a doll's house

             After reading A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen, and examining the roles of the three main characters, Nora, Christine, and Torvald, the differences between them and their roles in society and the way the handle and deal with those roles are completely different.
             Christine, throughout the play, plays the role of a typical woman in society of that time period. She appears to be just a normal, ordinary woman. Christine tries to also fill the role of mother and caretaker, this is shown when Christine makes the decision for Krogstad to leave his letter to Torvald in the letterbox, in an attempt to bring out all of the lies that have been haunting their marriage, show Torvald who Nora really is, she wanted to bring out "complete understanding"(52) and wanted their "secret"(52) to be disclosed and see if they could actually work things out as man and wife. It is also fairly obvious that Christine likes her role in society and actively pursues ways that she could be a mother or a caretaker to someone, and if she is unable to fulfill that role than she pitys herself and tries desperately to get others to pity her and feel sorry for her. This idea is shown several times in the play. First when Christine complains about how she is unable to climb up the stairs in front of the Helmer's household, then again when she talks about how her mother and her children "don't need her" (10). Throughout the play, Christine's character doesn't change and is used more as a foil to help reveal the characteristics of other characters than anything else.
             Torvald relates closely to Christine in the ways that they both mold their lives to fit society, and like the roles they play. Torvald plays the role of a typical male in society, driven by social expectations, and extremely focused on and worried about social status. This is obvious when after he opens the letter from Krogstad
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a doll's house. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 11:58, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/32154.html