Themes of Appearance, Reality, and Deception in A Dolls...

Life of the 19th century differs little to life as we have accustomed to in the 21st century. Edith Wharton and Henrik Ibsen both capture how, when love and rivalry intertwines with friendship, it breeds deception. When one is trapped in a loveless marriage, production of appearances that are not reality is inevitable. The themes of appearance and reality, deception, and women in the 19th century all present themselves in a highly relatable manner in the play A Doll’s House and the story â€Å"Roman Fever.† Henrik Ibsen portrays appearance versus reality within every character in the play. We ascertain initial perceptions of the individuals only to be whirl winded to the truth in the end. Ibsen presents Nora as a submissive, materialistic, and†¦show more content†¦This sheds a new light on Nora; she now appears to be a selfless and responsible wife. She would probably prefer to spend the money on herself, and this is revealed when Mrs. Linde says, â€Å"Nora, Nora, aren’t you sensible yet? Back in school you were such a free spender† (Ibsen 614). Rather Nora is sacrificing for her husband and children. She further shows this when Krogstad appears, he has a job at her husbands’ bank and is the one who holds Nora’s secret. Krogstad’s job is in jeopardy and he threatens to blackmail Nora into convincing Torvald to keep Krogstad employed. Nora fights to keep her secret hidden, and when all seems to no avail, she contemplates suicide. All because s he would not dare let her husband take the blame for her crime. This All evidence of how loyal and loving she is to her husband. By the end of the play, Nora displays her independent and strong-willed character when her husband Torvald disappoints her. Nora thought her husband to be a strong man willing to be her protector at all costs. When he finds the content of the letter from Krogstad he confronts her and she replies, â€Å"You’re not going to suffer for my sake. You’re not going to take on my guilt’ (Ibsen 657). Nora expects him to opt to take the blame for her, even though she would not seemingly allow it. Instead, a revelation is made to Nora by the response from Torvald: Oh what awakening! In all these eight years—she who was my pride and joy—a hypocrite, a