse characters.  One of the characters is named Nora Helmer.  Nora is the type of person who is outgoing. She is the type of person who tends to be quite liberal with her, or her husband’s newly gained, money.  I believe that Ibsen is satirizing women and how they spend money so freely, especially compared to men.  Also, it satirizes how women see any sudden flow in of money is an excuse to go out and spend, as Nora did with her husband, Torvald’s, job promotion money(Ibsen 6-7).  What Nora does not know was that all of these very qualities were what were going to cause her downfall (Ibsen 17-19).

     The next character that helps in the development of the plot of A Doll’s House is Torvald Helmer.  He is excited about his new promotion at the banks he works at.  Torvald is the kind of man who likes to be in charge of all aspects of his life, which unfortunately includes his home life.  I noticed that Torvald tends to hold a somewhat father like role over his wife.  Some of the ways he keeps her on such a tight leash is by giving her an allowance rather than sharing their money like an equal relationship would and giving her little pet names as you would a child (Ibsen 6-7).  I believe this is because he sees her as a trophy wife because Isben makes constant references to her attractive physique (Ibsen 6-10, 16, 18, excreta).   

     Another character that helps develop A Doll’s House goes by Mrs. Linde.  Mrs. Kristine Linde is an old childhood friend of Nora Helmer.  In just a few words, Mrs. Lindle can be described as hardworking, levelheaded, and loyal, especially to her friend, Nora (Ibsen 11-20).  When analyzing her character traits, many of the features that came to mind matched one specific character from another story.  The character that resembles Mrs. Lindle, from the novel by Mark Twain A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, goes by “The Yankee” for most of the novel, but is actually named Hank Morgan.