Victoria Ferry
English 1B
Professor Korson
29 November 2018
A House and Its Controller
When one sits down and really thinks about the roles that are in a typical household, the answers in response will most likely vary. Although the responses may very when talking about who exactly is taking upon the certain roles in a household, the roles always stay the same. For example purposes, it can sometimes be set up that the mother is a stay at home mom and cares for the children, while the father goes to work five days out of the week to provide fiscally for the family. It would also go the other way around, having the mother as the money provider working through the day, as the father stays home to cook, clean, and care for the little ones. As those being only two possible outcomes and examples of household lifestyles, the same two roles were evident in each situation: one who takes care of the household and family duties and one who provides money and the abilities to eat, be clothed, and have a home.
Short stories, novels, and in this case, dramas also showcase the aspect of a role. A typical story will include a protagonist, antagonist, and sometimes round, foil, and flat characters as well. Protagonists are usually the main character in the story that provides the sense of good and hope, the “good guy” in a story, leaving the antagonist to be the hostile and opposing character of the said to be protagonist. It is extremely important to know which character is taking on which role when reading a story because it allows the reader to obtain a complete understanding of the story overall and whom is who in each and every scene and situation that takes place on the paper.
After reading the drama “The Doll’s House”, written by Henrik Ibsen, I myself began to observe and seek the different roles and took it upon myself to identify which character took on which role. One of the dominant characters in the drama was the character, Torvald Helmer. His character stood out almost immediately as the first act was just beginning, unraveling and exposing a, considerably unusual relationship if it were now, between Torvald and his wife, Nora. He expresses a very demeaning tone and relationship towards Nora, almost belittling her as if she were his child and not his wife, and his equal. It became a question in mind of what his characters purpose was in the drama, and what story telling role he was partaking in.
After putting plenty of thought and analyzing into who Torvald Helmer is in “The Doll’s House” it becomes very evident that he plays multiple roles, due to how his character acts and adapts throughout the novel and also due to the time period the story takes place. Torvald’s character serves as the antagonist and flat character, that treats his wife the way he does because it makes sense to, as the story was written to take place in the nineteenth century, making this treatment nothing more and nothing less than the social norm.
For starters, it is important to discuss why the time period could be an impactful piece of information for the reader to know when analyzing Torvald Helmer’s character, especially when he is in any interaction with his wife. The nineteenth century was a very, very different time from now when it comes to many things, specifically the interaction between a husband and a wife. Today in 2018, the 21st century, a husband and a wife’s relationship can vary tremendously. The wife today is treated as more of an equal in the household and has as much of a say (most of the time) as the man in the relationship does. Woman have the ability to work and manage their own money without the intervening of a husband. In current time, a woman is not even required and expected to become a wife and ever get married, meanwhile back in the nineteenth century the expectations were a lot different.
According to the article “Marriage in the 19th Century”, written by John Simkin from New Zealand, found on the Spartacus Educational website, marriage for the woman was almost a requirement and expectation. Woman were to be taken care of by a man for their entire life, usually from their father as a child and then the responsibility would be passed down to the husband as the woman became an adult and got married. Not only did the woman essentially belong to the male whom was taking care of her at that time in her life, but her money would as well. If a wealthy woman got married or had some sort of income when she wed, all of her money and future earnings from that point on would belong and be given to her husband.
In the start of act one in “The Doll’s House”, it is Christmas eve and Nora is returning home to her husband after Christmas shopping for their children. It doesn’t take much time at all to pass in this drama for Torvald to express the lifestyle of the nineteenth century, as his reaction to his wife’s return reveals it to the audience immediately. Instead of calling her lovely and admirable terms of endearment, he calls her names like “squirrel” and “skylark”, names that a father would call up to his young daughter, nothing a husband would normally say to his mature and beautiful wife. Torvald calling Nora these names allows the reader to have the notion that Torvald might see his wife as someone he is more powerful than, someone that he is to care for and watch upon as if she was his daughter.
Another notable thing that Torvald does from the start on is judge Nora for her money spending. Although it may seem completely justified that she is spending money, due to the story taking place during the holidays and Nora even noting that she was shopping for the children, Torvald still calls her out on it as in his eyes it seems that she is just “wasting money again” as he stresses his worry of going into debt and possibly not being able to pay it off easily, as his new job is not exactly for certain yet, and will not be until the new year is upon them (1.1). It is understandable that he may have the worry of Nora spending so much money without his new promotion being something official, but then he does something that reveals it is not as huge of a worry as it seemed, and that he was only reprimanding her for his own personal satisfaction and pleasure. Immediately after nagging her and making her feel guilty for spending the money, he calls her over and goes “There you are. (Gives her money.) Do you think I don’t know what a lot of wanted for housekeeping at Christmas time?” which causes Nora to express pure joy and happiness towards Torvald right after he had scolded her (1.1). Torvald shows here that the money is not in his slightest worries, as he hands her two more pounds of it, and that the main pleasure he got in this was to see that her emotions and reactions are in the palm of his hand, much like a puppet. This was all normal behavior between a husband and a wife, when discussing the control over any financial decisions in the nineteenth century.
Along with Torvald acting this way due to the time period of the drama, it is clear that he is also the antagonist to Nora as he treats her of less than he and can even be considered a little hurtful towards her, the protagonist. The antagonist in the story is usually the one causing trouble, harm, and any negative emotions and events throughout the story, and that is exactly what Torvald Helmer is to “The Doll’s House”. Nora is not only controlled in the aspect of money by Mr. Helmer but by any actions she may choose to make too. One example of this comes in the start of act one when Nora is scolded for eating macaroons because they are bad for her teeth and will rot them. Nora is left feeling ashamed and reprimanded for eating a simple macaroon, affecting her (the protagonist) emotions, leaving her very vulnerable to him. This was merely one example, but giving the next one will easily prove another major role Torvald is playing, a flat character too.
As previously mentioned above, it was clearly realized that Torvald was also placed as a flat character within the story. A flat character, is a character who does not progress, change, or alternate at all within the entire time frame of the storyline, and this is Torvald exactly. He begins the story just how he ends it, belittling and treating his wife in such childish and demeaning manner. The initial give away to Torvald becoming the flat character that he is, comes when you see him, yet again, make all of Nora’s decisions for her. Nora feels guilty for forging her father’s signature long ago to help out Torvald and ends up admitting it to him, and it frustrates him. He absolutely hates the fact that his wife, a female, financially helped him out in his time of need, and makes her feel guilty for the forgery. He forbids Nora from seeing her children because he believes that she will rub off on the children. This is not just controlling her spending anymore, it’s now preventing her from seeing her on kids, his attitude towards her did not change once, he stayed flat.
Throughout this drama we have come to learn a lot more of Torvald as a character, as he is flat and the antagonist, but also has reasoning for the way he was written. The nineteenth century was such a different time from now. It was a time where men were the superior in the married life and there would be no exceptions. Thankfully, times have changed and this drama is left here to appreciate that and appreciate a time that was then as well. Acknowledging who is who in a story, like mentioned at the start, is very beneficial for the reader because it allows so much more understanding and learning to come from watching or reading anything that opportunity gives us.