FREE ESSAY ON A DOLL'S HOUSE

A DOLL'S HOUSE

The following essay will critically analyse a passage from the play A Dolls House by
Henrik Ibsen. Between the pages 222 and 225 there seems to be shift in the plot, as Nora
takes a different attitude towards her and Helmer's relationship. All of a sudden instead
of trying to preserve it, she wishes to leave the house. It could be argued that her
radical change in mind is not irrational or unprovoked. Before she starts getting changed
to leave, Helmer had just finished forgiving her, for he had received and read Krogstad's
second letter which included the forged document, but prior to this he had basically told
her that he could no longer love her:
Helmer: ...Oh, to think that I should have to say this to someone I've
loved so much-someone I still .... Well, that's all over now-it must be;
Then spontaneously he starts forgiving her as he had received the second letter,
everything else he had told her before was forgotten. It is very cold of him to go from
one thing to another, hence it cannot possibly be believed that his feelings are true for
Nora. People do not love a person one moment, and then deny them it, or vise versa.
Nora's reason for leaving, as she explains, is that she feels he doesn't love her:
Nora: You've never loved me, you've only found it pleasant to be in
love with me.
As well as her taking no part in family decisions or even her own, as she and Helmer have
never sat down to have a serious discussion, in the past eight years, until now. She is
his doll , and has no say in her own future, let alone her owner's (Helmer).
Another aspect, included in the book's theme, is sexism, an attitude which stereotypes
people according to gender. In forgiving Nora, Helmer makes various comments
characterised as sexist. Firstly, he tells Nora:
Helmer: ...It was just you hadn't the experience to realise what you
were doing.
Here he is referring to the crime she committed of forging her father's signature, to
obtain the loan from Krogstad. This simple sentence shows Helmer's lack of confidence in
Nora's decisions, he appears to be treating her as a child. He speaks of her
inexperience, when in reality she is an adult, who has lived long enough to distinguish
right from wrong. The manner in which he forgives her is as though he believes she did
not know what she was getting into, like a child who plays with matches without
foreseeing the consequences.
Still, he goes on to say:
Helmer: ...I shouldn't be a proper man if your feminine helplessness
didn't make you twice as attractive to me.
Alone in itself this sentence has a lot to say for Helmer's opinion on a man's and
woman's place in society. In saying proper man means he has guidelines by which a man
should act, and the part of feminine helplessness demonstrates he believes all women to
be helpless. His finding her attractive due to this can be explained by the typical
sexist desire to be superior to his partner.
Although the example of sexism is very strong in this extract, throughout the book it is
not as obvious, and there are other factors of the theme which are more prominent. One of
these is Nora's infant behaviour, which Helmer seems to fuel with his attitude towards
her:
Helmer: ...Ah, you don't know what a real mans heart is like,
Nora.....I'll be both your will and your conscience.
This sort of control that Helmer is exerting over Nora would be like that of a father's
over his daughter. Nora recognises this, and further on she compares Helmer with her
father, and reaches the conclusion that they both treat her the same. Furthermore, Helmer
scolds her:
Helmer: ...Why, what's this? Not in bed?
I remember my own father telling me this in similar words, when I was younger and was out
of bed after my bed-time. Unfortunately, Nora, an adult, is still living through the
same.
Finally, the title A Doll's House suggest the situation Nora is living in, as she
describes the to Helmer at one point. She is the doll that was previously owned by her
father, but now she is married to Helmer and he controls her. The metaphore is obviously
between Nora and a doll, but Henrik also portays this image through the scenery. The
house is what Helmer provides for Nora and her children, like someone would for their
dolls.