A Doll's Dilemma: Act I

The first act of Ibsen's A Doll's House sets the sakes as Nora Helmer has been blackmailed into helping Nils Krogstad keep his job at the local bank from both her friend Mrs. Linde and her husband Torvald. The most interesting aspect of the story at this stage is the characterisation of the Helmers, how they play off each other and inform the setting of the story.

The character of Torvald Helmer is depicted as the ideal family man who is devoted to his wife and does everything in the best interests of the family. Torvald is shown to be fiscally responsible as he makes a point to Nora about the importance of not having any debt and is cautious about how money is spent. Torvald is also shown to have a strong sense of moral values as he reveals to Nora that he despises those who partake in deception and fraud. These traits primarily serve to raise the stakes of Nora's dilemma, but also are also supposed to depict Torvald as a righteous character, which is not exactly the case.

The character of Nora Helmer is depicted as materialistic and naive, two traits that can be associated with irresponsible people or children. The story establishes that Nora grew up rich, spoiled by her father as pointed out by her friend Mrs. Linde, which goes a long way to explain the psychology and actions that placed her in her current dilemma. These traits of Nora serve as juxtaposition to Torvald to highlight the specific power dynamics present in their relationship.

Torvald's treatment of Nora is more akin to a father and daughter relationship than a husband and wife, with Torvald constantly showering Nora with "compliments". These "compliments" show that Torvald views women as fragile and helpless, not unlike that of children. The arrangement of how Torvald spends time working at home by isolating himself from Nora is similar to how adults separate themselves from children when having to deal with work or other adult responsibilities. Despite viewing women in a similar light as children, Torvald also holds women responsible for being the moral foundation of a family household as he blames Krogstad's mother for Krogstad being the deceiving character that he has become. Taking all this into consideration, we see that Torvald isn't as righteous or ideal of a man as depicted, he's merely the product of a patriarchal society.

With Nora's upbringing and relationship with Torvald, one would think that she is as helpless as a child, but we see that Nora is more capable than Torvald and Mrs. Linde give her credit for. Nora is revealed to be cunning as she was able to quickly manipulate Torvald into giving Mrs. Lindle a job just moments after learning that her friend was seeking employment. While this act of manipulation is impressive, it raises questions as to whether or not Nora is acting as a child with Torvald because that's what's expected of her. We see that she's able to make business arrangements on her own and pay back debt, showing her to be more mature than she lets on. In a bit of irony, Nora's dilemma arises from the fact that she took action alone in arranging the business deal with Krogstad than seeking the assistance of her father, which can be construed the result of short-sighted thinking or affirmation of Torvald's view of women.