A Doll's House Play by McFarlane - Essay Example

A House Of Doll The play seems to have been written in the 1800s when villains used to wear black capes and laugh their ways menacingly with curled long mustaches. Most of the time, most of these sinister men could tie damsels along the railroad tracks while threatening to kick the old ladies out of what they purported to be their foreclosed homes. However, on the other side, Nils Krogstad seems not to display the same character and passion of evil as portrayed by the bad people of his time. Nonetheless, from the first instance, Krogstad seems to be ruthless; however, later in the play, he experienced a change of heart to becoming a decent person. Despite depicting character trait of individual characters of the characters in the households, the play addresses the experiences people often undergo in different marriage and that different character of lead different marriage types due to the different understanding and problems solving techniques. Therefore, this essay aims at analyzing, comparing and contrasting character traits of individuals in different marriages and comparing how these traits contribute to the development of their families. The first couple, Nora and Torvald, is portrayed as sweet a couple who end up separating. Despite being portrayed as a sweet marriage from the beginning, this marriage seems to be naïve since the couple does not understand the character trait of each other perfectly. In this marriage, Nora seems to be basing her life on more realistic events than Torvald whose seems to be valuing appearance. The divergence in the character traits of these couples makes them inherently incompatible people. Moreover, Torvald is depicted as a person who has failed in balancing his work and marriage thereby only considering his wife, Nora has a mere doll (McFarlane 1693). Additionally, Torvald was highly sensitive that he could not realize that Nora was about to leave the marriage. When she finally leaves, Torvald displays his male chauvinism trait by saying "But no man would sacrifice his honor for the one he loves" (Törnqvist1649). The above submissions from the play depict that marriages cannot succeed if both parties in the marriage do not work towards its success. Therefore, despite Nora’s effort to bind her marriage with Torvald, the marriage could not have been successful since the husband gave the marriage too little. Furthermore, reading from the traits of Nora and Torvald, it is also apparent that the success of a marriage is not pegged on obedience or tolerance, but it requires respect and mutual understanding. Finally, a marriage needs the commitment that was weakly shown by Torvald. For instance, in the first act, he is depicted as valuing his studies and career than the family (McFarlane 1688). He never even attended or gave attention to general visitors. Unlike the Nora and Torvald’s marriage that started sweet and ended up in separation, Kristine and Krogstad’s marriage is introduced in the play as a long separated play. However, this marriage ended up in reunites. Following the reunite, the marriage is now depicted to be full of maturity and mutual understanding thereby defined as mature and capable of standing the test of reality as opposed to appearance. Kristine and Krogstad value and are committed to each other. Krogstad, unlike Torvald, is not ashamed of losing his career at the expense of looking and caring for his children. Additionally, Kristine and Krogstad took the time to understand each other's past so they could know what to expect from each other. Examining each other's past lead Kristine and Krogstad's relationship to a mutual understanding that lacked in Torvald's marriage. Additionally, unlike Nora, Kristine is depicted as someone who never gets tired of supporting and working with her husband in caring and providing for the family. The support shown by each party show their individual levels of responsibility and selflessness; therefore, it can be noted that using these two characters, the play depicts that true marriage usually calls for sacrifice and committed responsibility from both married partners. Despite running a successful family at the end of the story, Krogstad seemed not to be a good person. His past life was full of wanting traits including forgery at his workplace. He shares these traits with Nora with whom they commit the crime of forgery at the bank that they work. These criminal actions were mainly motivated by their desperate desires to help or save their loved ones. Nonetheless, Nora unlike Krogstad was overwhelmed by family troubles and was ready to end her life as means of ending her troubles. However, she was too scared to accomplish her plans for killing herself. These actions show that marriage problems are sometimes devastating that they can affect a person’s other life including change of character. In solving their traits, Krogstad and Nora go out of their work ethics and involves in criminal office by defrauding their employer, the bank (McFarlane 1690). Moreover, the overwhelming marriage problem made Nora think of eliminating her life. This point calls for understanding in marriages so partners can help each other through their problems; hence, helping them reduce their frustrations that may lead them thin about ending their lives. Additionally, the play depicts that family friends are significant for a marriage in that their support and or contributions may strengthen or weaken marriages. For instance, have known the Nora and Torvald have marriage challenges, Krogstad who is Nora’s friend should have listened to her with the aim of advising her rather than listening to her to worsen her understanding of the husband. For instance, at some point, Krogstad explains to Nora bitterly that he has for eighteen months working on his steps up the ladder, but Nora’s husband Torvald seems to be thwarting his efforts (McFarlane 1690). Following the same, Krogstad explains to Nora that he is never going to forgive Torvald. These external marital problems only strengthen the fact that Torvald is a problematic person and is unlikely to change. Therefore, on this evaluation and among other personal experiences of Nora with her husband, she decides to end her marriage. Therefore, it is worth noting that marriage is the vital unit of the society that brings persons of diverse characters and understanding together. Therefore, for these new units to grow and maintain, there are needs for great commitments, sacrifices, and understanding among the involved parties. Works Cited McFarlane, James. "The Modern Theater." A Doll's House (n.d.): 1680-1734. Read More