Playwrights sometimes choose to portray their characters through foils. A foil is a character whose values differ from those of the protagonist while also illuminating their positive and negative qualities as well. Usually a foil experiences the same events as the protagonist, but since his values differ, so do his choices and behavior. In “A Doll’s House”, author Henrik Ibsen creates characters who change throughout the play in order to exhibit influence on each other. How do the characters of Christine Linde and Nils Krogstad function as foils in “A Doll’s House”? Throughout the play, Ibsen analyzes Krogstad/Christine's and Torvald/Nora's relationships to reveal how Krogstad and Torvald and Christine and Nora impact each other’s personalities. By emphasizing the distinction within the characters, he also exposes the similarities that emerge between them. Henrik Ibsen's use of foils helps his audience better understand the characters in his play because it highlights every aspect of their personas while exposing how the characters are blunt mirror images of each other.
Christine Linde serves as a foil for Nora Helmer. Mrs. Linde's aged, experienced personality enables her to present herself as the perfect foil for Nora's childish nature. Although, Christine and Nora are greatly dissimilar they also share a lot of similarities like the struggles they face with their financial issues. As both characters' qualities unravel over the course of the story, it is clear that Mrs. Linde's traits accentuate those of Nora's. Gradually, Nora's optimism and beliefs towards her relationship that are improbable is an opposite to the logical and down-to-earth mentality of Mrs. Linde. In some ways, the two women are complete opposites. Nora has children, financial stability, a spouse, Christine is a unfortunate widow with no offsprings. Christine is an independent woman who has been out in the world and has had multiple jobs, whereas Nora is seen as a child who does not know how the world works because she is trapped in a “doll’s house”. This is seen in the line, “For you (Nora) know so little of the burdens and troubles of life.” (Act 1) The author uses Mrs. Linde's hard life to contrast the levity and sheltered conditions of Nora's life. After it is shown that Nora borrowed money in order to save Torvald’s life, it reveals that Nora is more intelligent than people think she is which is a characteristic that can also be seen in Christine. At this point, in order for Nora to pay back the loan she took, she comes up with the idea to do repair work in order to make the money. Eventually, it is obvious that both women had sick parents who needed their help, which caused them to make a tough decision which would determine who was most important person to them. Even though, both Nora and Christine used money in order to aid a person who was important to them, Nora’s choice to use her money to help her husband who forced her to find a way to have possession of this money revealed her true character when Christine decided to help her ill father. By choosing to help her father Christine shows that her father has a huge significance in her life, while Nora picking her husband shows that she didn’t care for her father’s health. Henrik Ibsen’s decision to include the story of Linde enriches his readers understanding of Nora and the way she behaves. Overall, Christine Linde was able to act as the perfect foil for Nora Helmer because despite the fact that both women went through the same obstacles, how they acted upon them showed their true disposition.
Correspondingly, Nils Krogstad and Torvald Helmer are also foils to each other. Krogstad is able to become a foil for Torvald because they have many of the same experiences and skills but they respond very differently to crisis. For the most part, Torvald and Krogstad stand out as they highlight each others character. As the story continues, Krogstad’s character quickly brings out Torvald's selfishness and cold heart. When faced with financial difficulties, Torvald has a bright future and the respect of the community, whereas Krogstad's prospects are pretty dismal and everybody hates him. Torvald is a attentive individual, while Krogstad is a suspicious blackmailer. Torvald and Krogstad were childhood friends which now work in a bank together. Both men have families and are lawyers but Krogstad lost his license and is unable to continue being a lawyer because he committed forgery. Essentially, Krogstad is seen as dishonest but Torvald is as well. Society dislikes Krogstad because he did an counterfeit act, on the other hand so did Torvald. Over time, the idea that Krogstad is the scoundrel of the story is augmented mainly by the reactions that Nora Helmer displays when Krogstad is around her family. As the story continues, it is eventually revealed that Krogstad is a victim to the circumstances that he committed forgery to help his children, not to himself like Torvald did. The difference between Krogstad and Torvald is that, Krogstad is hated by others for the crime that he only committed to benefit his children, yet Torvald is loved even though he committed a dishonest act to only help himself. This is highlighted in the line, “From now on, forget happiness. Now it’s just about saving the remains, the wreckage, the appearance.” (Act 3) This shows that Torvald is extremely selfish when it comes to his marriage with Nora while Krogstad is so selfless. Essentially, Torvald’s character is seen as narcissistic because his only reason to help Nora’s father was to win favor favor with Nora and attain her as his wife where as Krogstad establishes his noble character when he risks his career to protect his child which ultimately resulted in him losing his wife when she left him for money. Subsequently, both Torvald and Krogstad value respect and reputation, Krogstad seems to be more mature and experienced compared to Torvald at the end of the play when Krogstad is presented as the dark version of Torvald making them the perfect foils to one another.
The two couples in “A Doll’s House”, come out as foils to each other. Society views Nora and Torvald Helmer as a perfect match. Oppositely, Krogstad and Christine’s relationship is looked down upon because it ended because of money. Christine chose to leave her husband Krogstad, in order to make more money to help her brothers and her sick mother. In contrast, Nora chose to help he sick husband instead of her ill father during his final days on earth. The Helmer’s marriage is seen as stronger because Nora chose her husband over her father but in fact, her decision shows that she’s under Torvald’s control. Christine and Krogstad truly have the better relationship because they have amazing communication and work on their issues out. These two couples are fundamentally opposites to each other except for the fact they had both become separated at some point. Christine and Torvald truly love each other because they have both gone through experiences in the real world and are willing to get through their past. The Helmer’s on the other hand do not have true love for one another because Nora has never broke out of her “doll house” to experience the world for herself. Nora and Torvald exhibit a father/daughter relationship whereas Christine and Krogstad are more similar to the wife/husband relationship that the Helmer’s struggle to establish.
Henrik Ibsen’s inclusion of these foils served the important function of emphasizing each character’s traits through contrast and similarity. Throughout the play, Ibsen indirectly connects the characters to each other by putting them through the same experiences but having them behave differently to reveal their true nature. Henrik Ibsen's use of foils helps his audience better understand the characters in his play because it highlights every aspect of their personas while exposing how the characters are direct mirror images of each other. Ultimately, his choice to use foils was able to uncover the values of each character and how their beliefs individualized them. By showing how Christine and Krogstad’s relationship differ from The Helmer’s, Ibsen was able to disclose the two couples view on love. Overall, by incorporating foils in “A Doll’s House”, Henrik Ibsen was able to show how individuals when placed into certain situations, can immediately vary from each other and display their true character based on the choices they decide to make.