Escape From A Dollhouse

A detailed Summary of Escape From A Dollhouse

We have all felt the need to be alone or to venture to places that our minds have only imagined. However, we as individuals have always found ourselves clutching to our responsibilities and obligations, to either our jobs or our friends and family. The lingering feeling of leaving something behind or of promises that have been unfulfilled is a pain that keeps us from escaping. People worldwide have yearned for a need to leave a situation or seek spiritual fulfillment elsewhere. The need for one's freedom and their responsibility to others can make or break a person. Henrik Isben's inspirational characters of Nora Helmer, Kristine Linde, and Nils Krogstad have all had to suffer for their right to be individuals and to be accountable for their actions.

A woman of the tough Victorian period, Nora Helmer was both a prisoner of her time as well as a pioneer. In her society women were viewed as an inferior species and were not even considered real human beings in the eyes of the law. Nora and other women soon discovered that it was a man's world and they were just not allowed to participate in it. Women of that era though, were allowed to stay at home and adhere to their tired, overworked spouse's

"This I refuse to believe. A daughter hasn't the right to protect her dying father from anxiety and care? A wife hasn't the right to save her husband's life? I don't know much about laws but I'm sure that somewhere in the books these things are allowed. And you don't know anything about it-you who practice the law? You must be an awful lawyer, Mr. Krogstad." (Isben 67)

Nora saw the law as something which, stood in the way of her responsibility to her family not to mention to herself. If she were to of told her ill father about her situation concerning Torvald's health he could have died due to stress of hearing this news. If she had spoken to Torvald about his illness he would have forbidden her from carrying it on because he wouldn't want to be in debt to a women, and more importantly his wife; his pride as a male would have been crushed. It was her responsibility that she did not disclose that information to Torvald because of the repercussions it would bring. At the conclusion of the play Nora knows that her secret will be revealed and awaits Torvald's reaction to it. When she learns that her marriage was a sham and it was a one sided, playful wedlock she decided to leave Torvald. Torvlad makes many futile attempts to make her stay concerning her duties to her husband and children to which Nora tells him that she has other duties; duties to herself. Torvald pleads with her that before all else; she is his wife and the mother of their children, to which Nora says:

" I don't believe in that anymore. I believe that, before all else, I'm a human being, no less than you-or anyway I ought to try to become one. I know the majority thinks you're right, Torvald, and plenty of books agree with you, too. But I can't go on being satisfied with what the majority says, or what's written in books. I have to think over these things myself and try to understand them." (Isben 111)

She is ever constantly striving for no one but herself and it is hurting her inside. Telling Krogstad about her feelings towards him frees her from all the years of guilt and sets up a new beginning for her. Kristine begins her new life by not holding on to lies and tells Krogstad not to take back his letter but instead, leave it there so the truth can be revealed. In her rekindled relationship with Krogstad, Kristine had learned that a healthy relationship must go on without lies. She believes that "Helmer's got to learn everything; this dreadful secret has to be aired; those two have to come to a full understanding; all these lies and evasions can't go on." (Isben 97) She has the forethought to see that Nora's lies will only cause her pain and like Torvald said "Because that kind of atmosphere of lies infects the whole life of a home. Every breath the children take is filled with the germs of something degenerate." (Isben 70) Which in time might prove to be true and would eventually be the cause of their separation.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Kristine Linde, Nils Krogstad, Nora Helmer, Torvald Torvlad, Krogstad Krogstad, Krogstad Isben, Linde Nora, Krogstad Kristine, Doll House, Rank Linde, nils krogstad, kristine linde, nora helmer, truth revealed, husband torvald, independent woman, law nora, life kristine, life husband, man's world,

Approximate Word count = 2007
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels