A Dolls House

A detailed Summary of A Dolls House


Throughout A Doll's House, Henrik Ibsen illustrates through an intriguing story how a once infantile-like woman gains independence and a life of her own. Ibsen creates a naturalistic drama that demonstrates how on the outside Nora and Torvald seam to have it all, but in reality their life together is empty. Instead of meaningful discussions, Torvald uses degrading pet names and meaningless talk to relate to Nora. Continuing to treat Nora like a pampered yet unimportant pet, Torvald thoroughly demonstrates how men of his era treat women as insignificant items to be possessed and shown off. While the Helmer household may have the appearance of being sociably acceptable, the marriage of Torvald and Nora was falling apart because of the lack of identity, love, and communication.

Nora Helmer was a delicate character and she relied on Torvald for her identity. This dependence that she had kept her from having her own personality. Yet when it is discovered that Nora only plays the part of the good typical housewife who stays at home to please her husband, it is then understandable that she is living not for herself but to please others. From early childhood Nora has always held the opinions of either her fathe


The ending of Nora and Torvald's marriage was inevitable. A true couple cannot connect when love and communication are absent, and without these vital necessities a marriage is empty. Nora and Torvald had to learn this before they could commit themselves to any human being. Nora had to understand that she could not rely on Torvald for her identity the rest of her life, and Torvald too had to understand that Nora was a person and he had to treat her as an equal. At first he only viewed Nora as a fulfillment for his need for a wife, but when she left he finally realized that he really did need her. "Empty! She is gone. The most wonderful thing of all" (72). Even though their marriage was shattered, both Torvald and Nora had to experience what they did to then grow and become truly independent themselves. If they were sincere about making their marriage work the two had to know who they were, before they could give themselves over to another person. Because they had not done this, Nora knew that she had "been living together with a strange man and had borne him three children" (70). Marriage is when two people become one, and if those two do not have any identity to bring to that marriage, then they do not successfully unite to make one.

The Helmer's didn't communicate f

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Approximate Word count = 861
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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