"The Doll House" Drama

Jessica Gerlemann
Professor Harrell
En1333
2 November 2010
The play The Doll House has a very interesting message that applies to our day. Ibsen was the first father of drama to introduce realism of every day’s problems into his play. For example, in this particular play he focused very well on the social inequality of women around 1879-1891. The particular message of the play seemed to be that in a marriage and life nothing is perfect and a lot of things can seem unfair unless you learn from what happens to you and grow from it.
Torvald and Nora are two very different people. One is strict and well disciplined and the other is child-like and elegant. For instance, Nora is young-hearted, has big dreams, and wants to have a wonderful family life but chooses to leave to find out what she still needs to learn from the world. She considers this an obligation she owes to herself. In contrast, Torvald is a lawyer who believes a woman should remember her obligation to her family. He has strict morals that he sticks to and believes Nora should be the same way. Nora likes macaroons but Torvald actually restricts her from them. Although, they both love each other and their children very much, Nora chooses to split off from the family when the situation of difficulty arises.
There is unique symbolism in the Doll House that represents certain outcomes of the plot in the play. The tarantella, tambourine, and letters and the sit-down- discussion all represent certain outcomes that gradually unfold themselves. The tarantella is the dance that Nora prepares herself for and uses to distract her husband from the letter. The tarantella is the symbol of their last happiness together. The tambourine is like the wake-up call for Torvald that not everything is going to be perfect. The letters are the starting page for Torvald and Nora’s first real difficulties. The sit-down-discussion represents Nora’s freedom from being just a doll in a dollhouse and she vows to herself to find true knowledge before returning to her family.
The significance of the title Doll House speaks for itself. It is the fact that Nora is still being talked down to and overprotected that she never learns for herself. Her quote from the play actually says, “When I was little, I was my father’s doll. Now that I’m older I’m your doll and the children are my play dolls. I’ve got to find out for myself and be true to me to truly figure out what the world is like.” This quote is the starting point of Nora’s re-approach to ready herself for marriage life in hope of Torvald changing also.
There is an ironic quote that Ibsen incorporates into the drama of the Helmer’s lives. “It's a sweet little bird, but it gets through a terrible amount of money. You wouldn't believe how much it costs a man when he's got a little song-bird like you!” (Act I) This quote is ironic because even though Torvald thinks that Nora costs a lot. He is unaware of the secret that he costed more though. When Krogstad introduces the secret to Torvald he becomes furious with Nora and says a few harsh things immaturely and Nora decides to leave.
The screen adaptation as well as the play was interesting. I really liked how they showed Nora and Kristine skating in the snow in Norway. For example, they actually show the friendship of Kristine and Nora from the very beginning. They also show the background relationship break-up of Kristine and Krogstad. I also liked how they didn’t just put the whole play inside the Helmer house only indoors because it would have been a lot more boring. In the movie, the scenes actually take Nora outside the house and we get the chance to watch how each of them interacts. The flirtatious scene with Dr. Rank is still there but I also imagined it much differently from the movie. I also noticed that the relationship didn’t just seem slightly immature, it just seemed like it hit end-roads because the difficulties had arisen.
I believe the movie and the play was a very good representation of what the Victorian Age must have been like for women around that time. I agree with Torvald that Nora had obligations to her family, but, I also agree that Nora had the obligation to herself to learn and be on her own for once in her life. The Queen set the example and believed in women sticking to their duty but Ibsen introduced the true reality of the sacrificial role of women sometimes being unfair. It especially seems unfair if your husband is harsh with you for trying your best and making a mistake. I thought that there was slight immaturity on each spouse’s part that resulted in the break-up. I believe Torvald was too harsh and thrusted his opinion on Nora too much. I also believe that Nora needed to learn what the world was really like on her own and so she didn’t have to worry about making mistakes that could affect the lives of her husband and children. Nora needed to be her own person. In the end it was kind of tragic to watch them separate because they really were a cute couple. The thing is though, you can be really mature in a marriage and obstacles and difficulties still arise. That’s why it is so important to be truthful to one another in a marriage.