A Doll House Research Paper

The theme of familial retribution is the core theme in A Doll House. Henrik Ibsen has put the protagonists into a set of collisions from the past that puts the seemingly idyllic family upside down; he makes them suffer from the mistakes of the past and extend the curses for the next generations to come. The innocent children of the play prophesized to suffer for the mistakes and sins of their parents, inevitably, undoubtedly.

The person suffering most from the familial ‘retribution’ is Dr. Rank. His pains are physical – he is ill with some unknown disease caused by his father’s “youthful amusements”.

 

We can write a custom research paper on A Doll House for you!

Dr. Rank’s “poor innocent spine” – his illness - makes him feel condemned and sorry for the life he leaves behind “even the slightest token of gratitude, hardly a fleeting regret even…”. Dr. Rank laments that he is a martyr paying for his father’s sins – and his inherited illness does not let him live the life he desired. Still, we see him flirting with Nora, a married woman, and a mother of three children.

Obviously Dr. Rank has inherited not only the illness, but the wickedness of his father. But with him, the familial ‘retribution’ has already come into power:

NORA. And heaps of port and champagne. It is sad that all these nice things should take their revenge on our bones.
RANK. Especially that they should revenge themselves on the unlucky bones of those who have not had the satisfaction of enjoying them.

Dr. Rank obviously only regrets he couldn’t live the life his father did – if there had been no illness – he certainly would.

The same theme of strains is one of the major themes of the relationships within Nora’s family. She also suffers from the curse of “dolly” life – the way her father used to treat her is very much the same her husband does in the course of the play.

Moreover, she continues this chain of “doll playing” with her children. The idyllic family scene of playing games (Nora with her children, Nora with Torvald, etc.), is the first sign of the theme of familial “retribution” portrayed in the play. When her secret was uncovered, “the most wonderful thing of all had not happened”. Seeing clearly her past life, Nora suddenly realizes that she has never been happy in her life, she had only been a doll-child to her father; he used to play with Nora, just the way she used to play with her dolls. When Nora had grown up, she was simply transferred from her father’s hands into her husband’s hands. She realized she has been a doll-wife and in the house of her husbands, her children have been her dolls. She felt she lived in the doll’s house, without having a life of her own, having everything arranged to the tastes of her husband and not even having a taste, an opinion of her own. She suddenly realized they have never had a serious conversation, not even once in the course of the 8-year-long marriage, and even before, at the very beginning of their relationships. Playing dolls was the essence of the marriage between Nora and Helmer.

Dr. Rank visits the house of Helmers every day, and although there are certain things Helmer despises about his father, as well as about Nora’s father, they are still closely linked.

Torvald also speaks of ‘retribution’ when he speaks of Krog, who brings up his children in the atmosphere of lies and shame. The reputation of their father, in Helmer’s opinion is devastating for the family and for the destiny of his kids. The author underlines this idea in terms of Nora’s “little problem”, hinting her curse is endless, and will also spread to her “little darlings”.

The apotheosis of doll house is the masquerade of the Helmer’s neighbours, where Nora is dancing “Tarantela”. The atmosphere of the “masquerade” is being emphasized by Dr. Rank’s notification of his forthcoming decease - “the horrors of dissolution” will begin within a month - this when the parallel unifies within the play. Nora decides to leave Torvald and the children, and start to live a life of her own. The only chance to stop the familial retribution is to quit the doll house. And that’s what she chooses to do – to start a new life, educating herself, understanding the real meaning of inner desires and longings. Both cursed with the retribution, Nora’s family life deceases, just like Dr. Rank does. Therefore, the author hints, there are only two ways of seizing the curse of the familial “retribution” – either death or the loneliness.

• CAUTION! Free research paper samples & examples of research papers on A Doll House topics are 100% plagiarized!!!

At EssayLib.com - professional research writing service - you can buy custom research papers on A Doll House, 100% written from scratch. EssayLib.com employs top-rated Ph.D. and Master's experts only to write superior-quality custom research papers, term papers, essays, research proposals, thesis papers & dissertations at affordable rates. EssayLib.com knows HOW effectively to help high school, college & university students with writing the highest grade custom papers online.

Enjoy our Professional Research Paper Writing Service!