Michaela Dunkley

Weathersbee
05/28/2014
Connections to Different Literature
In A Dolls House by Henrik Isben, there are many different types of characters. Most of
the characters are either static or flat, but there are some like Nora and Torvald who are either
dynamic or round. Poems and songs are one of the many things you can make connections with.
They are a great tool because there is so much emotion in poems and songs. It is easy to connect
a characters personality to a song or poem, especially with round or dynamic characters.
Nora and Torvald have 3 children together, Bob, Emmy, and Ivar. Henrik shows that
Nora loves to spend time with her children but dont want to care for them, like bathing and
feeding them. She just wants to play. The children learn from their mother but they probably
learn more from their nurse. The nurse usually raises the children in this time period. Mothers
have a very strong influence on the children. After Torvald learns of Noras deception, he is
mad and doesnt want Nora to spend any time with her children so she doesnt influence them
morally. He says, But I shall not allow you to bring up the children; I dare not trust them to
you. (pg. 71) The 3 children in this play are flat and static characters. They dont change
throughout the book and Henrik doesnt give you insight to their personalities. I made
connections to a poem called A Piece of Plastic Clay by an unknown author. It explains how a
mother raising her children is like molding a piece of clay.

I took a piece of living clay,
And gently formed it day by day,
And molded with my power and art
A young childs soft and yielding heart.


Within the play, Nora is treated like a child or a doll. First, she was treated like this by
her father who called her his doll-child. Then, by her husband, Torvald, who called her his
little skylark or squirrel. Nora is pushed around by her husband, being there at his every beck
and call. She is moved around and placed where needed, just like a doll. I connected Nora to a
caged bird, like in the poem, Caged Bird by Maya Angelou. Its like Nora is trapped in the
doll house, and not until the end of the play is she finally set free.


The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings for freedom.

Not until the last few pages of the book does she realize this though. Nora proclaims,
No, only merry. And you have always been so kind to me. But our home has been nothing but
a playroom. I have been your doll-wife, just as at home I was papas doll-child; and here the
children have been my dolls. I thought it great fun when you played with me, just as they
thought it great fun when I played with them. That is what our marriage has been, Torvald. (pg.
74-75) Nora has at last grasped the fact that Torvald was never in love with her, only in love
with the idea. Their marriage is just dead; they dont love each other. Torvald never loved her
and once she saw his reaction to the letter, Nora fell out of love with him. I connected their
marriage to a poem titled Marriage A-la-Mode by John Dryden.

We lovd, and we lovd, as long as we could,
Till our love was lovd out in us both:
But our marriage is dead, When the pleasure is fled:
Twas pleasure first made it an oath.

In conclusion, Nora is like a bird in a cage because she is trapped and is forced to live by
others rules, even if she doesnt even realize it. She is seems nave, which makes everyone
think she is incapable of doing many things by herself. Torvald and Noras marriage is fake
because Torvald was only in love with the idea of loving Nora. Nora depended on Torvald and
expected him to protect her, but that was the opposite of what Torvald did. Torvald was mad and
was only going to allow Nora to stay in the house to keep up his image. When Nora
comprehends this, she falls out of love with Torvald. Bob, Emmy, and Ivar will be just fine,
even if Nora leaves them. They were only really dependent on their nurse. Although the nurse
raised them, Nora still had somewhat of an influence on them. Children are formed just like a
piece of clay, changed by everything they come in contact with.
Works Cited

Angelou, Maya. Caged Bird. Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 28 May 2014.
Dryden, John. Marriage A-la-Mode. Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 28 May
2014.
Ibsen, Henrik. A Dolls House. New York: Dover Publications, 1992. Print.
Unknown. A Piece of Plastic Clay. Ray Fowler .org. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 May 2014.