A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen
Summary
Nora returned home from shopping for the Christmas. Helmer
loved and called her by different names such as skylark, squander bird, etc.
She intended to spend more money on Christmas this time because Helmer had
become the manager of the bank and he was going to have a better income. The
door bell rang. Helmer entered his study room.
Mrs. Linde came in. She was Nora's childhood friend. She
had become a widow for three years. She had married a rich man for support to
her sick mother and two brothers. Mother was now dead, and brothers were
working for themselves. She had come to Nora to find a job for her own sake
because purposeless life had become a bore for her. Nora assured her she would
manage it. When Mrs. Linde asked her about the tour to Italy with her sick
husband, she replied that she had managed herself two hundred and fifty pounds.
Doctor had recommended a warm place for his recovery and so she did her best to
take him to Italy. She did not tell her friend how she managed the money.
Meanwhile, a lawyer called Krogstad entered. He went to talk to Helmer in his
study. Dr. Rank who had come at the same time when Mrs. Linde came in had gone
into the Helmer’s study room. He came out. He was introduced to Mrs. Linde.
Mrs. Linde thought that Nora had borrowed the money from Dr. Rank. Nora
convinced her husband to manage a job for her friend in the bank. Helmer
promised he would do that for her.
Nora went to play with her three children. At the same
time Krogstad entered hideously. He spoke to her to have influence over her
husband in his favor. If he would be dismissed from his job, he would expose
the forgery of hers which she had done to take a loan from the bank. She had
signed her father's name when he was dying and her husband was sick. He went
out with a threat to her. Nora urged her husband to consider the job that
Krogstad was holding but Helmer was determined. Helmer believed that Krogstad
had contaminated his children, too, with his lies and crimes. Nora was also
afraid of the thought that she was also probably contaminating her children.
Nora was very disturbed. She discussed with her Maid who
had looked after her as a mother. She intended to leave the children in her
maid’s responsibility. Mrs. Linde came in. Nora gave her the works of stitching
her fancy dress. When Helmer appeared, she asked him again to consider
Krogstad's position because she was afraid that he would make some scandal in
the newspapers. Helmer was bold. He assured her that he was ready to face any
difficulty for him and for her. He had already thought to give the job to Mrs.
Linde. Helmer went into his study. Dr. Rank came in. Nora was now busy in talk
with him. The doctor was suffering from spinal tuberculosis. He was expecting
his death soon. He was a very good friend of Helmer and also of Nora. Helmer
had already sent the letter of dismissal to Krogstad. Therefore, in despair, he
came again to talk to Nora. He had brought a letter in his pocket, which he
intended to drop in the letter box. It was certain that Helmer would read the
letter and the family happiness would be destroyed. In spite of all requests
from Nora, he dropped it in the letter box. Nora confided in the case with Mrs.
Linde. Mrs. Linde came to know that Nora had taken the money from Krogstad. She
consoled Nora saying that she would go and convince Krogstad to withdraw the
letter with excuses.
Meanwhile, Nora had to engage Helmer in talk. Nora
pretended to practice dance for the following evening. Helmer had to guide in
her practice. Dr. Rank played music. Somehow Nora made Helmer promise not to
work with the letter box that evening. Dr. Rank also helped her to confirm
Helmer with promise. Unluckily, Krogstad had gone out of town. Mrs. Linde had
left a note to him.
The following evening when the Helmer was dancing
upstairs, Krogstad came in and met Mrs. Linde. In fact, Krogstad and Mrs. Linde
were young time lovers. Because of the obligations towards mother and brothers,
she had married a rich man. Now, she was free. Her mother was dead. The
brothers were on their own feet. As Krogstad was also a widower and Mrs. Linde
was a widow, she convinced him that they both could be together again. It could
be no help by leaving the job for Krogstad. Therefore, she was ready to live by
working for Krogstad and his children. Krogstad was very happy. It was a great
moment of joy. He wanted to withdraw the letter with excuses. She wanted Helmer
to read the letter so that both wife and husband could have a better
understanding.
After the dance, Helmer opened the letter box and read the
letter that had been dropped by Krogstad. Helmer now hated Nora for her crime.
