My Ending

(After Nora left the house)
TORVALD: [In a panic, to himself] What have I done? What did I do to deserve such horrible things such as this? She was always so capricious! She even claimed that I didn't truly love her. After all these years. After everything that I've done for her. I provided for her, I took care of her. She couldn't do anything without me! [Banging his fist on his desk] This whole thing was a blunder, a huge misunderstanding.  
[The CHILDREN walk in sleepily, awakened by Torvald's loud noises]
CHILDREN: [Rubbing their eyes] What happened? Where's mother?
TORVALD: [Petting them on the head] Don't worry, everything is fine my little dolls. Mother is out on vacation right now.
CHILDREN: Vacation?
TORVALD: Yes, she's on a lovely vacation! She is off having a good time, she will be back soon! Now hurry, go back to bed.
[The CHILDREN go back to their room, HELENA enters]
HELENA: Mr. Helmer, we need to talk.
TORVALD: Oh Helena, thank god you're here, I need your help more than ever with the children.
HELENA: Yes about that... I heard about everything that happened between you and Nora. Hearing her talk about your marriage made me come to a realization as well...
TORVALD: Helena please do not tell me you are leaving as well.
HELENA: No, Mr. Helmer, I will not be leaving... It is my duty at this point to stay. I feel ashamed of myself for letting this sort of suffering happen to Nora.
TORVALD: Nora?
HELENA: Yes, I watched her father treat her like nothing but a toy. An object. Yet there wasn't anything more I could do except do my best to raise her. However when I began taking care of your kids, I failed to make a change. I allowed Nora to be treated as a doll, and in turn Nora treated her kids like some as well. Nora was right, she was not in any condition to take care of kids, however I never properly taught her. Although Nora is gone, it is my duty along with yours to make sure that the children are not affected by any of this. You suppressed Nora to the point that she left, but you still have the kids. Please learn from your mistakes and attempt to make the best of it. Mr. Helmer, I beg of you, the children deserve better.
[TORVALD is at the point of tears. He looks up at Helena.]
TORVALD: [With a glimmer of hope] Do you think I can ever fix what I've done?
HELENA: [With a sad look in her eye] I don't know Mr. Helmer, but you have to try.

End

Act 2

Act 2 added a lot of drama to the story, including a decision to commit suicide, more hysterics from Nora, as well as an unexpected (sort of) love confession. Dr. Rank made the biggest jump character-wise from Act 1 to Act 2. In Act 2 we learned that Dr. Rank is dying from what can be interpreted as Tuberculosis, and his time with the Helmers is dwindling. Of course Nora is preoccupied with her own problems and begins to flirt with him, which leads to the doctor's giant love confession. "To have loved you as deeply as anyone else - was that horrid?"(Ibsen, 195) Nora also revealed that part of the reason she has relationship with someone like Torvald was because of the way her father treated her. "But I'm sure you can see that being with Torvald is very like being with Papa."(Ibsen, 196) If I was in Dr. Rank's situation I would have done the same thing because he did not know exactly how many more times he would be able to see her, and he couldn't afford to suppress his feelings any longer. Nora also showed a little selfishness in this situation by being more glad that her good friend was DYING as opposed to hearing bad news about her own problem. She sort of reminded me of Ms. Das from Interpreter of Maladies because as Ms. Das only talked to Mr. Kapasi because she wanted her own problem solved, Nora did the same with Dr. Rank.

It was also shown in this act that Ms. Linde and Krogstad had a prior relationship, and Ms. Linde told Nora that she would get Krogstad to take back the note. This is around the same time that Nora is planning to dance the Tarantella until her suicide. I think the Tarantella being fast paced and energetic perfectly symbolizes Nora quite literally dancing for her life.

To whoever reads this, do you think Dr. Rank was right to profess his love, when at that day and age it would've been extremely inappropriate?

Act 1

Act 1 has just come to a close, and a lot of information has been revealed regarding the relationships between the characters, as well as the characters' personalities themselves. On the outside, Nora seemed like a typical obedient housewife from that time period, who was childish and frivolous, and was taken care of by her husband. Although she was in fact frivolous and showed signs of being childish, it is revealed early on that she can be independent if she wants to. Nora kind of reminds me of my younger sister, because although she may seem bashful or innocent, she is actually extremely independent when she wants to be and can help herself without the assistance of others. I am interested in seeing how Nora develops throughout the play, and whether or not she shows Torvald that she can actually stand her own ground. Torvald as a character is very intriguing. He is very condescending and controlling with his wife, and clearly has a lot of pride. He said things like "Is that my little skylark twittering out there?" and referenced her as a "squirrel" or a "featherbrain." Their relationship reminded me of that of a father and a daughter. Torvald also showed that he was at least somewhat responsible, earning an advancement at the bank, and refusing to take out unnecessary loans or squander his money. It was ironic that even though he had so much control in the relationship, he didn't know Nora's biggest secret. Ms. Linde and Dr. Rank were minor characters who weren't developed much, but Krogstad is shown as some sort of crook. However Krogstad to me seemed like he was doing what he had to do to get by and survive. How do you view Krogstad? Has he seemed like as much of a villain as Dr. Rank and Torvald made him out to be?

I think the theme of pride is going to become a key part of this story. If Torvald ever finds out about Nora going behind his back and working to save him, I don't think he could handle it in a positive way. Throughout the first act, he was clearly the dominant figure in the relationship and Nora acted helpless saying things like "I can't do anything without your help," so if he found out that she could be independent his pride could definitely damage the relationship and how he sees himself. I also think Ms. Linde is going to emerge as a bigger character later on in the story, as Nora doesn't want Krogstad being kicked out of his position. Finally, do you agree with Torvald when he says a lie like Krogstad's "corrupts children" and "poisons a home"?

First Post

I am Elliot Urgent and what I have enjoyed the most about our English class this year are the group projects we did throughout the year.

Henrik Ibsen was born on March 20, 1828 in Skien, Norway. He was born to a wealthy family, however when he was 8 years old, his family went into poverty because of problems with his father's business. At 15 years old, he became an apprentice to an apothecary in Grimstad. He wrote his first play, Catilina in 1849. In 1850 he moved to Christiania to study to get into the local university. In 1851 he became a writer and manager for the Norwegian Theatre in Bergen. He returned to Christiania in 1857 to run another theater there, and he wrote Love's Comedy in 1862. He left Norway in that same year, and he moved to Italy, then Germany where his career fully took off. In 1900 Ibsen had a series of strokes, and he could never fully recover. He died in 1906.

I think the title A Doll's House could relate to the theme by drawing an analogy to a doll's house and the situation that the characters are in. Dolls are played with in doll's houses, so the characters in the story may be controlled or "played with" in some fashion. The author wrote a decent amount about relationships, so the title could tie into relationships being controlled or determined by outside forces. Based on what I know so far, a theme of this story could be feminism or women's role in society.

http://www.biography.com/people/henrik-ibsen-37014
http://www.theatredatabase.com/19th_century/henrik_ibsen_001.html