SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE
The title of
the play has
immense significance
as it shows
that the protagonist
Nora has never
been treated more
than a playful
thing shifting from
the hands of
one person to another. The
‘Doll’ represents Nora
and the ‘House’
represents the house
of Helmer where Nora
lives. If the play
is observed critically
we can see
that the title
of doll is used
in a rather
ironic manner suggesting
that he enjoys
the beauty of
her wife and
enables her childish
behavior but as
the play progresses
we come to
see that there
is much more
to her then
just her feminine side. Nora
is a dignified
individual who is
seeking validation and
trying to break
free from the
restrictions imposed on
her by her
husband and the
society in general.
According to her
husband Nora is just
an inanimate object
with which he
toys around as Nora says
in the play “Our home has been nothing but a playroom.
I have been your doll-wife”. This
pretty much sums
up the reality
of their married
life , their picturesque home and
Helmer’s attitude towards
her. Nora is an
apparent doll which
is subservient and
acts as per
the demands of
her husband who
wants to see
her as almost
perfect and unchanging .
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Another ironic
reference is made
in the usage
of the word
‘Doll’s’ when the
house is described
because we can
clearly comprehend that
the ‘house’ not
‘home’ does not
belong to the Nora the
real owner of
the house is
Mr.Helmer along with
the doll. In fact that
house is her
cage where she
is bound to
act like her
husband wants.
The use
of word ‘house’
also indicate towards
the thematic meaning. The
word house is used
instead of home
which is full
of emotions. On the
other hand house
only depicts some
place or shelter
to live in
without any emotions
or feelings of
a family attached
with it.
However not
all translators agree on the
same name some
call it “A Doll’s House” while
others just named
it as “A Doll House”. In one
title doll is
the possessive of
the house and
in another it
merely defines what
sort of house
it is.
CHRISTMAS TREE AS A SYMBOL OF NORA’S STATE
The Christmas
tree undoubtedly is
full of symbolism
because it symbolizes
Nora’s position in
the household that
is merely decorative. She dresses
up the tree
with different ornaments
and decorations as
she does in her life
to cover up
the lies and
deceits. At one
instance she tells
the maid to
not let children
see the tree
until it is
decorated the same
way she tells
Torvald that she
cannot be seen in
her costume until
the party.
There are
many parallels between
the Christmas tree
and Nora as
we know that
at the beginning
of the act
II the tree
is described as “The Christmas Tree is […] stripped of its
ornaments and with burnt-down candle-ends on its disheveled branches” which
depicts that everything
is falling out
of place and
the obvious beauty
of the tree
has been damaged
same is the
case with Nora
because her condition
is worse as her lies
begin to fade
and truth of
her fraud is
about to her
emerge. Nora’s condition
has also been
explained in the
same way that “[Nora] is alone in the room, walking about
uneasily” which suggests
that her physical
as well as
psychological condition is
battered.
POTRAYAL OF NORA’S TARANTELLA DANCE
We
know that Norma constantly tries to please her husband b doing different stunts
and by dressing up like a doll one such instant is when she rehearses for the
tarantella dance that she prepared for her husband. It is shown that during the
practice she wears a colorful shawl which spills the enthusiasm of life and
energy which her husband disapproves but by the time she has her last dances
she is so caught up in the whirl of life that her costume changes to a black
colored shawl which is the color of apathy and death and sorrow. Her dance is
wild and full of chaos and hysteric movements which her husband does not know
anything about because the fear of her lie being revealed is stinging Nora. Her
dance casts an arousing mood upon Torvald and he could not hold himself and
wanted to get intimate with her wife. Nora being in her worries rejects him
which he obviously does not take very well.
Torvald
wants Nora to adheres to society’s demands of a good wife as well as comply
with his orders anywhere and anytime he wants. The tarantella dance which was
originated from the moves of a person who was bitten by a poisonous spider also
symbolizes her mood and frenzy. She frantically dances as a reaction to the
blackmailing of krogstad who poisoned her life and to the smothering oppression
of her husband in the name of love.
OTHER SYMBOLS AND METAPHORS EXPLAINED
Starting
from the setting of the play, it is one of the most vital symbols in the ply s
the play progresses in the end of the year is approaching. There are many
significant events that are celebrated at that time i.e. the Christmas and the
dawn of the New Year. The play symbolizes the ending of the old and the birth
of the new as many people change their lives with the changing year for example
krogstad changes his behavior and decides to give his life another chance with
Mrs. Linde, Torvald discovers that he has been lied to by his wife and changes
from being a lover husband to a judgmental demeaning one. Similarly Nora has
spiritual awakening as well and realizes her worth and walks out of the house
and her pitiful marriage because she wants to be more than a “doll-wife”.
Another
symbol which is prominent throughout the play is the stove. The stove makes
fire which provides warmth and heat. Nora goes and touches the stove when she
talks with krogstad and tries to protect herself against the icy cold situation
she is facing. Again at the instance when Dr. Rank declares his love for Nora
she walks over to the stove without any clear purpose of doing so which depicts
that she somehow feels safe in the warmth of this object whenever something
bothers or bewildered her.
