A Dolls House-characterchanges
The opening line of the play A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen is "Hide that Christmas tree away, Helen, the children mustn't see it before I've decorated it this evening" (1072) by Nora. This sets the tone of the play, which is concealing the raw truth until it is decorated to perfection. This is a common theme of the play, practiced by all of the main characters. As one critic commented, "Our first impressions of Nora, Torvald, and Krogstad are all eventually undercut". The first impressions of each are the facades they put up. As the play progresses, however, the truth is revealed. In the opening act, Nora seems flippant. She flutters around their city apartment preparing for Christmas and chattering about meaningless things with Torvald. She plays the innocent, helpless pet for her husband until they each get a visitor, and they part. An old friend of Nora's, Mrs. Linde, comes to Nora in need of assistance. In the course of their conversation, Nora reveals that in the past, when her husband was ill, she took out a loan to h
Krogstad's character also drastically changes. In the first two acts, Krogstad appears to be manipulative and deceitful. He has a dark past, involving scandal and slander. When Nora needed money to help her husband, Krogstad was the one who loaned it to her. He discovers that the signature of Nora's father was forged, and when Torvald is put in a position to dismiss Krogstad, Krogstad tries to blackmail Nora into helping him. He explains that he doesn't need the job for the money, but because he's trying to rebuild his reputation, which is an honorable aspiration. Nora attempts to persuade Torvald not to fire Krogstad, but fails. Krogstad is forced to follow through with his threat. In Act Three, however, we learn that Krogstad was at one time in love with Mrs. Linde, Nora's friend. The two renew their love affair, and, without the influence of Mrs. Linde, returns the evidence of Nora's forgery to Torvald and Nora. This action demonstrates that what Krogstad did was out of desperation, and that he is indeed a kind-hearted man. There are many other disguises
Some common words found in the essay are:
Nora's Linde, Miss Independent, Doll's House, Krogstad Krogstad, Hide Christmas, Torvald Krogstad, Linde Nora's, Torvald Nora, Miss Independent's, Unreliability Appearances, doll's house, petty selfishness, unreliability appearances,
Approximate Word count = 718
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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