Themes
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Marriage:
The main message of A Doll’s House is that a true marriage is a joining of two equals. The play centres on the dissolution of a marriage that doesn’t meet this standard. At first Helmers seem happy but over the cause of the play, the imbalance between them becomes more and more apparent. The marriage eventually breaks down due to a complete lack of understanding. While married Torvald and Nora are incapable of realising who they are as individuals.
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Gender:
A Doll’s House exposes the restricted role of women during the time of its writing and the problems that arise from an imbalance of power men and women. Throughout the play Nora is treated like a child by the other characters. Torvald calls her his pet and his property and implies that she is not smart or responsible enough to be trusted with money.
Neither Krogstad or Rank take her seriously and even Mrs. Linde calls her a child.
Nora plays along with this treatment, called herself “little Nora” and promising that she would never dream of disobeying her husband. However, there are clues that she is not entirely happy with the limited position she has as a woman. When revealing the secret of how she borrowed the money, she refers to it as her “pride” and says it was fun to be in control of money. Nora’s dissatisfaction with her status as a woman intensifies the course of the play. In the final scene she tells Torvald that she is not being treated as an independent person with a mind of her own. Her radical solution to the issue is to leave her life behind, despite Torvald claiming he will change -
Women and Femininity
Nora has often been painted as one of drama’s modern feminist heroine. Over the course of the play, she breaks away from the domination of her overbearing husband. Ibsen denied that he wrote a feminist play, preferring to think of it as ‘humanist’
However, throughout the drama there is constant talk of women, their traditional roles and the price they pay when they break with tradition
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Men and Masculinity
The men in the play are in many ways just as trapped as the women by traditional gender roles. The men must be providers. They must bear the burden of supporting the entire household. By the end of the play these traditional ideas are truly put to the test
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Love
There is much talk of love in A Doll’s House but in the end, the Helmers discover that true love never existed between them. Throughout the play we hear of and see many different forms of love: familial, maternal, paternal and fraternal. Romantic love even blossoms for 2 secondary characters (Mrs. Linde and Krogstad)
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Lie and Deceit
The essential tension running throughout the play comes from Nora’s fear of a secret being discovered. Her absolute terror of the revelation leads her to tell lie after lie. When her web of lies finally tightens around her. Her marriage proves too weak to bear the strain
## Marriage
The main message of A Doll’s House seems to be that a true marriage is a joining of equals. The play centres on the dissolution of a marriage that doesn’t meet these standards. At first the Helmers seem happy… but over the course of the play, the imbalance between them becomes more and more apparent.
By the end, the marriage breaks apart due to a complete lack of understanding. Together in wedlock, Nora and Torvald are incapable of realising who they are as individuals.
## Gender
‘A Doll’s House’ exposes the restricted role of women during the time of its writing and the problems that arise from a drastic imbalance of power between men and women. Throughout the play, Nora is treated like a child by the other characters. Torvald calls her his “pet” and his “property,” and implies that she is not smart or responsible enough to be trusted with money. Neither Krogstad nor Dr. Rank take her seriously, and even Mrs. Linde calls her a “child.”
While this treatment does seem to mildly frustrate Nora, she plays along with it, calling herself “little Nora” and promising that she would never dream of disobeying her husband. However there are clues that she is not entirely happy with the limited position she has as a woman. When revealing the secret of how she borrowed money to finance the trip to Italy, she refers to it as her “pride” and says it was fun to be in control of money, explaining that it was “almost like being a man.” Although she comes to regret her decision to borrow money, Nora’s dissatisfaction with her status as a woman intensifies over the course of the play.
In the final scene she tells Torvald that she is not being treated as an independent person with a mind of her own. Her radical solution to this issue is to leave domestic life behind, despite Torvald’s declaration that he will change. Nora’s decision suggests that she, and the play, see the issue as only partially with Torvald. The more fundamental issue is with domestic life as it was conceived and lived at the time, in the way it legally and culturally infantilised women and made it impossible for them to be recognised or treated as full individuals.
Meanwhile, the men of the play are also expected to fill a certain role. Both Torvald and Krogstad are very ambitious, driven not only by the need to provide for their families but also by a desire to achieve higher status. Respectability is of great concern to both of them; when Nora’s borrowing is revealed, Torvald’s first thoughts are for his reputation. Meanwhile, Krogstad is fixated on achieving success now that he has “gone straight,” and intends to one day take over Torvald’s job and run the bank.
## Women and femininity
Nora of A Doll’s House has often been painted as one of modern drama’s first feminist heroines. (Get it, Nora!) Over the course of the play, she breaks away from the domination of her overbearing husband, Torvald. The playwright, Henrik Ibsen, denied that he had intentionally written a feminist play, preferring to think of it as “humanist.”
Still, though, throughout this drama there is constant talk of women, their traditional roles, and the price they pay when they break with tradition.
## Men and masculinity
The men of A Doll’s House are in many ways just as trapped by traditional gender roles as the women (Torvald Helmer being the chief example). The men must be providers. They must bear the burden of supporting the entire household. They must be the infallible kings of their respective castles. By the end of the play, these traditional ideas are truly put to the test.
## Love
There is much talk of love in A Doll’s House, but in the end, the Helmers discover that true love never existed between them. Throughout the play we hear of and see many different forms of love: familial, maternal, paternal, and fraternal. Romantic love even blossoms for two of the secondary characters. However, for the main characters, the Helmers, true romantic love is elusive.
## Lies and deceit
The essential tension running throughout A Doll’s House comes from Nora’s fear of a secret being discovered. Her absolute terror of this revelation leads her to tell lie after lie. When her web of lies finally tightens around her, her marriage proves too weak to bear the strain.