Realism in A Doll's House - Essay Example

Realism is the belief or the way to see things as they are in real. It is the manifestation of philosophical realism that beliefs exist as an independent observation of a person and reflects reality. A person sees things from his perspective and tries to idealize a world according to his frame of reference of mind and circumstances. However, artistic realism is a more advanced characteristic that portrays the view of most of the norm. Henrik Ibsen, a Norwegian playwright who is a standpoint of modern drama, is considered as the father of realistic theatre. Henrik Ibsen dominated the twentieth century and directed many theatrical plays presenting many social issues of society. One of his masterpieces is ‘A Doll’s House’ in which Ibsen questions the confines of marriage. The drama itself became the subject of debate in society as it was an everyday people’s situation (A Doll's House).

Noura Helmer
Nora who was the wife of Torval helmer is the lead character of the play ‘A Doll’s House’. The play starts with Nora in her house and progresses with her struggle and transformation toward her life, perspective, and needs. In the start, she appears as a silly, arrogant, and prideful woman and represents the doll-child in a doll house. However, soon the audience sees her transformation into a strong and tough lady who bears the pressure and problems of the outer world and stands as a barrier against the problems of her family. She saves her husband’s life by paying his debt for which she has to forge his father’s signature. She takes him to Italy and never tells him where she took the money from just to keep his husband's pride up. She loves him so much and believes likewise. Noura thinks that for Torvald, nothing matters more than her happiness. The drama takes a turning point when she realizes that she was wrong and that for her husband beauty and respect matter more than her joy and happiness. Her trust and belief in life broke and she decided to leave Torbald and try to move on her new way (“Ibsen”).
Torvald Helmer
Nora’s husband, Torvald is a banker and lawyer. He never thinks of her wife more than a foolish and spoiled child. For him, she is just a plaything and an erotic fantasy to fulfill his animal desires. He calls her humiliating pet names like, "little skylark "or "little person” which shows his perspective towards wife and woman. At the start of the play, he engages the sympathy of the audience because of his indulgent devotion towards his wife. He treats her with love and generosity, gives him extra money whenever she asks for it and loves her out of reason. He claims that if any burden or hardship ever comes in life, he will take it all on his shoulders and will not let Noura suffer. However, as the play progresses the real person within Torvald comes up who is unable to cope with the disagreeable truths of life. When Noura finds herself in trouble, mostly came because of his husband, he turns his way and is concerned more about worldly things and his reputation rather than his wife’s happiness and future life. In the end, he is found to be a man who could not understand his wife’s immense love and the sacrifices she gave for him (“Ibsen”)

Setting
However, the play was set in Ibsen’s native Norway but it does not talk about things that were typically Norwegian. Its roots are in all the Europe and even most parts of America. The set was quite similar to any middle-class home found at that time. It was portrayed as normal and most of the families of that time lived which gave people a great chance to relate with the characters. Whenever a character appears individuals superimpose their selves with him and try to think of the situation in the real world.

Theme reflecting Realism
The theme of the play reflected the real story and dilemma of the time. It was not allowed to talk about sex and even for babies at that time. Woman’s best role was defined best as mothers and wives. The theme of this play revolves around the problems of Noura and in another way reflects the problems of women’s rights as a fact of realism in this play. Ibsen did not offer any real solution for the problem however, left it to the people to solve the dilemma themself ("Ibsen and Realism") Read More