Analysis and Evaluation of the Relationship Between Nora

Analysis and Exploration of the affinity between Nora and Torvald as portrayed in A Dolls House As a reader, the relationship between Torvald and Nora seemed very interesting to me. While it appears one modal value on the surface, it is very contrastive essenti on the wholey. I chose to study this because I think, there is a gr devour deal to explore in familiarity to try and understand the marital dynamic between Nora and Torvald. in that location are so many things that go into wherefore a relationship is theone that it is still I will focus on three very weighty aspects in the book the Victorian gender roles, societal expectations and the stem of ikon, as well as the soul personalities and be remainfs both the spouses held. In assessing the relationship which Torvald and Nora share, it is roughly signifi finisht that we consider the Victorian gender roles at the term. In a time such as that one, both Torvald and Nora would be pressured and bred to mold themselves acco rding to these gender rules.When youre raised a certain way and it is ingrained in you that you are expected to be a certain way, you will. Additionally, they would in addition expect their spouse to do the same. In Victorian times, there were two set d protest roles that a man and woman were supposed to play in a marriage. Essentially, the man was responsible for protecting, guarding and most of all, ensuring financial security for his wife. This fag be observed in A Dollshouse several times. A sibilant example is how Nora receives all her spending money from Torvald.Like a child, she receives allowances and sums of money to take care of the household expenses as well as for herself. To exemplify, I extr professed an inter practiseion between the couple that takes place when Torvald presents Nora with a sum of money. Nora Torvald, convey you Thisll keep me going for a long time Torvald Well, you must see that it does. As a husband, Torvald also restricts her from doing thin gs which he thinks arent good for her provided she handles to do and these asshole be as trivial as eating macaroons.To quote Torvald, when hes questioning Nora near whether or non shes eaten macaroons and she denies the accusation, Torvald says No, I know you wouldnt, besides youve given me your word. This little face goes a long way in portraying his role in the relationship as someone who controls her and who is supposed to determine her actions. A nonher instance when Torvald acts according to his gender role is when he feels he subscribes to guide Nora to teach her how to dance for the Tarantella.And not only does he do that, but he revels in this role. When Nora presents a facade of desperately needing Torvalds help to dance the tarantella, he says This thus faring, Ill be wholly and entirely at your service- you poor, helpless marionette. This leads me to talk about a womans role in the Victorian society and how it influences Nora in her relationship with her husband . If a husband was expected to provide for his wife, similarly, a woman was supposed to live it in gratitude and forever obligated(predicate) to him.She was to abide by his standards and keep the house comfortable for him and essentially, be in his service all the time. This can rightfully be observed in A Dolls House where Nora is agelessly severe to be the warning wife to Torvald. In Act 2 of the play, we can quote Nora saying to Kristina- Sh Heres Torvald attack back. Look, go in and sit with the children for a bit- Torvald cant bear to see dressmaking. Shes perpetually trying to appear a certain way, but to her own husband in her own fireside.When shes undergoing hardships like when she was working because when they were in debt or when shes distraught, she never lets him realize it. As a reader, one can observe this when Nora is describing to Kristina how she could not tell Torvald of her loan and says Torvald would be terribly hurt and humiliated if he survey he owed anything to me. Itd spoil everything between is, and our extolly happy home would never be the same again. This was also something that was expected of women in the era in that their personal struggles werent ever really shared with their husbands.This whitethorn seem really odd to us but at the time it may be because marriages in itself seldom took place because two people were in love, but because it was more of an exhibition for both of them to adhere to standards put up by society. So while Nora and Torvald do appear to be in love in its true form, we feature to remember as readers, that he does keep in mind her background, her fathers ultimo and this is because these things really mattered when choosing a spouse. He would never let it go. steady when they are having a completely irrelevant and pleasant discussion, Torvald finds a way to incorporate the unpleasant past of her family. Just like your father- evermore on the look out for all the money you can get, but the mo ment you have it, it seems to slip by means of your fingers and you never know what becomes of it. Well, I must take you as you are- its in your blood. This brings me to the second aspect that I studied which was holding up an image to society and adhering to its standards. This played a huge role in their relationship many times during the play so we can begin to understand how much it affected their marriage. The concept of what will people think arises so many times.The most notable occurrence demonstrating this is towards the end of the play when Torvald finds out about Noras lie and rather than trying to keep their relationship together out of genuine affection for Nora and him truly not privationing her to leave because he loves her, he wants her to stay and put up a facade as a married couple just so they still appear that way to society. This is really when we can see what their marriage really means to him. More than anything , it was something to show to society and