Nora and the doll theme
In Act II I begin to notice there is more to Nora then some housewife who is simply a doll to her husband. "Your squirrel would run about and do all her tricks if you would be nice, and do what she wants. " Again the doll theme is recurring but in this instance Nora uses it to her advantage. Nora knows how much Torvald loves Nora as a "skylark" so she tries to butter him up so that he would keep Krogstad's job. Another time she uses this to her advantage by playing "doll" for Torvald is when she purposely did the tarantella badly to keep him away from the mail. This shows how Nora is a cunning character in the play.
Later on in the act Dr. Rank a friend of Nora and Torvald comes in and Nora immediately flirts with him. This part of the act reminded me of Curly's wife from Of Mice and Men in how she openly presented herself to a man that wasn't her husband. Although it appears that she reciprocates feelings for him, "Oh, you know very well I always have time for you." and she teased him by showing her stockings to him. Nora was about to ask him for a favor that would help her with her current conflict with Krogstad but he confesses his feelings to Nora which alarmed her. This surprised me because I predicted that she would take advantage of the fact that Dr. Rank has feelings for her.
Dr. Rank
Dr. Rank is a very pessimistic character and he is very welcoming to his coming death from an excruciating disease. "I am the most wretched of all my patients, Mrs. Helmer. Lately I have been taking stock of my limited economy. Bankrupt! Probably within a month I shall lie rotting in the churchyard." He also shows his pessimism by telling Nora to not let Torvald know about his coming death.
In Act II I begin to notice there is more to Nora then some housewife who is simply a doll to her husband. "Your squirrel would run about and do all her tricks if you would be nice, and do what she wants. " Again the doll theme is recurring but in this instance Nora uses it to her advantage. Nora knows how much Torvald loves Nora as a "skylark" so she tries to butter him up so that he would keep Krogstad's job. Another time she uses this to her advantage by playing "doll" for Torvald is when she purposely did the tarantella badly to keep him away from the mail. This shows how Nora is a cunning character in the play.
Later on in the act Dr. Rank a friend of Nora and Torvald comes in and Nora immediately flirts with him. This part of the act reminded me of Curly's wife from Of Mice and Men in how she openly presented herself to a man that wasn't her husband. Although it appears that she reciprocates feelings for him, "Oh, you know very well I always have time for you." and she teased him by showing her stockings to him. Nora was about to ask him for a favor that would help her with her current conflict with Krogstad but he confesses his feelings to Nora which alarmed her. This surprised me because I predicted that she would take advantage of the fact that Dr. Rank has feelings for her.
Dr. Rank
Dr. Rank is a very pessimistic character and he is very welcoming to his coming death from an excruciating disease. "I am the most wretched of all my patients, Mrs. Helmer. Lately I have been taking stock of my limited economy. Bankrupt! Probably within a month I shall lie rotting in the churchyard." He also shows his pessimism by telling Nora to not let Torvald know about his coming death.
More and more Krogstad is seen as villain in the play and his actions are what cause us to see who Nora really is. Krogstad thought it would be good retribution for Torvald to discover what she did. By leaving the letter revealing Nora's forgery in the Helmers' mailbox this has made her try to do whatever it takes to keep Torvald away from it, which showed us whats she is really like.
I can understand how you can classify Nora as a person who plays everything to their advantage.Nora seems to know how to do that in every obstacle thrown at her. I also enjoyed how you analyzed Dr. Rank as a pessimistic person. I wonder is he trying to use TB as a way to get into Nora`s heart?
ReplyDelete-Amanda Jones