In what ways
does Ibsen show Nora Helmer to fulfil the role of the Victorian woman?
Nora fulfills her duty of being a housewife by buying
presents for her children on Christmas and playing with them shows that she
immensely love her children. She also tries to please her husband by decorating
the house for Christmas and obeys his advice to “control her spending habits”.
Many of Torvald’s advice for Nora is abstract, when he mentions being
acquainted with Krogstad can “poison” their children (as he sees Krogstad as a
bad influence on the household), but Nora takes this idea very literally (due
to woman’s lack of education in Victorian society in general) and so she is
actually scared of her children getting poisoned, because of her, as she has
committed a similar crime to Krogstad’s.
2.
In what ways does she not adhere to the role?
She is not completely
obedient to her husband as she hides the loan secret from him, and secretly
eating macaroons behind him and telling another man about it (Dr Rank). She
also tries to persuade her husband to keep the job at the bank for Torvald
instead of Mrs Linde for her own benefit. This tells the audience she is not
very truthful, which is not the Victorian ideology for women.
3.
In what ways does Ibsen develop Nora’s character to
present her complexity? In what ways might this have been a challenge to the
audience of the period it was written in?
In the beginning of
Act One, the audience sees Nora as a frivolous woman through her responses to
Torvald, and a child-like, self-centered and insensitive character through her
conversation with Mrs Linde. Nora seems to be a character that seems to have a
candid, transparent mind-set at first, as the audience can see her
personalities so easily. But towards the end of Act One, the audience learns
that Nora bears a secret with her, borrowing a loan to help her husband in
need, and her conversation with Mrs Linde builds up the dramatic tension within
Nora, her internal conflict between her childish nature and her need to grow
out of it.
In Act Two, the
audience can see more of Nora’s internal conflict as her worry about her
“poisoning” her children grows. She expresses this worry with her nursemaid.
She also confides her personal matters with Dr Rank. All these events lead to
the ultimate revelation of Nora’s secret in borrowing the loan from Krogstad
and forging her father’s signature to Mrs Linde. Nora keeps the secret of
Krogstad’s letter to her husband till the end, causing her to worry the whole
time during her dance with Torvald. At the end of Act Two, Nora reveals the
dramatic irony by confirming to her husband, “(I) am dancing as though (my)
life depend on it”.
4.
What elements might have shocked a Victorian audience
in Act 2?
·
How she wants to leave the house without consulting
with Torvald – women do not have power to make her own decisions in society
without her husband
·
Her insistence on letting Krogstad stay and how she
calls him “petty” – women are not supposed to devalue a men’s pride
·
How she lets Dr. Rank see her stockings and “a bit
higher up” – a married woman cannot show her inner stockings to other men
·
She knows about Dr. Rank liking her but completely
ignores it – a married woman has to stay loyal to the man she married
5.
Does Ibsen build empathy for Nora in Act 2? If so, in
what ways?
Ibsen builds empathy for Nora for the modern audience.
The modern audience would support Nora’s choice to disobey the Victorian ideology
for woman is motivated by her love for her family members. This highlights to
the audience Nora’s good-natured character. as her maturity evolves from the
end of Act One to the end of the play, helping her to understand more of the
society around her, which influence her responses to her life situations (i.e
leave the house on her husband), although are morally just (as the modern
audience understands her motivations), are not accepted by Victorian society at
the time, making the modern audience to feel sympathy for her even more.
6.
Ibsen parallels some themes with other subplots in the
play for example lies and deception, breaking the law, poisoning one’s
offspring, if someone goes away – everyone will soon get used to it. Name which
parts in the play it occurs and the effects it has on the audience.
· Lies & Deception: Macaroons, Secret of her borrowing money, Lying
some part of the secret to Mrs Linde
· Breaking the law: during the first conversation between Nora and
Krogstad
· Poisoning one’s offspring: When Nora insists Torvald to let Krogstad
stay in the bank and Torvald refused
· If someone goes away – everyone will soon get used to it: during Nora’s
conversation with the nursemaid and Dr. Rank in Act 2
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