A Doll's House: Character synopses
Nora Helmer
A housewife with servants, married to Torvald and mother to three young children who are looked after by the same nanny who brought up Nora. Torvald likes to characterise Nora as being like a child herself, but in reality she is a clever and proud woman who tries numerous strategies to exceed the expectations society has of her, while simultaneously trying to live up to at least some of those expectations. She has also got herself in a spot of bother with a loan shark. In the course of the play, through interactions with the other characters, Nora develops towards a clearer understanding of her own limited existence, culminating in a striking act of rebellion and emancipation.
Torvald Helmer
Nora's husband, a lawyer and bank manager with a strong sense of his own entitlement to authority over his employees and his wife. Torvald exhibits numerous traits of narcissism and coercive control. He is oblivious to the intelligence of his wife and to the fact that she has saved his life by covertly funding a trip to Italy that was essential for his health. Instead he treats her as a possession which will enhance his own status. Torvald can be seen as a mouthpiece for the kinds of oppressive narrative that Ibsen sought to challenge with his play.
Dr Rank
What's going on with Dr Rank? Always referred to by his title, 'Doctor', but he is not Torvald's doctor. He is his own doctor, makes his own diagnosis and announces his own death. And talks about the moral sickness of society to boot. