A Doll's House: Nora and Torvald Characters - Essay Example

Sur Introduction Krogstad’s extortion plot is arguably one of the occurrences in the play that lead to transformational development of other characters. At the same time, it is also used to revealssome of the traits that most of the characters poses. Most analysts have argued that without the extortion plot, the play would lose its touch and meaning, as it is considered the fabric that holds together other components in the play. Forgery gives Krogstadthe needed courage of threatening Torvald Helmer at the bank, which cascade into irreconcilable hatred. Another revelation is seemingly the resistive transformation that Nora underwent following the extortion plot. Analytically, for a given time, Nora has been protracted as a “Doll” in the house of Torvald Helmer. She has been Torvald’s petowing to the fact she was limited in making decision on her own. The analysis of the play will try to bring out the fact that if it were not for the extortion plot, Nora would have remained submissive to Torvald. Nora and Krogstad share common problems: they are all wronged by the society, and they have been involved in a forgery problem. This common problem between themtends to be the starting point of a conflict, which is strongly catalyzed by Krogstad. The forgery of signatures is central, and competition at work place is the glue that binds Nora and Krogstad together while threatening their marriage. Torvalds clearly knows that Krogstad had forged the signature, as he states in conversation between him and his wife. “He forged someone’s name. Have you any idea what that means?” (Doll’s House, Act 2). In the turn of events, Krogstad starts to blackmail Nora following a loan that she obtains from Krogstad using a forged signature of her dead dad. These secret transactions are part of the main cause that Nora has to remain loyal to Krogstand hence being treated as a pet. Krogstad even takes advantage of this situation to secure and keep his position at workplace. By keeping his job, Krogstad will be able to attend to the need of his family. The involvement of the two in this forgery places Nora Helmer at a crossroad. At this point, we can see her contemplating suicide because of the heightened problems in her life that was born out of the secrets and the subsequent mistreatment. It reaches a point whereby, Krogstad uses this secret to threaten Torvalds of the ills that he has done in the bank. The attempt of suicide is noted and prevented by Krogstad who also had once been in the same scenario: Krogstad says the following to her after noting her suicidal tendencies, “So if you are thinking of trying any desperate measures… if you happen to be thinking of running away” (Doll’s House, Act 3). The problem heightened when it came to revealing the secret of forgery to his husband. The revelation meant that she would affect her own life and marriage and spare Krogstad’s. Important to note is that the husband of Nora is a co-worker in the bank. Krogstad is provoking the secret from blowing out since he will be promoted while at the same time Helmer will be sacrificed with this move. The option that Nora had was withstanding the worst of forgery and sacrificing her husband in the job. This will affect her family in several fronts. One of the implication is the husband name will be tarnished and spoilt without committing the crime. Secondly, her family will lose the source of income since the husband will lose a job on the integrity grounds. This problem will enslave Nora. On the other hand, revealing the secret will heavily influence the life of Krogstad. He will be promoted since it will tarnish the name of his senior, Helmer. It is difficult for her to remain execute the mandate. Helmer, provoke the situation by threatening to fire Krogstad. This dilemma sets a major conflict, which revolve around Nora’s independence. Nora is seen struggling intensely with Krogstad. Krogstad has taken a new turn of events where has started to wedge the war against Nora’s husband, threatening him that he will reveal the crime that he has committed in the past. Nora is critical on these rather complex issues. She is the protagonist. Nothing that she suggests to her ever-domineering husband is taken seriously. She is always insulted and seen as a pet in the marriage. It is conclusive that she is leading a very desperate and unhappy life with the husband. To the outside world, Torvald Helmer is still seen domineering and oppressing those in the lower ranks. Krogstad has been fired because of malice that Nora husband bear in his chest. He has abused and insulted severally Krogstad that he is “morally sick.” This is the climax of the conflict, and it is time for the resolutions to take place. The changes that are to take place is having Nora living an independent life. She needs to move off the bondage of her husband who sees her as doll in the house. She needs to cease being the pet of husband who cannot listen to her suggestion. On the other side, Krogstad needs to recapture his job at the bank and at the higher position. Final change that is to take place is Torvald Helmer being a divorced man and sacked from the job. These changes are necessitated by the plot that Krogstad hunched with Nora to have the loan by forging the signature of his husband. Krogstad wants to retain his job. The plot that they did of extortion is the one that initiate and gives momentum to the course of action that is taken. The letter of transaction that Krogstad and Nora used to forge a signature and get a loan want to be used against Torvald Helmer. This will make him lose the job while Krogstad will be retained and elevated to higher level. It is important to note that Krogstad does this because of circumstances. He cannot meet the needs of his family outside job. The second and most important change is for Nora to have freedom and independent life. The plot that they had of forging the signature of her father is the one that set the stage of this freedom. Initially, the plan was to have a loan and in secret. It turns out to be a moment of self-discovery for Nora. The plot of extortion is the one that initiated the conflict in the workplace between Krogstad and Torvald Helmer, Nora husband. As the conflict heightened, it presented a good opportunity of Nora learning her husband character. Since Torvald Helmer was senior to Krogstad at the bank, he could initiate termination of his employment. Indeed, he initiated by drafting a dismissal letter midst the threats that Krogstad gave that he would reveal the ills and crime that he has been involved in at the workplace. The dismissal letter was given, “Look here; take this letter and go downstairs with it at once. Find a messenger and tell him to deliver it, and be quick. The address is on it, and here is the money.” (Doll’s House, Act 2) It is the extortion plot that Krogstad did with Nora that gave the impetus of threatening his senior at the workplace. The persuasion was too much without success. Instead, she was insulted and shown that she amounts to nothing in the house. She was more than a pet or a Doll in the house. She could not influence any action in the house. This made her be unhappy in the marriage. She was like an image that has no value in the house. This discovery came with the plot that cascade into acrimonious insults in the house without anyone heeding anyone’s advice. To relieve herself, she had to exit from marriage. Therefore, it is arguable that Krogstad’s extortion plot paved way for Nora self-discovery. Without the plan, she could have remained his pet because it took her long to act. The protraction and hesitation to move from the life of bondage cast doubt on Nora commitment to live independent life. It is clear that Nora has been persevering to live as Doll in the house without quitting. It is seemingly arguable that if it were not for Krogstads extortion plot, Nora would never have told Helmer her secret, much less left him. She would have been happy to remain his pet. She did not reveal the precarious secrets that could he brought his husband down at the bank. Nora says, “But it was absolutely necessary that he should not know” (Doll’s House, Act 2). Work cited Ibsen, Henrik. A Dolls House. University of Alidade, 2014. Read More