A Doll's House: Ibsen's Emancipation and Catharsis

escape the guilt of the society to which we belong.

Henrik Ibsen

In his play “A Doll’s House,” Ibsen profusely illustrates the middle-class society’s numerous offenses against the women, the weak and the innocent of his era. Ibsen’s writing not only reveals his keen awareness of their mistreatment but also his desire to focus society’s attention on these issues.

The society of the 1800’s conditions the female to believe that she is the weaker sex—not only physically but also mentally. The typical female passively accepts her destiny: she feigns “feminine helplessness” (3.1021), allows the men in her life to “be both [her] will and [her] conscience” (3.1021), and succumbs to the theory that “[b]efore everything else, [she is] a wife and a mother” (3.1023) whose only place is in the home. If consequences place the female in a position where she must take control, she finds herself inadequately prepared for the challenge.

From childhood and continuing on through her marriage, Nora conceals her own thoughts and opinions from first her father and then Torvald because society dictates t

Nora’s situation not only illustrates the oppression of women in this society but also provides insight into the plight of the weak, lower-class people of this era. By procuring the loan to save Torvald’s life, Nora avoids becoming a widow with no means to support her son. But when she struggles and sacrifices to repay the loan, she also learns about the hardships endured by the poor. By taking in “odds and ends of needlework” (1.979) and getting a “lot of copying to do” (1.983), Nora manages to “scrape together a little bit here and a little bit there” (1.983) to make the installments on her loan. Whenever Torvald gives her money for “new dresses and thing” (1.983), she saves half the money by purchasing the “simplest, cheapest things” (1.983) for herself and applies the remainder to her debt.

After Krogstad withdraws his blackmail threat and returns Nora’s bond, Torvald does not beg for Nora’s forgiveness--instead, he forgives her. He acknowledges that what she did “was all for love of [him]” (3.1021) and that she “hadn’t the experience to realize what [she was] doing” (3.1021). He declares that “[p]lay-time is over, now comes lesson-time…[b]oth [her’s] and the children’s” (3.1023-1024). When Nora rejects his offer and tells him that she is leaving him to “educate [her]self” (3.1023), Torvald calls Nora a “blind, inexperienced creature” (3.1023) and reminds her of her “sacred duty” (3.1023) to him and the children and “of what people will say” (3.1023). Emotionally exhausted, Nora exchanges wedding rings with Torvald, declares he is free “from all his obligations to her” (3.1025), gives him the keys, and leaves.

Having personally suffered the consequences of forging a signature, Krogstad uses Nora’s crime to blackmail her and Torvald. Torvald quickly decides to meet Krogstad’s demands because he realizes nobody

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