He called her a hypocrite, a liar, a criminal. He was not going to let the
children be in her charge. He was going to live separately from Nora though in
the same house. Fortunately, the Maid brought a letter from Krogstad which
contained words of excuses for the troubles which he had created. He had sent
the I.O.U. (I Owe You) back to them. Suddenly, after reading this second
letter, Helmer was changed again. He started to love her again. But it was too
late. Nora had become very serious for the first time. She felt that her father
had treated her like a doll and her husband was also doing the same. She
charged that Helmer was playing with her for fun. He really did not love her.
She took her things and left the house, her husband and children, for ever to
have an experience of the world in her own way. She went to her father’s house
breaking all kinds of relation from her husband with whom she had lived for
last eight years.
Themes in A Doll's House
A Doll's House is popular for displaying the theme of the
collapse of the parental ideal. Nora, at first, idealizes her father. To her,
father was the very embodiment of masculinity or a flawless symbol of perfect
ideals. As time elapsed, she was jolted into the awakening that her father was
not what she had thought.
She happened to know that her father was domineering to
the point of cruelty. So she replaced the masculine image of her father with
the image of Helmer. She was happy that her husband. Helmer is an ideal
husband. She did not hesitate to idolize Helmer in much the same way as she
idolized her father with a passage of time she came to notice some defects in
the behaviors of her husband. She knew that Helmer too has feet of clay. She
again replaced Helmer with the image of Dr. Rank, assuming that Dr. Rank's
masculinity is far more perfect than that of Helmer, she gave some green light
to Dr. Rank. She flirted with Dr. Rank. Therefore, it is far more relevant to
say that Nora had been growing aware of a flaw-ridden masculinity. At last,
when she decided to leave her children and husband for the cultivation of free
womanhood, she found her miserable husband pleading with her so that she would
stay with him. Helmer, at the final hour, tried to make Nora stay with him by
appealing to her sense of duty. From this pleading posture of Helmer, at the
climactic moment, we come to know that even the arrogant Helmer recognized
importance of his dependence upon her. Previously Helmer had been boastful of
his role as a breadwinner. Finally, even the breadwinner felt his dependence
upon her. Even such an arrogant Helmer, who used to feel superior, was afraid
of loneliness resulting from Nora's separation. He knew, by that time, the fact
that gender inequality is a fiction. No one can claim his or her autonomous
existence. This line of the growing awareness on the part of Helmer marks the
moment of the collapse of the parental ideal. Hence, the basic thematic pattern
of A Doll's House is to present the truth that no gender, no sex has a right to
assert domination over another. Every sex, every gender has a right to pursue
his or her vision or dream.
Another important theme of A Doll’s House is appearance
versus reality. In A Doll's House almost all characters are obsessed with their
appearance. As far as possible, all of them work hard to keep their appearance
intact forgetting their ugly realism. The inner reality of all characters are
grim and ugly. But they do not hesitate to give their sole attention to
appearance. Torvald Helmer insists on keeping up the appearance of marriage
even after rejecting Nora for her past crime. He is amazed when Krogstad calls
him by his first name at the bank. Dr. Rank wants to appear healthy. Krogstad
and Nora want to hide their deeds. They are trapped in a tissue of lies. As the
play progresses the veil of appearance slowly falls and naked truth shines
harmfully and unpleasingly.
The relation between the individual and society is an
important thematic preoccupation of Henrik Ibsen. Ibsen upholds the view that
society must function in keeping with the aspiration of the individual.
Society, according to Ibsen, must not be too coercive to stunt the delicate
unfolding of the true nature of the individual. If society becomes favorable to
the collective wish and aspiration of individuals, they must freely express
their nature. But the society does not do so. Society always blocks the
spontaneous growth of the individual. Here a question arises, can't an
individual triumph over society? Ibsen says an individual can triumph over
society, but he/she must be ready to pay the price. The price is heavy.
According to Ibsen, only those persons can triumph over society who are ready
to be social outcasts. Nora was ready to become a social outcast in her
rebellious attempt to question the society. When Krogstad tells Nora that the
law takes no account of good motives, she cries "Then they must be very
bad laws". Elsewhere in the play Nora said "I can't go on believing
what the majority says, or what is written in books. I have to think over these
things myself and try to understand them". Through the medium of this play
the dramatist wants to communicate the pristine truth that it is possible for
an individual to triumph over society. But, additionally, he also states
another truth that the cost is pretty heavy.