per haps this is why they always felt the need to be the ideal couple.It demonstrated his willingness to brush their problems under the rug to maintain an image to society. And doing this isnt the way any healthy relationship should be, so from this we can conclude that his motive was elsewhere. And he says this too. From now on, forget happiness. Now its about saving the remains, the wreckage, the appearance. The marriage in itself meant less to him than appearance which really drives a reader to consider again how he interacted with his wife and the genuineness of their marriage as a whole.The idea of loving a woman like Nora was more important to Torvald than actually giving her the love she deserved and this is indicated when Nora says Youve never loved me, youve only found it pleasant to be in love with me. Also, the idea of maintaining an image for society comes in when Nora wants to kill herself instead of telling the truth about her debt. She doesnt want society to look down u pon her and her family, she doesnt want Torvald to be looked down upon so she feels that is the only way out.And this shows how strongly she feels about society as opposed to herself and her husband as individuals. But Torvald seems to have a really determined moral compass. He feels strongly about crimes, lying and debt . He expresses this in act 1 when he says Nora, you know what I think about that sort of thing. No debts, no borrowing. Theres something constrained, something ugly even, about a home thats founded on borrowing and debt. You and I have managed to keep clear up till now and we shall still do so for the little time that is left. Torvald makes sure that his wn views are heard in his relationship, which in this case only acted as a throttle to Noras breakdown because she was doing and listening to two divers(prenominal) things. Lastly, I wanted to study Torvald and Noras own individual personalities and beliefs which probably play the most important role in their mar riage. What else can explain the need for Nora to tell little lies like eating macaroons behind Torvalds back or her strong conceit to kill herself when shes in debt and does not want it to affect her current family. Torvalds aversion to debt and views about Noras family also come out in the same way.In a way , maybe their various(prenominal) upbringings played a role in how they acted in their marriage. Nora was brought up being repressed, her father wanted to her to act a certain way and always ensured that his opinions were her opinions. From there she was married and experienced almost the same thing. And this constant repression and control over her life, indicated when Nora says Ive been your doll wife here, just as at home I was papas doll child, might be what subconsciously drives her to do things like eat macroons and feel the need to overlay such a thing such as a debt from her husband.Even in her initial conversation with Mrs. Lindt, she almost describes the whole expe rience of the secret loan as something exciting because for her it is that different because of what her life has always been. When Kristina inquires whether Nora obtained her large sum of money through the lottery, Nora responds A lottery Pooh-where would be the honor in that ? In the same way, Nora experiences how her father was a victim of society when he was dishonest and commit a crime.. Just remember the wicked things they put in the paper about Papa- how cruelly they slandered him. She doesnt want the same thing to happen to her own family and this drives her to react the way that she does- because like anyone else her childhood affects her even in her adulthood Incidentally, Torvalds strong opinions also influence their relationship in that she feels the need to hide things because she knows how he feels about them and he doesnt make it appear as though hed understand.His opinions were supposed to be hers and his beliefs were supposed to be Noras. You arranged everythin g to suit your own tastes says Nora in the third act, and so I came to have the same tastes as yours.. or I pretended to. Im not quite sure which. His strong hatred towards loans and bad deeds are two examples of the same. The most important idea of their individual views is Torvalds physical attraction and lust for Nora in that it really limits the depth of their relationship.She loves him for all the right reasons and genuinely accepted him as a husband and would sacrifice anything for him, even her life. The way he interacts with her though, is always a more superficial manner pertaining to her beauty and physical appearance rather than as a person. In their most intense moments of interaction we experience before he finds the letter, he speaks to her through a veil of desire and lust When I watched you swaying and becokoning in the tarantella, it set my blood on bam till I couldnt bear it any longer Thats why I brought you home so early. Rather than treating her on a human lev el, he objectifies her and treats her as a possession or incidentally, a doll not his partner or equal. How fascinating you are, you lovely little thing Maynt I look at my dearest treasure? At all the beauty that belongs to no one but me- thats all my very own Nora is something Torvald feels like hes proud to own, rather than as a person on her own. Which is really what she struggles with in the end, herself as a person.How he talked to her and how he belittle her , how she was treated that way almost her whole life influenced the outcome of the play in that she finally realizes that shes her own person, not a counterpart to any man. Youve committed a grievous sin against me its your shortcoming Ive made nothing of my life. . This demonstrates Noras final revelation in the climax of the play. To conclude, id like to constitute that a great deal goes into their marriage and how it ended in the play. But by studying a few aspects it gave me a better understanding as to why they w ere a certain way.