Ibsens Roles

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and the need for them to find their own voice in a world dominated by men.
For ages, society has taught women to set aside their own needs and to focus on those of her husband and children. Women have been forced to be passive, gentle creatures who must also be willing to sacrifice themselves for others. Nora, the protagonist in the play, expresses her intention in protecting her husband at any price, "Torvald, with all his masculine pride--how painfully humiliating for him if he ever found out he was in debt to me." Nora will not admit to Torvald that she has saved his life, for he will most likely acquire an inadequacy complex for his inability to be in control over every aspect of his life. She prefers to be deprived of the credit she deserves than to hurt Torvald’s manly ego. She allows Torvald to treat her like a mischievous little spendthrift although he is not aware that "she had scrimped and skeletonized her own needs so that Helmer and the children had ...

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Her marriage "is that of a charming child to a parent, and not one of equals. Nora remains an innocent child, who always assumes that Torvald, her father figure, is infallible. This self-abnegation is actually harming her because believing every truth that Torvald proclaims deters her from acquiring the knowledge she needs to be her own person.
"I only mean when Torvald loves me less than now, when he stops enjoying my dancing and dressing up and reciting for him. Then it might be wise to have something in reserve". Nora feels that she must make Torvald proud of her by constantly providing him with entertainment, just as a child would. She is also aware that as she ages, the ...

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