Analaysis of Act I

Short Overview

The play A Doll’s House opens with the Helmer family on Christmas Eve. Immediately in the beginning of the play I can observe that money and debt is a big theme within the play. In the beginning the lady of the house, Nora Helmer is seen paying off a porter. With a carefree holiday spirit she squanders money by paying him double the money the porter asked for. From here I can identify how Nora is a carefree and childish character. Nora’s husband, Torvald Helmer, is a banker and he doesn’t see his wife as an equal because of how she presents herself in a frivolous way. He is against her squandering and dislikes debt as he says in the play, “There’s something constrained, something ugly, even, about a home that’s founded on borrowing and debt.” Not only does this shows his dislike of debt but that he has pride. This pride is very comparable to the character Walter in the play A Raisin in the Sun. Sometimes Nora tries to act independently but regardless Torvald will always seem incredulous of his "scatterbrain" doing anything without him. In Act I it is seen that Torvald hardly takes Nora seriously and simply plays with her, like a doll. Using others for fun like a "doll" appears to be a theme in the play. As the plot develops I presume that conflicts between them will happen frequently.

Theme - Doll/Being used

"No, leave them, Nanny, I'll take their things off. Yes, let me do it, it's such fun."
This is another instance where one character simply views another as a play things and has fun with them like a doll. In this case it is Nora where she seizes her children from the Nanny wanting to take off their jackets for the fun of it.

Another scenario where one character is using another is Krogstad blackmailing Nora. Nora needed someone to receive a loan for a family trip to Italy they needed for the health of Torvald who was bedridden at the time. Although Nora had good intentions she forged a signature and Krogstad discovered this. This situation has some irony because forgery is the same reason Krogstad ends up appearing as a villain in the play. Since Krogstad was about to lose his job from Torvald as a subordinate at the bank, he took advantage of Nora by blackmail, forcing her to influence Torvald to allow Krogstad to stay.

I would not be surprised to see more character using others as "dolls" in the future of the play, possibly leading to more conflicts that provide just as much tension as Nora and her forgery.

Theme - Money

Just like Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun money is a recurring theme in the play. Although both of them share the theme of money they are expressed in different ways. A Raisin in the Sun's conflicts with money was about it solving the Younger family's problem of living in poverty. Instead of using money to solve problems in A Doll's House the money itself cause problems from debts. Nora's conflict with Krogstad is a good example of this.