Menger
Phyllis Menger
Dr. Mary Kaiser
English 102
27 October 2014
All About Money
The recurring theme that runs throughout A Doll House is the money, and how it shapes people's lives. A Doll House was written by Henrik Ibsen in 1879. It is a three-act play set in the Helmer's middle class living room during a Victorian Christmas in Norway. The plot involves Nora, the main character, being treated like a doll by her husband Torvald. She takes a loan which her husband doesn't know about in order for her to take him on a trip to get well. She forges her father's name on the loan paper and is discovered by Nils Krogstad. Nora's husband finds Krogstad immoral and wants to fire him. To keep his job, Krogstad blackmails Nora to not only to keep his job but to get a promotion to a higher position. Mrs. Linde, an old friend of Nora and the past lover of Krogstad, comes to town to find work which she obtains from Torvald and eventually resumes her relationship with Krogstad.
In the end, after receiving a letter from Krogstad, Torvald loses his temper causing Nora to re-assess her marriage and decide that she must leave to venture out and discover herself. Throughout this play, money is a main factor which causes each character to make a decision that changes their lives.
Nora, who is falsely accused of spending money unwisely, is actually paying off a secret loan
Menger 2
which saves her husband's life. "A Marxist Approach to A Doll House" written by Barry Witham and John Lutterbie, two authors who use a Marxist approach to teach A Doll House to their drama class, describe Nora, " (1) Nora is enslaved by Torvald in economic terms and (2) she equates...