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Actions Speak Louder with Words

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In "A Doll's House," Nora’s bold expression of independence through slamming shut the door of the dollhouse in 1879 has influentially made a lasting and influential impression upon intrigued audience members. "I must stand quite alone", Nora declares at the conclusion of Act III. This final statement of self-assertion is a response to the discovery that her faux ideology of life was simply an imagined projection dictated by others, most significantly he husband Torvald and her deceased father. The Character Nora, of Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 three act play Doll House, is the pampered and privileged wife of an aspiring bank manager Torvald Halmer. Previously, Nora made a desperate aid on behalf of her family in an attempt to save her husband's life: she requested and received a loan from a co-worker of her husband, Krogstad. The loan aided in funding an extended trip to Italy to allow for her husbands recovery after falling ill. Given the circumstances, Nora, being a female character of the late seventeenth century, resorted to utilizing and forging her late father’s signature which essentially established her approval for the loan. Despite Nora’s punctuality in keeping up with her payments, Nora's lender Mr. Krogstad threatens reporting fraud in order to coax Nora into persuading her husband (the bank manger) to further secure Mr. Krogstad’s job at the bank. In conflict, it is revealed that Torvald would fire Mr. Krogstad at any cost. To this proclamation, Nora is anxiously fearful for she is well aware that Mr. Krogstad is able to disclose all confidentialities of Nora’s fraudulent loan. However, she remains confident that her husband’s love and devotion will keep him loyal and unwaveringly supportive no matter to outcome. When all is found out, Torvald’s berating reaction towards his wife startles Nora. She declares that she "must stand quite alone" as she leaves Torvald. Since the Play’s opening performance in 1879, interpretations, analysis, and critiques have proposed various explanations regarding the theme of the play. According to Michael Mayer's files critics, Ibsen’s A Doll House exemplifies the idea that patriarchy dominates; "a marriage was not sacrosanct, that a man's authority in his home should not go unchallenged" (Mayer, 35). In agreement, another critics' interpretation states that Mayer's file profiles A Doll House as an inspirational story on behalf of women’s right. Supporting quotes from critics perceive this interpretation to be true, emphasizing Ibsen’s main theme to be freedom despite adversity; "...the need of every human being, whether man or woman, to find out who he or she is and to strive to become that person” (Mayer, 35). It is this interpretation that seems most suitable since Nora stands up for herself and her intentions. Through this epiphany she discovers her true self regardless of her husband’s directives and dictations in her life. Through the portrayal of Torvald’s dismay as Nora leaves him, the audience may speculate that the character Torvald will analyze his own life and self so that he may also come to realize himself and his own desires in life. Seemingly, Tovald’s life is wrapped up in his marriage and dictation of his wife leaving him equally as purposeless as Nora. Nora blames Torvald for the uselessness of her life. She has had no experience as a mature human-being empowered by capabilities of independent thought and decisiveness. Nora’s lacks of certain rights and overwhelming pressures have limited her ability to evolve and mature as a pers

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