Journal: A Doll's House

Henrik Ibsen leaves me uncertain of who to support in A Doll’s House. Every main character is both a protagonist and an antagonist. Every man and woman of large importance is both empathized with and shameful. I found myself switching sides between Nora, Krogstad, Rank, Torvald, and Christine, until I came to the realization that this story is parallel to the real world where no party is ultimately innocent or guilty, exempting certain extreme situations.

            It appears obvious that we as readers are meant to identify Nora as the protagonist and empathize for her throughout the progression of the play; however is she completely worthy of our singular devotion of empathy? By no means is this the case. She is not an innocent little doll throughout this play at all. She eats macaroons against her husband’s wishes, however selfish of him, and lies about it. She has committed forgery, and despite the desperate necessity, this is regardless a crime. She refused to tell Torvald the truth of her actions to save his life, granted however after he brutally condemns Krogstad to her. She expects Torvald to be a great white knight and love her to the point he is willing to sacrifice himself for her, like he said he would physically. Unfortunately for Nora, only the dark knight will sacrifice his honor, reputation, and image to save what he loves (yes that is a Batman reference). When Torvald does not deliver, Nora leaves him.

            Krogstad is certainly my favorite character of the play. A conscious character throughout the whole play, he is perhaps the most developed of all the main characters, equal with Doctor Rank. He too was driven by desperation to forge a signature, which makes his job at the bank rather ironic. However I heavily empathize the loss of a lover, in a manner worse than death. Christine leaves Krogstad for a man with a larger pocket book, and Krogstad is left with an emotional void in his being, only to be partially healed when Christine speaks of her loving him again. When Krogstad’s job is jeopardized by Christine, he is driven into desperation to save his children by threatening to reveal Nora’s transgression into his same actions. When his desperation is calmed and love fills the long open wound, he regrets his blackmailing and wishes to take it all back.

            Doctor Rank is the most innocent of the characters; it is the character he was born to be. Dying from a spinal disorder contracted from his drug addicted father, he is innocent from day one. He is secretly in love with Nora and reveals this to her along with the knowledge of his soon arriving death. His only crime in the story could perhaps be of revealing his feelings for Nora to her, yet this is meager, making Rank practically clean from all guilt in the matter.

            Torvald is something else. He is your typical every day egotistical holier-than-thou man. He condemns Krogstad for his past and thus condemns his children to a father without a job while providing for the seemingly noble Christine who has no one but herself to provide for. Torvald loves Nora like a child loves a toy. So long as she does what he wants, doesn’t break, and looks nice, well then it is a wonderful toy! But should this toy have free will, a less than perfect emotional state, or a blemished appearance, well a new toy must be bought, but for a fair price of course. Torvald loves himself above all else and will never sacrifice his reputation for anything, causing Nora to stop believing in his love. Yet Torvald has some justification. He has children, a life, and he cannot simply discard these for a woman he rightfully sees as a deceiver.

            Christine is one of my least favorite characters. She leaves Krogstad, a man who will love her forever, for a man with a larger bank account. She returns after her husband’s death and begins causing a mess again. She is the trigger that shot the gun inadvertently. She just expects Krogstad to love her again (which he does). Finally, she decides that she knows what is best for Nora and Torvald, so she leaves Krogstad’s letter to be discovered by Torvald. She is the reason for the collapse at the end of the story. Yet, in a sense I admire her for doing so. She took it upon herself to destroy the blind bliss that Nora and Torvald live in, and for that I congratulate her.

            No party is ultimately guilty or innocent, expect for in obvious cases such as murdering babies or blaming a child for being a bastard child. For the rest of the world however, it is grey. No situation is every truly white or black. Evil and good blend together so consistently that they are misconstrued terms. It every situation, every party holds blame and is partially at fault. A Doll’s House is no different. All the characters hold some faulted hand in the collapsing climax, and all are partially innocent. Most of us critique fully some and support fully others. The truest critic is the one who recognizes all faults and all justifications of all parties, and then makes whatever personally distorted opinion based on individually acquired bias.