Free Essays on A Dolls House: Manipulation :: A Dolls House Essays

Manipulation in A Doll House The mark of a mature mortal is the cogency to make rational decisions for oneself. Complicated choices are what make maturity so hard. Sometimes, even good intentions can lead to a bad decision. In Henrik Ibsens A Doll House, decision-making is clouded by the usage ca employ by sure characters. Blackmail, trickery, and tyranny, each a form of manipulation are all used to make seemingly positive decisions by the characters. These decisions lead to complicated situations for these characters where vigor is gained. Manipulation is a form of figure over another person with give away either their consent or knowledge. Examining Torvald, Krogstad, and Nora, one can see that manipulation of others leads to irrational decisions for them. Torvald is the typical hubby of the time of the play. He tries to control his married woman and expect her to submit to him. He manipulates her through many different ways. First, he calls her pet names such as little lar k (3) and squirrel (4) and speaks to her in a condescending tone, as if she is a child. He then tries to control her habits so he will not let her eat sweets or spend too much money. In fact, all the money she gets comes from him. He demands that she is subservient and treats her as almost a dog later on in the play. At the end, when Noras secret is out, he lashes out at her and kicks her out of the house. When he wants her back after he realizes that he will no longer get into trouble for what she did, she does not want to come back, he finally realizes that she does not love him anymore and that his manipulation of her is over. This leaves him in a pickle because he now has to take care of his children without Nora, hardly a good position for him. Krogstad is different from Torvald because he is not as hearty off economically and socially and this leads him to try an extremer form of manipulation. Krogstad is desperate to contain his job at the bank and tries to get Nora to se cure the job with her husband through blackmail. Since he was once found to be forging documents, his constitution has been flaky, so in order to regain his reputation for his sons For their sake I must win back as much respect as I can in the town (22), he needs to go on his job at the bank.