Introduction
The play "A Doll's House" by Henrik Ibsen examines the lives of Nora Helmer, Torvald Helmer, Krogstad, Mrs Linde, and Dr Rank, among others. Nora had secretly borrowed a large sum of money to help in her husband's recovery, a secret that comes back to haunt her. Her husband treats her like a child and often calls her his doll. However, when the secret is revealed, he belittles her further and continues to think of her as a child who cannot understand the value of business or money even though she had committed a crime to help him. Despite the risk to her freedom, personality, and motherhood, Nora is a character in the play who takes the most considerable risks to assist in the recovery of help her family in a profoundly patriarchal Norwegian society.
Sacrifice to Personality
Among all the women in the play, Nora is arguably the woman who has to sacrifice a lot of her personality because she is married to a patronizing husband. In general, women sacrifice more of their freedom compared to their male counterparts (Wheeler 8). Nora's assertion that "hundreds of thousands of women" sacrifice their integrity is true because while all the women seem to sacrifice something, the men are happy to enjoy the status quo and sacrifice nothing (Ibsen 67 ). For example, Mrs Linde sacrifices her happiness so that she can marry a man who is richer while the nanny sacrifices her happiness and relationship with her child so that she can earn better wages and take care of her child.
However, it is Nora who makes the greatest sacrifice because on top of every other sacrifice, for most of her life, she is married to a very patronizing man and she has to fit into the wishes of her husband. In her interaction with her husband, Nora takes a weaker role and in most cases, acts as Torvald's daughter. For example, despite her push for Torvald to not fire Krogstad, it emerges that her husband simply fears to be the laughing stock before the entire staff; it has nothing to do with the morality of business management (Ibsen 33). She continually takes instructions from the man because Torvald is very conscious of the perception of the society on him and his standing. To live with such a person who dictates every aspect of her life must be a very steep price for marriage.
In a sense, single women like Mrs Linde were freer than the married one because, on top of not having to lose their personality to accommodate their husbands, they had a right to the money they earned. They could control how to use their money, unlike those like Nora, who had to hand over the money they received to the men who were in charge of them. Hence, while the other women in the play have to sacrifice one thing or another, Nora has to sacrifice more of her liberties to fit in the role of a "child" that Torvald expects of her (Ibsen 48).
Rather than treat her as equal, Torvald simply likes to envision himself a mighty savior for her, a concept that is devoid of love or respect. For example, after the party, he asks her "do you you know that I've often wished you were facing some terrible dangers so that I could risk life and limb, risk everything, for your sake?" (Ibsen 59). This question highlights that Torvald is always looking for ways that elevate him in comparison to his wife. This must be frustrating because as it emerges, Nora is not the naïve "girl" that Torvald wishes.
As the play progresses, it soon emerges that she understands the implications of many of her decisions and is responsible and wise enough to know how to solve her problems alone. For example, she works secretly for a long time to pay back the loan that she has taken, all without the knowledge of her husband. It is from the sacrifice of her personality that the play gets its name- A Doll's House. Nora loses her personality and becomes a doll, something that her husband can play with. A doll is merely a plaything that has no mind of its own. In this house, Nora has no opinion, just like a doll.
The Sacrifice of Personal and Financial Freedom
By taking a loan, Nora risks both her personal and financial freedom from that moment onwards. To save her husband's life, Nora takes out a significant loan from the bank. However, as it turns out, in this society, women are not supposed to make such substantial financial decisions without the authorization of the men in their lives. As a result, Nora ought to have been authorized to secure the loan either by her father or her husband. As Mrs Linde puts it in simple terms, "a wife cannot borrow without her husband's consent" (Ibsen 11).
However, not only does she disobey this law but goes ahead and forges a signature. To get the loan, she forges a signature; an act that is against the law. To repay the loan, Nora then has to sacrifice her material comforts. As it turns out, the loan was significant, and for a long time, she has to keep working and paying it back in secrecy. On top of her earnings, she saves money that she receives from the family. In the opening scene, the readers see that Nora loves beautiful things, including gifts. Consequently, it is no secret that she would have enjoyed to spent her income on some lovely things as she sees fit.
Nora had had to endure a hard life from when her husband was sick to now that she is working but has to pay all that money for the loan. To make matters worse, she has to make all these financial sacrifices a secret because it would be humiliating for her husband, with her manly independence to learn that he owes her a lot, including his recovery (Törnqvist 18).
To keep her secret, Nora has to sacrifice a lot of her freedom because she is held hostage by Krogstad. Because Krogstad knows Nora's secret and the criminal nature of it, he uses it to keep his employment. Hence, to get the money, Nora is left vulnerable to Krogstad's blackmail. As time goes on, she loses more and more of her freedom because she neither wants to be exposed and neither want to disobey her husband. Consequently, her sacrifices lead her to the cold hands of a man who is not afraid to use her secret to pursue selfish ends.
Sacrifice of Motherhood
After years of lost personality, Nora sacrifices her role as a mother. To pursue her right to self-fulfilment, Nora has to make the ultimate sacrifice of abandoning her family, especially her children that she loves deeply. The interaction between Nora and her children reveals that she is a loving mother. She loves to play with her children and buys them gifts whenever possible as a way to cheer them up.
However, as times goes by, she realizes that she needs to stay away from them because she has corrupted her morality. As the guardian of morality in this society, she simply has to relinquish her role as their money and abandon motherhood (Wheeler 65). She leaves. She truly believes that the nanny will be a better mother to her children and that it is in the best interest of the children that she stays away.
Nora makes the sacrifice despite knowing well that her morality has been corrupt by powers outside her control, including the need to take care of her unappreciative husband. Whether her search for independence is selfish or not, what cannot be argued is the fact that she loved her children and leaving them was the hardest decision that she had to make.
Conclusion
The paper sought to demonstrate that despite the risk to her freedom, personality, and motherhood, Nora is a character in the play who takes the most considerable risks to help in the recovery of help her family in a profoundly patriarchal Norwegian society. As revealed, Nora sacrifices her personality to keep her husband's happiness and integrity intact. Moreover, she sacrifices her financial and personal freedom to specifically ensure that her husband recovers her health. Lastly, as the play comes to an end, Nora further sacrifices motherhood to pursue self-fulfilment that has been lacking most of her adult life. As a result, she is the character who ends up sacrificing the most in the "A Doll's House" by Henrik Ibsen.
