A Doll’s House Play by Henrik Ibsen

What is the importance of money in A Doll’s House and what does the value of money mean to the characters?

A Doll’s House is a play written by Henrik Ibsen in 1879. When Ibsen was eight years old, his family went bankrupt, and they lost their status in society. Ibsen knew the importance of money and how it could destroy a person’s life. Perhaps this influenced Ibsen’s creation of believable characters in the play who have issues with money and demonstrates how it ruins their lives. Ibsen employs the symbol of money to highlight the power that characters have over each other. From the beginning of the play until the final scene money plays a vital role in most the characters lives. Ibsen shows this through characterization and dialogue thus portraying the social imbalance between men and women.

At the beginning of the play, early in Act 1 we learn that Nora borrows twelve hundred dollars under the forged signature of her father in order to save her husband’s life. While Nora might be proud of this fact others in her society would have perceived this act as criminal. Nora cannot legally borrow money without Helmer’s consent, which helps to illuminate the status of women in the 1800s. When Ibsen made notes for this modern tragedy, he reflected that “A woman cannot be herself in modern society. It is an exclusively male society, with laws made by men”.^[1]Torvald and Nora have different views on money. When Nora suggests to borrow money as Torvald won’t get his pay raise for three months, Torvald replies that it’s typical for a women to think like that and tells her to “No debts! Never borrow”. (25) This statement is ironic because Nora has already borrowed money, however Torvald is not aware of this. At the beginning of the play Nora is very proud that she raised the money herself to save her husband’s life but the debt she owes to Krogstad makes her feel threatened and vulnerable.

Torvald Helmer has been promoted as a manager in a bank. Ibsen shows the importance of money to Torvald. Torvald Helmer in Act 1 of A Doll’s House makes a statement about his job, “Yes, it’s a wonderful thing to know that one’s position is assured and that one has an ample income”,(27). This demonstrates that money in this setting creates a status of a character in society.  Torvald says in Act 1 “I will protect you like a hunted dove that I have saved from a hawk’s claws” (96). Torvald is characterized as a husband who vows to protect his wife from the “outside world”. Torvald’s control of money gives him the power in their marriage. In the first act we see that Torvald fusses at Nora about shopping too much and about her spending habits. “Bought, did you say? All that? Has my little squander-bird bee overspending again?” (24). According to Torvald, Nora spends money too quickly. Nora is also accused by Helmer of having inherited her father’s uncontrollable passion for spending money. In Act One Helmer says “Just like your father. Always on the look-out for money, wherever you can lay your hands on it, but as soon as you’ve got it, it just seem to slip through your fingers. It’s in the blood.” Nora continues to ask for money from Torvald even though she knows he has not yet begun his new job. Nora is thrilled that her husband has been offered a new job because that means she can spend money more freely.