Act 1 of Hernrik Isben's play "A Doll's House" uses the development of characters and dialogue (character interaction) to demonstrate the different positions taken on by both a man and woman within a marriage. To being with, throughout Act 1, readers analyze the relationship of the married characters Torvald and Nora (Mr. and Mrs. Helmer). During this period in time, men were the bread markers for the household while the wives stayed at home with the children. It was almost unheard of for a woman to work hard hours outside of domestic work. As stated by Nora, "...sitting there working and earning money. It was almost like being a man..." (pg.162). This caused men to be seen as dominant over the women in many cases. Isben uses character interaction between Torvald and his ravishing wife Nora to display a man's dominance in a marriage. Torvald repeatedly refers to his wife using childlike nicknames and often unknowingly speaks down to her within their dialogue amongst one another. Due to this, the relationship demonstrated between the two resembles that of a father and daughter than that of spouses. He accuses her of squandering money on frivolous products and doubts her ability to make strong decisions on her own. Nora both plays into and takes advantage of Torvald's views of her.
"Helmer: So my little obstinate one's out of her depth, and wants someone to rescue her?
Nora: Yes, Torvald, I can't do anything without you to help me. " (pg. 178)
Futhermore, in my opinion, Nora is not as dumbfounded as she precives herself to be when talking to her husband. This is because, knowing that Torvald would never expect her to make decisions on her own, she does just that by making the decision to borrow money from Krogstad who is viewed by the town as corrupted and degenerate. This decision always displays how incautious Nora is of the dangers within the real world. Which is why it ultimately backfires on Nora and causes her to internally go insane. By Nora internally going insane it also demonstrates the boundaries developed in relationships during that period of time. A woman's problems were shadowed by the man's needs or wants. Nora couldn't tell Torvald what she was facing or why she was facing it because protecting her husband's pride was more important.
** Question to the audience:
Do you believe that Nora puts on an act when interacting with her husband or do you believe she's just as dependent of him as she precives to be ?
I believe it's both, because she ignorant but clever at the same time. I also agree with your analysis on how men during those were the bread makers. This is one of the main reasons Nora wanted to prove herself. If women were more equal I feel like, Nora wouldn't find herself in this situation.
ReplyDeleteAnswering your question I believe that Nora does put on an act, but does need Helmer because of how those times viewed women. Nora seem to be independent when she goes off and gets the money for the trip, but she also gets herself into a problem when she is cornered by Krogstad about forgery and doesn't know what to do. In my opinion If times where different and it wasn't hard for Nora to get a job I believe she could do splendid by herself. Since those times weren't like that I think she is dependent on Helmer in order to get by.
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I think Nora is fully aware of what she is doing when she interacts with her husband.
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