Character development of Nora

Transformation is always a natural phenomenon at occurs at various stages. These

include the growth of an individual, which often occurs naturally, This occurs as
characters expand their knowledge base thus changing both their attitude towards
life and their behavior. In the play A Doll Hose, The change in Nora’s character
occurs strategically owing to her experiences that compel her to mature thus act in
a wiser manner than the rest of the character assume her to be. Such is a strategic
development that enhances the conflict in the plot of the play as the discussion
below portrays.
At the beginning of the play, Nora Helmer is a timid young woman who enjoys her
life in her own small ways. She is a charming woman who enjoys the presence and
affection of her husband Torvald Helmer who even thinks that she is stupid and
naïve. She enjoys her husband’s company and expresses both excitement and
contentment in his promotion since it increases her salary. As such, Nora enjoys
her marriage life. Her husband pampers, coddles and patronizes her but she does
not care. In fact, the developer of the play provides Nora with a doll like existence
at the beginning of the play. Such is a strategic feature in the play that justifies the
title of the play. As a doll, Nora does not question her existence and does anything
naturally in a manner that portrays both her innocence and naivety. Towards the
end of the first act, Nora begins portraying signs of change. She expresses feeling
of boredom as she says that her life is “unspeakably empty” and thinks of talking
to her husband about getting a job.
Torvald Helmer class Nora “a silly girl” owing to her timid personality. However,
this quickly and progressively changes as Nora begins to exhibit an aggressive
personality and a risk taker who can do anything to achieve her goals. She takes a
loan in order to marshal adequate resources to treat her husband. After acquiring
the loan, she understands the debt implications of the loan and works hard to pay
back the money. Such is a strategic portrayal of development in her character that
portrays a different woman from the woman previously described by Torvald
Helmer as “a silly woman”. Such is an act of bravery, portrayal of her
determination ambitions beyond those of a mere wifehood as previously portrayed.
She even portrays her extensive understanding of her chauvinist husband “how
painful and humiliating it would be for Torvald, with his manly independence, to
know that he owes me money” (Ibsen and William-Alan 1.197). The act portrays
her courage as she risks breaking the law just to obtain money and saver her
husband’s health.
Nora develops a strong personality as the play progresses. She learns of Krogstad’s
blackmail. This just as in any case causes her immense trauma. However, she
remains unchanged as she puts on a bold face to overcome such. In fact, such acts
of betrayal open Nora’s eyes to her underappreciated and unfulfilled potential.
During a confrontation with Torvald, she admits that she had been playing tricks
both literally and figuratively. The figurative tricks are more powerful than the
literal tricks are since she contends that she put on a show and adopted a different
personality, one that was never hers in the first place just to depict the ideal image
of a wife that Torvald, her father and the entire society wanted.
Torvald reacts poorly and selfishly given his chauvinist personality. However,
Nora expected such a reaction. This instigates a series of conflicts and
confrontation between the two al of which continues to portray Nora’s progressive
awakening. The conflicts and confrontations end with Nora separating with her
husband as she ventures on a self-discovery mission. While this is the culmination
of the conflict in the play, it simply portrays the extent of Nora’s awakening since
from the beginning the play portrays Nora as a smart intelligent woman who
shelves her identity in order to conform to the society’s definition of a woman and
a wife.
In retrospect, the entire play shows Nora’s progressive awakening as she
progressively portrays a changing personality and strength. At the end of the play,
Nora leaves both her husband and children as she seeks to discover herself. This
embodies the progressive but steady development and transformation of the
character in the play. Such is a fundamental aspect in the plot of the play that
elicited controversy (Dukore 43). From the doll-like character of Nora created at
the beginning of the chapter to the self-aware Nora who boldly walks out of her
marriage, the developer of the play strives to show the extent of character
transformation and the effects of some of the social features in the development of
an individual. Nora admits concealing her real character in order to conform to the
society’s definition of a woman. This implies that the society often affects the
characters of people often instigating and sustaining their progressive
transformations later in life.
Thematic comparison of both plays:
There are numerous recurring themes in these two plays, the most obvious being
women. The main character in each play is an independent woman and both Nora
and Raina are capable of saving the lives of men; Raina who, amidst all the turmoil
of war and battle, sympathizes with the Serbian who enters her room despite
desperate threats to her life. Both show a mature superiority over the male
characters. Nora also takes it upon herself to take care of her husband and copes
with this alone. Both are secretive, but most of the time it is because they
understand the society in which they live and the inevitable consequences their
actions could cause.
Each playwright is determined to make a point about class. They both begin with
stage directions explaining the furnishings in detail in order to convey each
educated and relatively wealthy family. The Petkoffs consider themselves one of
“the richest and most important families in the country” and will only consider
marrying their daughter off to someone of similar or equal calibre. Whereas
Torvald Helmer keeps “handsomely bound books” and musical instruments outside
his study in order to appear educated and of middle class.
Yet this also links to the themes of pretence and deceit, Helmer is superficially of
upper class but is only really scared to lose his honour. Nora is deceitful
throughout the play by constantly manipulating her husband by doing “tricks”. She
is almost playing the system; women were supposed to be a source of
entertainment for men, this is obviously not how Nora would like it but she still
uses the principle to her advantage. Raina is also secretive as she hides Captain
Bluntschli from soldiers of her own nationality. Women are able to see past war
and past the economy in both plays; a quality which men seem to lack.
Love and marriage also appear in both plays. Nora and Torvald are married but at
the end of the play, she declares that she does not and never has truly loved him.
Love and marriage are shown to be arrangements and constructions of society. the
parents of Raina are reluctant to allow her to marry Bluntschli until they hear that
he has more table cloths than Saranoff. this also shows how class would be
determined by differences such as this and also how it is irrelevant when it comes
to love. Raina loved Bluntschli and saved his life before she knew who he was.
this, yet again shows how women have a certain maturity over men.
Raina is somewhat more independent that Nora, she is only young yet she can
confidently express herself where other women would be seen and not heard. Nora
goes as far as to save the life of her husband, yet Raina saves the life of a strange
man who threatens to kill her. Nora does risk forgery and loaning money, but this
is hardly as serious as saving a man who is on the opposite side of the war. I think
this is something to do with the time periods in which each play was written, the
audience of Ibsen would be horrified as it was at the antics of Nora yet Shaw
would probably be able to get away with a bit more to make his point. Ibsen,
however, was even pressured to write an alternate ending.
These plays can easily be compared but looking at them more closely allows us to
gain an insight into subtle differences in the society which surrounded their writers.