Doll's House Henrik Ibsen's 1879 Term Paper

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"The dramatically active question of the last act is whether the "wonderful thing" will happen or not. The scene in which Nora realizes that it won't is one of the great scenes in modern drama, not only in precipitating the same mordant speeches" (Bloom, 32). Nora rapidly discovers that she cannot save Torvald and sadly leaves him as she knows that she needs change in her life and that she needs to do it with or without Torvald, as he does not deserve to join her as long as he does not understand what the most important values in life are.

In contrast to Nora, Torvald is exactly what society wants him to be: an individual who acknowledges the importance of material values and who considers his self-interest to be more important than anything. This character's personality is shaped by traditions and he is largely unable to understand concepts that are in disagreement with what he learned during his life. Not only did life teach him to be merciless in regard to his peers, but it also influenced him in believing that he should trust no one. Moreover, he developed a strong sense a prejudice during his life, this trait being most obvious at the moment when he discovers Nora's crime, as he claims that "I ought to have suspected that something of the sort would happen" (Ibsen, 253). Torvald is not very different from a robot, as he plans each of his actions and knows what to expect from life. However, as Johnston clarifies, Torvald does actually acknowledge the meaning of feelings, but wants everyone around him to like him and is determined to do everything in his power in order to upgrade his social status.

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Torvald's behavior is generally determined by society's rules and he is unwilling to break these respective legislations, regardless of the circumstances.

Not only is Torvald unwilling to understand other people, but it appears that he is actually incapable to comprehend feelings and what they mean. He only knows that he did everything that society instructed him to do and that he has been repaid for his actions. Furthermore, his sincerity is visible through the fact that "he makes no attempt to pretend that he believes in anything other than what society's rules indicate" (Johnston, 5). In his struggle to accomplish his dreams, Torvald practically abandons his personal identity and adopts an attitude that largely depends on social legislations. In a society where men are presumably superior to women Torvald demonstrates that many social laws are wrong and actually encourages Nora to fight society using whatever means she has available, as it gradually becomes obvious that it is more important for an individual to have a strong understanding of who he or she is than for him or her to simply follow society's system of laws. Even when conditions ameliorate as Krogstad yields to Linda's pressure, Torvald refuses to acknowledge his guilt and simply tries to have Nora accept that he is basically responsible for her well-being and that it would be wrong for them to fight. Nora's husband fails to understand that Nora is capable of living life on her own because he perceives a good life as something that is associated with wealth and comfort. He cannot possibly think of a life where he would be denied of his needs, this being visible at the moment when he thinks that Nora destroyed his position in.....

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"Doll's House Henrik Ibsen's 1879" (2011, December 19) Retrieved June 4, 2026, from
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"Doll's House Henrik Ibsen's 1879", 19 December 2011, Accessed.4 June. 2026,
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