Another
symbolic action that we find in the end of the play is that of Nora shutting
the door of Helmer’s house and stepping outside. This is not the mere act of
ending the marriage or leaving his home but caters much more than that. It
shows that she left her old self behind and is ready to live life on her own
terms she is breaking the shackles made by her husband and accepting her role
as a conscious wise and free woman. This also refers to the modern woman’s step
towards gaining independence, free will and facing hurdles on her own. That is
why Ibsen’s play is called a modern play.
MOTIVES BEHIND NORA’S LYING
Nora
lies to her husband about number of things be it little things like macaroons
or the critical matter of financial fraud. If we talk about Nora’s stance about
her wrongdoings she simply denies the fact that she has committed a crime. She
forged the sign of her late father to sanction a loan in which she is not
alone. What she doesn’t realize is that she has been morally corrupt on various
levels. Krogstad, her accomplice however accepts his mistakes and now faces the
criminal charges and wants Nora to do the same. She on the other hand stands
firm on the ground that she did all she did with the best of intentions. Nora
after rejecting her husband’s apologies and pleads in the end decides to leave
the doll house and their deceptive marriage.
If
we talk about the reason to why Nora lied to her husband there are a number of
facts. First off the biggest reason one can simply conclude by reading the play
is that she did out of love for her husband. She courageously committed a fraud
to save her husband when Dr suggested her to take Torvald to Italy. Initially nor
tried her best to convince Torvald to burrow some money to go to Italy but he
refuses as a result she takes this huge daring step on her own. Knowing her
husband and his temper Nora is unable to tell him the truth of the finance so
she keeps hiding it because she feared Helmer’s reaction.
If
we take the instance of Nora lying about the macaroons that too is justified
somehow because she is caged in the so called house she shares with her
husband. She cannot even fulfill her simplest wish of eating something she
desires without the approval of her controlling husband. Nora’s childlike
behavior is n instinctive response to her husband’s demeaning behavior. We can say that her capacity of deception is
not limited.
TORVALD’S REACTION AND HIS TAKE ON BEING CHEATED
Torvald
was more than angry when he finds about all the matters going on. He feels deceived,
cheated and insulted. The cause of his anger is justified within the context of
social norms which a wife should follow i.e. consulting her husband before
making such a huge decision. Nora despite having good intentions in her heart
breaks the basic and far most important rule of spousal relationship that is
trust. As soon as Torvald got to know about Nora’s lies he immediately denounce
her as being her wife and bashed her. He cannot bring himself to show gratitude
towards Nora for saving his life instead he becomes offensive and concerned for
his own reputation. This leads us to think that all of this may had hurt his
ego and patriarchal dominance.
In a
deeper sense we can see that why Torvald felt so fumed up because whatever Nora
did behind his back involved krogstad who is fraudulent and does not have a
good reputation. Torvald is worried that krogstad may destroy his repute with all
the blackmailing also he was an insubordinate. Torvald could not digest the
audacity of her wife and an ex employee that they had done something which
could potentially harm his job and respect. He realizes that his standing as a
man is at stake that he could not control his own wife from attempting such
crime.
Torvald
names his wife as “irresponsible” and shames her saying that “Now, do you understand what you've done to
me!” claiming Nora had done some
irreversible damage to his social status. He also degrades krogstad along with
his wife.
CORRUPTION, LIES AND DECIET REFLECTED BY EACH CHARACTER
The
theme of lies and deception runs throughout the play. Starting from Nora when
she deceived her husband by borrowing money and then piling up lies upon lies
to protect her husband or to some extent her own self. She keeps fabricating
little things like eating macaroons or tiptoeing around her husband to hear
him. She idealized her father in her childhood and soon realized that she was
wrong and then lovingly makes her husband her ideal. To some extent Nora knows
that her husband is just controlling her and wants her as he wishes to see her
but she continues to live in that fancy world that she created around herself. She
even urges her children to tell lie when she says “Don't talk to anyone about the strange gentleman. You hear? Not even
to Daddy”. In this way she is giving way their purity and teaching them to
scam their way out of difficulties. This does indicate the unhealthy ritual of
lying and deceit in their family.
If
we observe the behavior of Torvald we can see that he is maneuvering his wife
according to his needs and wishes. He does not truly love her as their marriage
failed the test. He is manipulative and lies about his undying love and
sacrificing his life for Nora.
Similarly
Dr. Rank who is the family doctor lies and keeps his true feelings about Nora under
the cover. On one side he tries to be a good friend to Torvald by keeping his
feelings hidden on the same hand he cannot restrict himself from confessing his
love in front of Nora.
Ever
character seem to struggle with appearance VS reality while keeping up with
that masked identities and lying to each other intentionally or
unintentionally. Whereas at the end we can say that all of them re reborn and
acquire a lesson out of their mistakes.
The
play is interpreted by Ayesha Imtiaz, one of the team memebers at the School
of Literature.