In "Notes on Modern Tragedy" Ibsen declared that
the primary duty of any person is to know who he/she really is. Nora was, at
first, happy to live as a wife and as a mother to three handsome children. She
had no regard for and no knowledge of herself. At the final shock, she was
jolted to the rapidly dawned awareness of herself. The moment she came across
the importance of her self-nature, herself and her identity, she realized that
importance of one unique sense of duty. This unique duty is to know oneself.
This is the only duty to make life worthwhile. The duty as a wife, the duty as a
mother, and the duty as a friend are all meaningless when the unique duty to
oneself arises.
Characterization of Mrs. Nora Helmer
Nora is the central character on whom the play revolves
around. She is a daughter of a dying person. She is wife to Helmer, a moral
orthodox and conventional person. Nora appears from the beginning to the end of
the play. In the beginning, she appears preparing Christmas with full hope.
Even since the marriage, she has been in financial shortage.
However, this Christmas she expects with enthusiasm. She
never cares to borrow money. She is making preparation bringing the necessary
things. She accepts herself spendthrift as her fate.
Nora follows her husband's decree in the household
affairs. She bears his domination in each and every act thinking that she must
be responsible for the family. She never wishes to go against him. She is
totally careful to his taste, his likes and dislikes. She tries to please
husband by being a more songbird.
As the drama develops, Nora's past life is revealed. When
Mrs. Linde comes to her. Nora feels proud of her act. As a loving woman, she
shows her sacrifice to save her husband. However, she does not intend to
disclose the fact, since Helmer is reluctant to taking a loan. She keeps the
secret. However, when Mrs. Linde becomes intimate, she discloses her past.
Nora is compromising. She is truly adaptable without any
sense of self egotism. She is quite careful with her children, when the
children come, she plays with them as a friend. She is quite friendly to Mrs.
Linde and sympathizes her. She even persuades her husband to offer a job to
Linde. She is quite sincere to Dr. Rank who is her close friend and admirer.
She never shows any sense of conflict.
A new mode takes place in Nora's life when Krogstad
threatens to disclose her past. She appeals for mercy. This greatly shocks her.
She is not much conscious of her life, but she is more dejected what
consequences it will bring in their family life. Nora is a social and enduring
lady. She tries to face her problems by herself. She does not open up the
secret even she is constantly threatened. She tries her best to settle the
problem herself. As the matter goes from bad to worse, Nora discloses it to Mrs
Linde and Dr Rank.
Nora has some self-wisdom. She is not orthodox as her
husband and lawful as Mr. Krogstad. She believes in practical conscience of
human beings. She does not care whether it is right or wrong to save the life
of her husband and father form legal point of view. As she states ''I don't
know much about the law, but there must be something.'' She does not consider
the law as sufficient which stops someone saving the life of the husband.
Some inevitable troubles occur in her life when Helmer
finds her involvement in the forgery. He curses her outspokenly. Nora feels
guilty of her husband's pride. However, when his attitude changes after he
reads the second letter. Nora is greatly upset. A sudden courage and
enlightenment takes place in her life. She knows her self-importance. She hates
her husband's dual standard. She hates her husband and prepares to take
something seriously. Nora turns to violent in temper. She never compromises her
husband and declares to leave the house in the dark night. She despises all
duties including the duty of a wife. She is mother destined to her own duty to
herself. Helmer tries to persuade her with some excerpts of religion and
morality. She boldly refuses as saying: ''I am no longer prepared to accept
what people say and what's written in books. I must think things out for
myself, and try to find my own answer''.
Despite constant efforts to stop her, she leaves the house
finally. Nora's characterization has been dealt in many angles. Women activists
join her character as women's role against prevailing society. Some other
interpreted in another way. However, Nora in terms of the play is a character
of practical conscience. She emerges a new reality. She puts herself in between
conventional morality and individual life of a human being. She should be
studied as a human being instead a female character in the play.
***********************
***********************
No comments: