A Doll Transcended

Set in the context of realism, Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House portrays to us a

typical bourgeois family, especially the wife, trapped in the roles set by the social mores

of that time. Written in the late 19th century, Ibsen’s belief on equality between husband

and wife can clearly be seen in the play which inadvertently attracted numerous critics

deploring what Nora represented.

One could only imagine the controversy the play created. Nora was your ideal

“wife-gone-bad” and that contradicted marriage traditions. However the play touched a

very humanistic side to every course and action – it is not simply black or white. As

such, what Nora truly represented was a dynamic human being; a grey area.

True to form, Nora’s character in the beginning is unaware of herself. The

opening scenes show her playfully indulging her husband’s monikers to her. Through-

out the play, we can sense these diminutive nicknames representing what Torvald, the

husband, sees his wife – a doll-like figure, helpless by herself. Slowly though, the reader

is made aware that Nora is not what she seems as depicted by her lying about not

eating macaroons. This I believe foreshadows the reader of how complex the character

of Nora is.

The play then introduces another female character namely, Kristine Linde. From

their conversations, it can be implied that Kristine is contrasted to Nora. Being a few

years older and suffering from a cruel reality, her character seems to be the opposite

end of Nora. She even offends Nora by saying “you really know so little of life’s burdens

yourself”, driving the point of Nora’s spoilt and naive nature. Despite their obvious

differences, the beauty of realism comes to life when the reader arrives at the fact that

they are essentially the same. Nora, in helping her husband survive an illness, breaks

the law and risks her social status by forging a promissory note. Kristine on the other

hand, sacrifices her true love for a wealthier man in order to address her dying mother

and growing brothers. Their mutuality attracts them to each other, as we can see them

swinging a helping hand from one to the other. This however does not pacify their

relationship into an “I watch your back and you watch mine”.

As the play progresses, turmoil begin to surface as the doll-like role is being

threatened. Nora is terrified that her secret, if discovered by Torvald, would ruin their

relationship. She refers to it as “a man’s pride” and hurting it would change them

forever. This revelation gives the readers a glimpse of Nora’s self-awareness to playing

a role. This self-awareness however is not strong enough to be recognized by her.

Ibsen then uses the tarantella scene to further Nora’s changing condition. In that scene,

Nora uses her knowledge of how to play her role (to be doll-like) to manipulate Trovald.

She flirts and throws herself to Trovald declaring to be helpless without him. She

convinces him to guide and teach her all night in the tarantella dance which in reality

was actually a ploy to buy her sometime. It works, but their plan ultimately fails as

Kristine chooses to force Nora into the real world.

Nora is then confronted by an angry Torvald as he reads the letter and

discovers the truth. He begins to blame Nora for “ruining his happiness” and punishes

her by preventing her to see their three children. At this point, Nora seems stunned, but

was actually overwhelmed by her epiphany. The truth dawns to her that her relationship

with Trovald was an image. She realizes that she was a doll-wife to her husband, doll-

child to his father and that their home was a playpen all along. She finally sees the true

Trovald, the person who fantasized being her “Knight in shining armor”, but completely

berates his wife for breaking the law in order to save his life. Ironically, this occurrence

was the same “miracle” referred to by Nora. Of course, Nora meant it only in the sense

that everything will be alright, but Ibsen destroys this romanticized idea then uses it as

the key to Nora’s awakening.

Nora’s exit is parallel with Kristine’s end. Kristine, after sacrificing her life for her

relatives finally is with her true love. Nora on the other hand, after sacrificing herself to

an undeserving husband finally becomes independent and free. Here we are left with an

adamant decision of Nora leaving and a distraught, but hopeful Trovald. This hope

referred to as “the greatest miracle” once again grounds us into the grey area of

uncertainty. Could Nora comeback? Or more importantly could Trovald change? As

striking as the play was then, Ibsen captures life by the core in this play thus making it

relevant ‘ptill now and probably tomorrow.