Character Biography: Nora Helmer is a housewife in her late thirties. She has been married to Torvald Helmer for eight years, and they have three children. They have been married for eight years and have three children. Torvald has recently been hired as manager of the mutual bank and receives a big salary. The Helmers are wealthy. They live in a nice home in Norway and have expensive furnishings and a maid. However, their marriage is dysfunctional. Torvald sees Nora as a plaything, doll. His nicknames for her are "lark", "songbird", and "little child". She resents being dependent upon Torvald and having to ask him for money, and she resents having been dependent on her father before him.
She feels nothing has come of her life and that she has sacrificed herself to her husband, children, and father. When she seeks anything for herself, other characters call her a spoiled child. In the past, she has borrowed money from Nils Krogstad in order to save her husbands life. For a woman to borrow money is socially unacceptable and a disgrace to her husband. At the end of the play, Nora realizes that her duty to herself is more important than her duty to others. She is a woman out of her time.
Expectations: Nora expects everything to go her way. She justifies borrowing money to save her husbands life. She wants to take care of herself and becomes independent at the end of the play.
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