The Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen created the play A Doll’s House in 1879. The play’s central theme is the position of women in society; contemporaries perceived the drama as a feminism manifesto. However, the problems of A Doll’s House are not limited to the women’s issue: it is about the freedom of the human person in general. The play’s setting is Nora and Torvald’s house in Scandinavia at the beginning of the 20th century. Three main male characters in the play – Torvald Helmer, Nils Krogstad, and Dr.Rank – in addition to the main motives, have secret fantasies that can be seen in the course of the play. Given the above, each of the main characters lives his private life, and the visible part of it is a kind of screen, a mask behind which it is convenient for them to hide and with which they manipulate other people’s lives.
First, a lawyer, Torvald Helmer, perceives his wife exclusively as an item of lust. Henrik Ibsen sheds light on how Helmer supports sexual fantasies regarding Nora: dressing her as a girl and encouraging the wife to dance for him. To emphasize, Nora is speaking to herself while waiting for her husband: ” will do everything I can think of to please you, Torvald! I will sing for you, dance for you”. Since Torvald encourages her maidenly and childish behavior, Ibsen implicates an incestuous interrelationship. Nora, in turn, notices that the custody of her father has been replaced by the one of her husband, and the emotional life has not changed.
Secondly, the main antagonist in A Doll’s House is Nils Krogstad, and his ulterior motive is to preserve his postion at the bank so that his children do not learn the consequences that a tarnished reputation causes. Krogstad claims: “Even money-lenders, hacks, well, a man like me, can have a little of what you call feeling, you know.” However, the motives of Torvald and Krogstad differ: the latter will stop at naught, not for his own personal gain, but in the name of the family. Yet, it can be concluded that society made Mrs. Linde end her romance with Krogstad and thereby provoked his misdeed. Although the unjust attitude of society towards Krogstad is not an excuse for his accomplishments, it brings him closer to Nora and, consequently, softens perceiving him as a contemptible personage.
Finally, Dr. Rank’s role in A Doll’s House is connected to Nora’s life; she finds relief from Torvald’s tedious chatter in communicating with Rank. Throughout the play, Dr.Rank periodically visits the Helmer house and flirts with Nora. Nonetheless, the valid reason for visiting the Helmer house is Dr. Rank’s affection for a married woman. Rank announces: “Nora…Do you think he’s the only one who…? Who wouldn’t gladly give his life for your sake.
I swore to myself you would know before I went. I’ll never have a better opportunity. Well, Nora! Now you know. And now you know too that you can confide in me as in nobody else”. On the one hand, the relationship between the two characters can be perceived as purely spiritual feelings, but Nora also finds herself in awkward circumstances. Literary critics often see the image of Dr.Rank as an icon of the ethical decomposition of society.
To summarize, A Doll’s House calls into question the marriage’s entirety and explores the evolution of self-awareness in characters. The play eventually reproaches all the deceptive values of the modern community, which denies the value of the individual. The author was often criticized for the bold attack against the norms of society, but it is precisely because of this that the play was forward timing and is relevant to date.