BOOK REVIEW

Author of the book: HENRIK IBSEN

Title of the book: A DOLL HOUSE
Name of the publisher: PENGUIIN GROUP
Place of publication: ENGLAND
Year of publication: 1965

SUMMARY
A Dolls house is a play consisting of three acts
written by Henrik Ibsen late back in 1960s. Nora
and Torvald are a happy, upper-middle class
married couple. Nora is childlike, impulsive and
whimsical. Torvald is extremely condescending
toward her wife, calling her by silly, diminutive
nicknames:
Is that my little skylark twittering out there? said
Mr Helmer.
Nora tries every possible way to keep her husband
happy. When Torvalds health was at stake, Nora

secretly sought out an illegal loan in order to fund

a therapeutic trip to Italy. She is proud of the fact
that she saved Torvalds life without damaging his
ego; he believes the travel was paid for by Noras
father. Then Nora borrowed it from Krogstad, a
lawyer who had been a fellow-student of Torvalds.
As a security for the loan she forged her dying
fathers signature .Ever since then she has saved
some of the housekeeping money in order to pay
back the loan with interest, and she has taken on
small jobs to earn some money herself. Nora, now
feels happy for Torvalds new job because now
money wont be a concern.
One day Noras old school friend Mrs. Christine
Linde shows up. She's been recently widowed and
is looking for work. Christine is hoping that Torvald
might be able to hook her up with a job. Nora
confesses to Christine that she has a secret debt. A
creepy man named Krogstad shows up. He works
at the bank that Torvald is about to manage. Dr.
Rank enters. He's a Helmer family friend and is
dying of tuberculosis of the spine. He talks about
how corrupt and morally diseased Krogstad is, to
which Christine says they should try to help the
diseased.

Nora sees to it that Torvald gives Christine a post

at the bank. But this means that Krogstad is
dismissed from his post at the bank, and in
desperation he goes to Nora and threatens to tell
Torvald about the loan and the forgery unless he is
allowed to keep his post. Nora is in despair but at
the same time convinced that in his love for her,
Torvald will sacrifice himself and take full
responsibility for what she has done, if he learns
the truth. Nora considers asking Dr. Rank, an old
friend of the family, for the money, but when he
declares his love for her, she finds it impossible to
ask him. Torvald finds out what has happened, and
reacts with rage and revulsion, without any sign of
being willing to accept responsibility for the
forgery. Mrs. Linde, who was in love with Krogstad
in the past, gets him to change his mind and
withdraw his threats. But Nora has begun to
understand that her marriage is not what she
thought it was, and in the course of a dramatic
conversation with Torvald she decides that her
most important and only task is to go out into the
world on her own to "bring herself up", and she
leaves her husband and children.

MY TAKE
HOUSE

ON

THE

PLAY-A

DOLLS

I liked the book as it crtically personifies the bitter

truth of womens life and shows a mirror to them
that they are the dolls of their husbands whom
they dont care but rather play with them.The
character which appealed to me the most is Nora
Helmer(or just Nora). I certainly understand Noras
desire to leave her husband ,a man who never truly
appreciated her as a person and who fails to take
her side even when he learns that she broke the
law to save his life. When she decided to change
herself, her beliefs changed.
I have another duty, just as sacred. My duty to
myself.
Until then, she was living in a world of certainty
where she believed in happening of miracles. She
believed her husband would be always there for
her when everyone else walked away .But she
realized the ultimate fate:
Youve never loved me, youve only found it
pleasant to be in love with me.
Helmer without making any bones accepts that he
would not sacrifice his honour for her. Nora

chooses to actively leave her family .In doing so

she automatically forfeits her children and any
monetary help from Torvald. Nora doesnt lament
these losses ,since she wants to make a clean
break and discover herself on her own.
HELMER: But no man would sacrifice his honour for
the one he loves.
NORA: Thousands of women have.
Nora was one of those women.

MUSKAN AGARWAL
SEMESTER I
A
31