Monday, March 28, 2016

"My Little Songbird"

 Throughout the book "A Doll's House" I feel as if Nora is seen as a very incapable woman that does whatever her husband tells her to do. Torvald, Nora's husband, touches Nora playfully and calls her many names like "songbird" and "skylark". Calling Nora names that refer to birds are just ways that Torvald would play around with her to make her feel happy and make him feel as if he is enjoying his time with her and to show that he "loves" her. When Nora needs a real husband and someone to discuss serious matters with Torvald does not seem to know how to change his ways. What I wonder is how Nora and Torvald even first met and felt it was right to become married. It is possible that Nora was forced into it or that she found his playfulness fun and nice at the beginning.

 I find it interesting when it is brought up that Nora had to find someone to loan her money so that she could take a trip to Italy to cure her husband. Krogstad, the person who loaned her over 4,000 dollars uses the thought of Torvald finding out that Nora tried to cure him as a threat. I would think that Nora going out of her way to cure her husband would be seen as a good thing but considering the setting and timing of this book I can understand how it is seen that women should not be helping their husband in large cases like the one presented to Nora. It is also weird to see that traveling to somewhere like Italy could cure someone.

The book shows how a Woman changes from being the play doll for men to standing up for herself and really changing things for the better. Nora was tolerating her husband but she really had no real love for him. Her finally making a stand and moving is definitely the best thing she could have done.








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2 comments:

  1. Joey O'ConnorMarch 29, 2016 at 2:40 PM

    I also find it odd that throughout Act I Torvald calls Nora various pet names. The names "squirrel’, "lark”, and others are ways for Torvald to exert his superiority over his wife. In addition, Torvald adopts a fatherly role with her, directing her how to spend money and telling her what to eat and what not to eat. Although this seems nice, Torvald is just making sure that his wife remains presentable to his friends and coworkers. The play is a clear representation of how men of the time will do anything to benefit themselves socially. The women’s job, or in this case Nora’s, is merely to comply and satisfy the needs of the man of the house. All of these actions are examples of how Torvald continuously asserts his dominance over his wife.

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  2. Rustin SaracenoApril 14, 2016 at 7:02 PM

    The dominance of man over women in this story is quiet odd by all means. In act one the Torvald treats Nora like a squirrel. This makes little sense unless he is trying to request dominance. Torvald seems to take control over his with in the example of when she had chocolate and he found out. Nora plays as this happy woman but i wonder if she really is. Torvald controls her and that is no way to be happy.

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