Henrik Isbens A Dolls House :: A Dolls House Essays

Translation Trouble     In the play "A Doll House" the main character, Nora, is in a situation where she is caused to act, emotionally and physically, as a doll to enjoy her husband. Nora has to be very sneaky and conniving in order to be perfect and talked down to by her husband. The interlingual rendition of this play from Norwegian was a little difficult. The title can either be translated as "A Doll House" or as "A Dolls House". Many people believe either title fits the theme of the play.     I believe that the title "A Dolls House" may fit because it is Nora universe a doll in order to entertain her husband Torvald. Torvald sees her as his toy, not as a human equal to himself. Torvald gives his wife pet call such as "spend thrift" and "squander bird". This shows just how controlling he really is. Nora just plays along, keeping secrets from Torvald in order to please him at any expense. This was a very common situation during the era whom this play was produced. Nora is smart and capable of a lot more precisely she lets herself be held back in order to be the perfect wife for Torvald.     The title "A Doll House" would not fit the play because this states that everyone in the rest home is a doll. However, Nora is the only character truly pretending to be what they are not. This title would work if everyone was trying to give off an image that wasnt true, such as Nora did. If Nora is a doll then all the other characters would be the humans playing with her, causing her to do extra ordinary tasks such as counterfeit and lying.      The best title is definitely "A Dolls House" because Nora is the only character acting in a different manner in order to please her power hungry husband, Torvald. Even if she was conniving it was all in good intentions. It takes a very loving wife to go out of her way in order to m ake sure that her husband isnt burdened down with the expenses of a trip that saved his life. However, Torvald doesnt really see his Nora as his wife emotionally but as his little sex pet. This is what Nora finally realizes at the end of the play when Torvald is only worried about himself and what everyone else thinks about him.