Deception in Ibsen's a Doll's House

Trying to find one's overall role in the game of life, all the while trying to find that of others, poses an extremely complex and difficult task, especially for women during the Victorian Era. In Henrik Ibsen's play A Dolls House, the characters hide their secrets from one another while trying to discover the truth about those around them and about their own life and place in society. Almost all characters in the play, act out this game of hide and seek, however, Nora Helmer plays it masterfully with her husband Torvald. She hides her actions and true personality from him and in return he hides his life from her. Nora may appear to play the role of a wallflower however, all is not as it seems as Nora develops a desire to seek out her role in society more and more as the play progresses.

The simple game of hide and seek that Nora plays with her children directly translates over to her personal life both with her husband and those around her. This game can be seen as a direct depiction of real life and brings the sense of realism to the play. In society, people must constantly battle to find out the truth about themselves and those around them. Nora personifies this idea in that she struggles with whether or not her marriage validates itself through her experiences with Torvald or if she would be better off leaving him and starting a new life. During the time in which she attempts to find out which option would produce the best results, she hides her personality and all that she does from Torvald because she feels that Torvald would not approve of it and likely cast her down in shame. If Torvald were to find out that Nora borrowed the money from Krogstad, even though it was in order to preserve his own life, he would find it to be extremely "painful and humiliating." In this matter, the demands of her husband and society as a whole force Nora into almost a state of subjugation due in part to the fact that Torvald must feel in control of everything in his life. The game of hide and seek that Nora plays with her husband can be brought on by the social standards for women of the Victorian Era. These demands heavily constricted the ability of women to find their own role in society and created a generation of subdued women still unable to express their true personality.

Even when presented with the opportunities to free herself from the burden of what she had done, Nora chooses to hide her illegal actions from her husband Torvald and take on the situation by herself. Throughout the play, many situations in which Nora can confess her sins to Torvald and hope to gain his support and advise as he had always promised he would do present themselves to Nora. Nora chooses to hide the truth from Torvald in this situation even though it may turn out to benefit her. Nora's adamant pleas to her husband for him not to fire Krogstad provide a perfect example of this situation. Torvald does not understand that if he fires Krogstad than it would bring about the ultimate downfall and humiliation on to his family due to Nora's actions. Nora states that her reasoning for wanting Krogstad to remain in his current positions stems from the fact that "this fellow writes in the most scurrilous newspapers...he can do [Torvald] an unspeakable amount of harm"(Ibsen 519). She somewhat puts forth the idea of the downfall that would result however because she has not briefed Torvald on the big picture of the situation, Torvald remains unable to see the full consequences of his actions. Although many circumstances present themselves to Nora to confess what she has done and rid herself of the guilt and despair, she chooses to hold everything and hide the truth from those around her in order to save herself and maintain the supposed role in society that she has.

One of the largest forms of deception and hiding in the play comes from Nora, as she hides her true strength as a human being in Victorian society. Nora becomes so accustomed to playing the role of the "doll" in the play both due to her treatment from Torvald and from her father. Both men have treated her as a subservient being and therefore she acts as such in attempt to please them. In doing so, she suppresses her true identity.