Nora Helmer
Nora is a self-contradictory character, both in the roles she adopts and in the attitudes she holds. At the same time she is a patronized, doted on, subservient “doll” wife she is also a recalcitrant who breaks the rules Torvald sets behind his back. One facet of her countenance that is always present is her disposition to drawing attention to herself. This is evident in her ability to draw Torvald to her and in many aspects to manipulate him, we sense Nora trying hard allow Mrs. Linde to contribute equally to the conversation and her disappointment at Dr. Rank’s confession as she is upset by the change of roles, she is always dominant in the flow of their conversation and has no interest in changing the rules of the game. This is supported by her apathy towards other people “Who cares about them! They are only strangers!” It can be interpreted as the importance she holds for her family but also her selfishness and ignorance to the moral code of society. Ibsen allows for the final scene to be debated. Many think it was courageous and wise of Nora to leave her family, others regarded her bravery but saw her exit as a result of her emotional sense rather than intelligent interpretation of what was right and wrong. This is indicated through the irony of the final scene. She wishes to talk to Torvald as adults yet refuses to listen to him and seek balance in the resolution of their problems. She hasn’t truly matured because the ironic, self contradiction Nora shows in the final scene shows how she hasn’t really changed but is only transferring to play a different role. Torvald is not fully unjustified, he breaks through his priggish shell and again declares his love for Nora that although is not based on ideas we necessarily support can be regarded as genuine love. Nora coldly rejects his offers and makes excuses that may seem justified yet hold no real commitment. She has no life direction and suggests that her motives are not wholly unselfish. She rejects seeing her children, perhaps not only because she believes herself a source of corruption but because they were no more than dolls to her, born from the doll master she no longer feels affectionate towards. She almost cries thinking he has bore Torvald 3 children, without regarding the fact that they are her children too. This suggests that she regards her child bearing as another form of "play" in Nora and Helmer's perverse relationship rather than a maternal wish and a maternal duty. Anne Marie was compelled to leave her children, Nora is not. She hasn’t achieved wisdom like Creon in Antigone because she doesn’t learn what is truly right and wrong, she does not realize her actions will lead to further destruction of herself and those around her, she is not well equipped for a life of her own and her actions are driven more by her emotional sense rather than intelligent appreciation of other people or operations of society, like Sophocles, Ibsen implies the need for balance. We may applaud Nora's determination to find out who's right, her or society yet she does not take into account responsibility she takes in her part of the marriage and the family, In essence, instead of saving herself she is a force of destruction for others and seeks to escape her flawed marriage. She doesn't talk to Torvald because she won't listen to him; again she demands attention and thinks very little of the largest stakeholders in their separation, the children who also hold relatively little significance to Nora.
Ibsen stresses that he is not a feminist but an advocate of human rights, through this he asks audiences not to over simplify the complex character, Nora Helmer. One should not conclude that her leaving was an act of self preservation and feminist determination as they were influenced greatly by a personality attribute. She may be seen as a doll wife secretly operating a financial deal but in the end she never truly “reveals” herself as a matured woman, only a grown one. Illogically she claims she has never been truly happy when past scenes would have suggested otherwise. She does not realize that her interpretation of happiness and freedom has changed, rather than that such feelings never existed. She seeks rightful changes in her life yet fails to realize this is in fact a destructive force for the lives of others. Ibsen in the end presents a challenging character that has provoked international sensationalism- the debate over her actions may be a debate people face in everyday life, when there fails to be a definite right or wrong, making her enigmatic character the pinnacle of realism as an established genre.
Torvald Helmer
Torvald is often a despised character, representative of the egotistical, flawed system of Victorian patriarchy. His ways are priggish and patronizing, his actions are determined by society’s expectations yet perversely he only values others by how much they benefit him and the elevation of his status in society. Like Nora, audiences must be careful not to interpret Torvald one dimensionally as he is far from such. The previous conceptions of Torvald are all sufficiently supported in Ibsen’s text however he is just as much a doll himself as he makes Nora one. Society’s laws and expectations are the rules he dogmatically lives, works and thinks with, any deference, regardless of circumstance and intention are strictly deplorable. He is also emotionally immature, ironically as he stands as a role model (a paragon of virtue) to all other citizens. He is more of a doll than Nora because he fails to wake from the illusion of his marriage, he dogmatically follows the lead of others whilst demanding obedience from his wife and subordinates. Doll’s mainly represent females and are played with by young children. Perhaps this comparison signifies the ignorance and stubbornness in society, a criticism to conservative audiences who opposed and rejected the ideas proposed in A Doll’s house, therefore it can be said that Torvald’s character is a satirical representation of society- dogmatic, obstinate and victims of an oppressive society but blind to their self victimization. During the cultural shift at the time, Torvald could also be seen as the maintenance man of the vicious cycle of intellectual poverty. It is suggested that ironically, it is people like Torvald instead of Nora or Krogstad who is the moral malaise, the force of corruption.
Torvald is representative of the cycle of repression and not the perpetrator of it, this is proven as Torvald is not the doll master and Nora the doll, they seem to adopt roles on which their married lives are founded on, He does not force it on to Nora, she accepts it happily and encourages that he use her to entertain him. Therefore it is somewhat unfair of Nora to place the blame entirely on her father and on Torvald. They wrongfully encouraged that a young woman act and behave like a doll but she was free to oppose it. We could say that no single person was at fault but the ill-functioning of society. Torvald blames people’s crimes on the perpetrators mother’s but evidently this is a sweeping generalization and signifies a need for change in the way people were made to think.
Dr. Rank
It would occur to many audiences that Dr. Rank was immoral and almost perverse in trying to claim Nora’s love, after all she is a married woman, a mother of three and he is not only a family friend but a man rotting of a sexual disease. However I emphasize this character the most, Nora initiates the subtle sexual innuendo with the mention of her silk stockings and therefore provokes Dr. Rank’s confession of love. Therefore it is unfair to criminalize Dr. Rank for it; rather it is a morally deplorable act Nora causes. With this aside, Dr. Rank is the embodiment of the counter-argument to Torvald’s theory of intergenerational corruption. He states that Krogstad’s children are infected by their father’s “evil” doings. Firstly Krogstad was forced by circumstance, secondly, is acts don’t proliferate like a virus does. Dr. Rank opposes his father’s philandering ways and as a doctor he foils his father’s actions yet suffers from its consequences. Krogstad’s children shall also suffer from his fouled reputation yet this is brought on not by scientific inevitability but society’s stubbornness. Ibsen parallels the two to prove the illogic of Torvald’s insinuations and to undermine societies urban legends, even those held by respectable people of high status.
Mrs. Linde
Mrs. Linde is one of the most respectable characters in the play, she is a self sufficient woman, wizened by her hardships yet drained of the enjoyment of life seen in Nora because of her sacrifices. She demonstrates a model woman, one who does not neglect her duty to her parents (although as the cost of a loved one) and one who truthfully wishes to satisfy her maternal/ sexual wishes by being with Krogstad and adopting his children. Like all other characters however there aspects both admirable and those less, her practicality contrasts her with Nora’s animated behavior but the audience may feel that it was cruel to make the Helmer’s confront one another. This is seen again through her abandonment of love. However it is undisputable that both were practical and very necessary, perhaps this mirrors the genre of realism, an un-romanticized and perhaps tragic representation of reality.
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