A Doll's House Act II and III

By now we can see why the book is called a Doll's House. Torvald treats Nora like a doll. The postive side to this is that he is gentle and kind with her, the negative is that she has no free will. The free will she thinks is hers has been manifested in what Torvald wants therefore, it is not her will as she thinks, but his. She comes to the realization of this at the end of the book when the falling action results in the resolution of her leaving Torvald to find her own way, her own way of thought free of his impressing ideas. Towards the beginning of Act II we can see Nora telling the confidant character Miss Lynde that Torvald doesn't like seeing sewing in his home. This shows just how much Torvald has control in his house and how much appearance really means to him. Another doll like treatment in that she can only look beautiful and do nothing on her own accord unless it is something that will make Torvald happy. We see that the plot is one of coincidence when in the end Nora leaves Torvald. He had been her boss and controller their whole married life and now he has no one to control and she has no one to listen to. A bit of dramatic irony is also seen towards the end of this drama when Miss Linde gets together with Krogstead who in turn will no longer have to fear his not be able to provide for his family. The end of the play is suspenseful and what actually happens isn't what one expects.

A Doll's House Act 1

The beginning of, "A Doll's House" takes place during the Christmas season. The protagonist, Nora, is just arriving home with a Christmas tree. Right away we see symbolism in the Christmas tree, the festive decoration is symbolic of Nora and her role in the household. We then meet the character of Helmer at this time when he calls out, "Is that my little lark twittering out there?" Right away we get a feeling of the atmospere and the types of characters the husband and wife are. Helmer, is a business man and loves his wife very much. Nora is a bit flighty but also loves Helmer very much. Each, however, have there many problems in the relationship. Nora lies to her husband practically right away when she tells him she has not eaten any macaroons when in fact she has. We also see that she is very child-like, and we see that in the way Helmer treats her when it comes to money, calling her a spendthrift.

The rising of the plot starts to occur when Miss Linde comes over the house. The dialogue between Miss Linde and Nora shows how Nora is very niave, where Miss Linde has had a lot of life experience and has suffered much. Nora gets the feeling that Miss Linde thinks she has done nothing in life to be "proud" of. This insinuation persuades Nora to tell Miss Linde about her borrowing money to pay for her husband to go to Italy when he was ill. This secret is revealed and much comes from it as the story moves forward. The man to whom the money is owed is now about to be under Helmer in the bank. This turn of events makes matters very tricky because the antogonist, Krogstad tries to convince Nora to persuad her husband to keep Krogstad in the same position in the bank. She cannot do this, however, and we see that her sway isn't as powerful as one thought. We then learn that she has dealt wrongfully in the gaining of the loan in committing the crime of forgery.

When Krogstad leaves and we see Nora, once again talking to Helmer we see that the reason Krogstad is being demoted is because of forgery, this dramatic irony plays out through Nora, who has committed the same crime.