A Doll's House

Torvald is introduced as Nora’s husband. He is initially portrayed as the ideal Victorian man; he has a clean reputation, a successful career in business and is protective over his family. However, Torvald is quite overbearing towards Nora as he forbids Nora from eating macaroons and dismisses her thoughts when she questions societal norms. Because he views himself as the protector of the household and values his perfect reputation, he tends to lecture the people in his life, especially Nora. We see this occur when he lectures Nora about moral corruption:

“Because an atmosphere of lies like that infects and poisons the whole life of a home. In a house like that, every breath that the children take is filled with the germs of evil... It’s generally the fault of the mother, though of course a father can have the same effect – as every lawyer very well knows...”

The disease metaphor frightens Nora due to the impacts of her crime on her children. Torvald’s lecture therefore causes Nora to distance herself from her own children. However, Torvald blaming mothers as the cause of moral corruption reflects his patriarchal worldview as he believes that a woman’s core role is to be a mother and wife. Ironically, Torvald even teaches the women in his life traditionally female tasks, such as dancing to Nora, and embroidery to Mrs Linde. Moreover, it is also ironic that Torvald presents himself as the protector of the family, yet the reality is that Torvald is the childish member since he has been sheltered from reality. This is exemplified when Dr Rank refuses to tell Torvald about his impending death since he is “too sensitive to be able to face anything ugly” and instead tells Nora.

As the play progresses, we learn that Torvald is actually a hypocrite. This is highlighted when he lashes out to Nora after reading Krogstad’s letter as he immediately thinks about his reputation, career and happiness instead of defending Nora from Krogstad, revealing his selfish nature. Ironically, he’s also willing to sacrifice his happiness to maintain his reputation when he instructs Nora to stay in their house. His reaction to Krogstad’s letter therefore reveals that he may not care for Nora as much as she thinks. However, this is debatable because once Nora decides to leave the house, he is distraught over her decision, asking Nora how he can change.

Ibsen has left the ending open-ended, meaning that we can interpret this in two ways: either Torvald truly did love Nora and is genuinely willing to change, or he is only saying that he will change for the sake of Nora remaining in the house so he can revert to maintaining a prefect reputation.

Ibsen also slowly reveals that Torvald is a petty man. This is shown when he fires Krogstad because he was starting to treat Torvald as his equal. As a result, it shows how Torvald prioritises social hierarchy and reputation. However, while Ibsen uses this to highlight Torvald’s selfish and egoistic nature, we should also keep in mind that Torvald is a representation of Victorian society. We know this because Nora initially encouraged his behaviour, implying it’s a social norm. This is because Torvald has been completely indoctrinated by societal values and is dismissive towards Nora when she questions these values. Therefore, we should be looking at how society has placed a great emphasis on reputation and patriarchal values to the point where it has caused the demise of Torvald’s relationship.