Act III: The Finale

we're finally here, the end of the dramatic play, A Doll House. It was a pretty good ending, and it seemed to fit right. Nora, the main character, finally makes a stand and leaves Torvald. She decides to give up the life her father and Torvald made her live, and I believe her decision was very right. Nora proves to be an interesting character throughout the story, dynamic even, she makes a radical change in personality(for the better) at the end of the story.

When Torvald finally finds out Nora's dirty little secrets, needless to say, he loses it. He goes on a rant on how Nora has ruined his reputation, how she is morally corrupt, and even unfit to raise his children! Then he opened up the 2nd document, the one Krogstad sent after Mrs. Linde convinced him. Instantly, Torvald "forgave" his wife, taking back all those hurtful things he said to her, saying he said them in them out of anger. The reader can obviously tell how frivolous he takes Nora and their marriage. Knowing Nora, I believed that she would simply take this treatment, but in an astonishing act of defiance, she stood up to Torvald.

I'm sure many of the ladies reading Torvalds following reaction were very pleased with how pathetic he sounded as begged and pleaded with Nora to stay and she simply brushed him off as if their years of marriage had been nothing at all. So at the end of the play, Nora departs on her own way, to live her own life, not one the people in her life think she should be living.

Act II: Plot Thickens...

In act II, we understand a bit more about Dr. Rank, a close friend of the family. Or rather, the secret relationship between Nora, and Dr. Rank, which seems to be a simple platonic friendship, but the underlying truth is much more captivating. To be honest, realizing the time the play was created and written and the fact that Nora was a woman, I never thought so much intrigue would surround her in the story, this might've been why Henrik Ibsen's works were considered so outlandish. It wouldn't be farfetched to say that he was before his time. Now at this point in the story not only has she forged a fake signiture of her recently deceased father, she owes the villainous Kragstad a large sum of money and she seems to be inching closer to an affair with Dr. Rank. This book is shaping up to be kind of a soap opera...

Dr. Rank has recently confessed his deep feelings of love for Nora to her, and as far as I can decipher from her dialogue, this wasn't really shocking news to her nor was it disappointing, which could be forshadowing.... Meanwhile, Nora again tried to convince Torvald not to fire Krogstad from the bank, and a argument ensues, angry Torvald mails the letter of dissmal to Krogstad. In turn, Krogstad comes to her in response wielding a letter which entails all of Nora's wrongdoings, from the signiture to the money owed. Krogstad makes a speech on how he has feelings and wants to get back his moral reputation and continues to demand his job. Nora stands up to him saying that she is not afraid of him and Krogstad takes an exit, but before he leaves Krogstad drops the aforementioned letter in Torvald's mailbox. Unfortunately the mailbox is shut by a lock. To which Torvald owns the key. And he wears it around his neck. So Nora throws herself at Torvald, just trying to get his attention from the mailbox which he checks daily a specific time. Nora tries deploying some of her own subterfuge and pretending that she forgot the Tarentella dance she is supposed to perfrom the next night, and pleads that Torvald re-teach her. Of course, Torvald submits and helps her.

So Nora is safe for now, but it sooner or later it all comes crashing down...

Act I: It's pretty entertaining so far..

In Act I, we're introduced to the main characters: Torvald Helmer, the lawyer soon to be the manager of the bank, Nora Helmer, his wife who is a bit, well actually very conceited at times, Krogstad, an associate of Torvald's and according to him, a person of very low moral character and then the secondary characters are Helmer's three small children and the Maid. At this point a few things can be said about the characters. Torvald recently recovered from an illness, because of which he went on a stint to Italy to recover. He is soon to be the manager of the bank he works at, which means an even higher income and people working under him, i.e. Krogstad. Nora is Torvald's self-concerned, and dependant wife. Through the dialogue we can tell how much she really does rely on Torvald for anything, even to pick out her dress for a formal event! Krogstad, as far I can tell from this point, is the main antagonist of the story. He seems to be more than willing to use subterfuge and manipulate people to obtain what he wants, and so far Nora is main target. Nora, in an attempt to save her husband, she borrowed money from this shady man to send him to Italy so he could recover. So she forged a signiture (very illegal) on a document that said if she were unable to complete repaying him, her Father would pick up the slack. But seeing how she forged the document, he now has leverage over her. Krogstad is filling Nora's easily swayed mind to his will, saying things like how her children are now tainted because she lied. Krogstad is now demanding that Nora keep his job secure at the bank, knowing how Torvald despieses him. Ironically, after Krogstad leaves, Torvald makes Nora make a pact to united against Krogstad to keep him out of the bank and away from the house.

Nora is in quite a bit of hot water....

Henrik Ibsen and A Dolls House

The author of the book, A Dolls House, is Henrik Ibsen. In his time of the 19th Century he was quite the notable playwright, and his niche was realistic drama. In some circles he is called the "father of modern drama" and one of the founders of modern drama in plays. This is most likely due to his "Scandalous" plays of that time period. Europe was in a period of Victorian family values and censorship; so some of the material Henrik used was quite a bit outlandish.

A Dolls House could have something to due with the tradition of Europe in that time period i.e. the Victorian values. Judging from the title, maybe Henrik is mocking the that certain lifestyle and culture that was so commonplace back then.