An Ibsen drama with an unpredictable outcome and various notions has already gained public admiration and approval. Its name, A Doll’s House,” only becomes clear at the end of the book. Until this point, the author keeps the culmination and captures the imagination and participation of a reader. People who live at a distance find themselves intertwined with each other’s destinies and finally realize that their decisions may have an influence on another person’s future. Seeking help, they discover that they are giving a hand to more influential and powerful persons than themselves. The colors on Nora’s and Krogstad’s fabrics of life may differ, yet they have the same structure.
The four key characters in the drama have different lifestyles, but two of them share many similarities. Nora Helmer appears to have no troubles or burdens in life. Her husband, Torvald Helmer, is a man of honor and principles who has earned the position he deserves as manager of the Joint Stock Bank. Christina Linden, a widow who lost her husband three years ago, previously had to care for her helpless mother and two young brothers but now seems to have no one left to live for. Nil Krogstad is a man who hides behind a mask and has gained a reputation as a liar and hypocrite.
Henrik Ibsen, an original dramatist, has skillfully portrayed Nora and Nil by weaving similarities into their distinct life patterns.
- Promising start: Krogstad had a fiancée, and Nora had the best life ever with a man she loved. However, both have committed forgery – Krogstad did it intentionally to support his family, while Nora did it unintentionally to save her husband’s life.
- Attitude towards society: What do I care for your tiresome society?” (p.14). Interacting with other people was not a priority for them except for each other.
- Social report of them: They were seen as hypocrites and liars who were always “lying and canting and shamming” (p.24).
- Reconciliation: Krogstad was punished by society for his evident forgery but was eventually forgiven and accepted. On the other hand, Nora had to start a new life of investigation after being alienated from her family due to her secret deception.
Just like Krogstad, Nora Helmer initially induces negative feelings. She appears to be a spoiled child and is treated as such. Her husband referred to her using no other names but lark”, “squirrel”, and “featherbrain”. However, the one that particularly fits Nora’s nature is “a little spendthrift” (Ibsen, p.3). Her husband blames her for buying useless things, Christina says she knows so little of the troubles and burdens of life (p.9), and even Nora remembers the time she had to write a condolence letter to her best friend but kept putting it off while something always came in the way (p.6). Her entire life has been spent singing, dancing, playing with her three adorable children, and amusing her husband.
On the other hand, Krogstad did not have a cloudless past. He was a widower with many children. However, as a lawyer, he was corrupted to the very core of his character” (p.14). Although he came off clear in the court case concerning forgery, he gained a spotted record for the rest of his life. Nevertheless, like anyone in society, he must live and wants to regain his footing in the world (p.42).
Nora and Krogstad were proud of their current situation. Both of them had spotless records for the past eight years and eighteen months, respectively. However, their past actions hindered them from enjoying a social life. In secret, Nora borrowed money from Krogstad despite knowing her husband’s principles of No debts! No borrowing!” (p.2). Instead of asking her father who was on his deathbed to sign the I.O.U., she signed it herself and could now face condemnation according to the law. Krogstad kept this document for hard times just like Nora who wanted to save her husband’s life by paying $200 for an Italy trip; he wanted to save his family from bankruptcy.
When the truth was about to be revealed, both of them had to fight for their lives to keep their positions in the Bank (Krogstad) and in the family (Nora) (p.19). They had been steadily gaining respect and authority, but suddenly lost everything and now desired to rise again. As a wise woman, Nora chose to endure the horror of disgrace and humiliation by taking her own life. Meanwhile, Krogstad, who possessed some compassion, aimed to work his way up to becoming manager of the Joint Stock Bank.
Both characters had anti-social motives and were ruining their family lives. Torvald Helmer describes this kind of life using psychological terms. Initially, a person who commits a crime must wear a mask, but the closest affected people are the family members: husband, wife, and children. Consequently, the atmosphere of lies poisons and contaminates every aspect of home life, with the most terrible effect being on children. Torvald concludes that “every breath the children draw contains some germ of evil” (p.25). To support this evidence, Henrik Ibsen uses Doctor Rank as an example; he had a terrible life in his father’s house where he witnessed all his father’s mistresses, champagne parties with truffles and oysters and wild oats. Rank’s innocent spine had to suffer for his father’s sins; “in one way or another you can trace in every family some such inexorable retribution” (p.35).
As a young woman, Nora Helmer felt a sense of womanly helplessness” (p.64). When she passed from her father’s hands into her husband Torvald’s, she didn’t pretend to make any decisions. Her tastes, opinions, and mentality were the same as her father and husband’s. Everything was arranged according to their preferences. However, at a certain point Nora realized that she was being treated like a doll and only lived to perform tricks for her husband. Her life had come to nothing.
According to Helmer’s own words, she had “no religion, no morality, no sense of duty” (p.62). The only remaining duties were towards herself and it was time for Nora to start a new educational stage in her life after the masquerade ball ended. The ball in her life was over and it was time for Nora to enter real life with its hardships and burdens.
The criminals of the past put their minds to finding the right path and following social norms. Krogstad could be another man with Christina and will make others see [him] as [she does]” (p.52). He realized that a sincere outward attitude towards living and working for somebody else brings more happiness and joy than all the positions and money earned for his self-esteem. Nora, who had no intention of further ruining her family life based on hypocrisy, fully entered society – she started a self-supporting life, turning down any further relationship with her ex-husband and children. The only difference between Krogstad and Nora was that Nil testified to the miracle of miracles in his life with Christina while Nora no longer believed in it.
Works Cited
Ibsen, Henrik’s A Doll’s House” is a Dover Thrift Editions book published by Dover Publications in 1992.
