Character Analysis of Nora Helmer

Today, a reader might find it hard to imagine how daring Nora Helmer was a hundred years ago. The theme of women’s liberation makes this story seem almost contemporary. “A Doll’s House� displayed a controversial topic, featuring a woman seeking individuality. It was written well ahead of its time when it, was considered an outrage for a woman such as Nora to display a mind of her own. It was unthinkable that a woman could leave her husband to obtain freedom. Henrik Ibsen shows us the story of a woman recapturing her strength and self-confidence. Nora begins a very hard and difficult search for her self esteem and self worth - one that she has never experienced before - through relationships with her husband and her friends. “A Doll’s House� is a play about the need for a woman to feel freedom- freedom from her husband’s control, from her role in society, her role as a mother figure; the problems presented still appear in today’s society.
One of “A Doll's House's� central themes is secession from society. It is demonstrated by several of its characters breaking away from the social standards of their time and acting on their own terms. The one character that best fits this description is Nora Helmer. Nora is an ex

Work, politics, and decisions were left to the males. Nora's first secession from society was when she broke the law and decided to borrow money to pay for her husband’s treatment because she knew forcing him to borrow money would have been a huge blow to his self-esteem. By doing this, she not only broke the law but she stepped away from the role society has placed on her of being totally dependent on her husband. In her time, women were unable to borrow money, and a man would need to co-sign it. She decided to take matters into her own hands and take out a loan for the sake of her husband’s health. She proved herself not to be helpless like Torvald implied: "you poor, helpless little creature!" She grows from this experience. She learns about human nature, about the value of money, and learns a lesson of practicality. She lives her life pretending to be the old Nora, hiding the changed woman she has become, and let the illusion of the old Nora continue well after she became a new person. Nora slams the door on more than just Torvald- she also slams the door on everything else that has happened in the past. It took time to evolve into a new person, but after she does, she has become a person who cannot stand to be married to Torvald any longer. There is foreshadowing, hinting that Nora will leave before the play is over. She says, “do you think that [the children] would forget their mother if she was gone for good?”

Kristine Linde was a childhood friend of Nora’s. She has a major effect on events that happen in the play. She is the first character to see that Nora is not a child, and becomes her savior. Nora is just acting to fit into the role that the society and Torvald has made for her. Kristine has gone through many tough times, so she has much more real experience than Nora. Kristine’s past was very rough, but the things she has lived through make her the strong person she is. She once had true love (Krogstad), but made the mistake of leaving it for stability and money. She suffered because of the choices she made and is much stronger because of them. Nora was weak, frail, and only knew how to live by other people’s rules. She helped Nora become a stronger person; this strength helped Nora leave her meaningless life to start over. Kristine has already gone through all the things Nora is about to face. Kristine helped Nora fix her dress when Nora was helpless and did not know what to do. In many ways Kristine helped Nora fix her life. At first, Kristine supported Nora in telling her husband the whole truth: “Helmer must know everything; there must be an end to this unhappy secret. These two must come to a full understanding. They can’t possibly go on with all these shifts and concealments” (192). Nora is not willing to tell her husband about the loan and still hopes for a