destipele's Full Review: Henrik Ibsen - A Doll's House and Other Plays
I have this book and have read and studied A Doll's House, but haven't paid much attention to the other plays, so I will focus mainly on A Doll's House.
Overall the play was very dramatic and the symbolism and imagery was powerful. The contrast between the two couples is an interesting element to the play. At the time that Ibsen wrote this, it was very controversial because it showed a woman leaving a situation where she was powerless. It also showed her leaving her children and her husband to enjoy a less "lady-like" existence.
Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” portrays two couples, Nora and Torvald Helmer and Kristina Linde and Nils Krogstad. Nora and Helmer have been married for eight years with three children --Ivar, Bob, and Emmy. Kristina and Nils had courted when younger, but Kristina would not marry him because he had no money and seemingly no prospects. Both couples undergo radical changes near the end of Ibsen’s tale of deception and guilt, a wife struggling to break free, and facing the truth to obtain freedom.
Nora and Torvald are a married couple who seem to be quite happy in the beginning of the play. However, when Torvald finds out that Nora borrowed money from Krogstad and forged a signature in the process, in order to save his life, he is outraged. “You’ve completely wrecked my happiness, you’ve ruined my whole future!”(Act III, pg. 221), he says to her after reading Krogstad’s letter explaining the whole situation. He goes on to say, “Oh, to think that I should have to say this to someone I’ve loved so much -- someone I still...Well, that’s all over --
it must be; from now on, there’ll be no question of happiness”(Act III, pg. 222). Soon after, a letter from Krogstad arrives with Nora’s bond enclosed, Krogstad’s only proof of her forgery. Helmer is ecstatic. “I’m saved! Nora, I’m saved!”(Act III, pg. 222) he proclaims, having completely forgotten that Nora is also saved. After the crisis is over, Torvald tells Nora that he forgives her, but she has already seen his true colors. She tells him that “you don’t understand me. And I’ve never
understood you -- until tonight”(Act III, pg. 225). She goes on to say that she “must stand on [her] own two feet if [she’s] to get to know [herself] and the world outside”(Act III, pg. 227). She tells him that she must leave him to serve her greatest duty, the one to herself.
Kristina and Krogstad’s story is quite different. Krogstad had proposed to Kristina many years before this play begins, however she declines his offer because he doesn’t have enough money. She needed money as to care for her sick mother and two small brothers and said that “there was no other choice at the time”(Act III, pg. 209). Krogstad was heartbroken by this. “When I lost you,” he said, “it was just as if the very ground had given way under my feet”(Act III, pg. 208). However, many years later, Kristina calls upon Krogstad to discuss his letter to Torvald and they discuss their past. Kristina regrets what she did and now wants to be with Krogstad. “I need someone to be another to,” she explains to the lonely Krogstad, “and your children need a mother. You and I need each other. I have faith in you -- the real you -- Nils, with you I could dare anything”(Act III, pg. 210). Krogstad is glad to hear her say this and wants a chance to right his wrongs. Krogstad must leave, but the couple parts deciding to meet later that night.
The couples in Ibsen’s work tend to contrast one another. Nora and Torvald married when they shouldn’t have. Krogstad and Kristina neglected to marry when they should have. Both couples have a member who has a flawed record. Both Nora and Krogstad are guilty of forgery. However, Kristina seems to handle Krogstad’s lapse much better than Torvald handles Nora’s. Also, in the case of the Helmers, Nora is trying to break free and learn who she is in the real world. Nora does not love Torvald any more and she does not want “[his] great wings”(Act III, pg. 223) to protect her any longer. In contrast, Kristina has been alone. She now wants “something -- and someone -- to work for”(Act III, pg. 209). Kristina has been out in the world and earned her own money. She has experienced what Nora hasn’t.
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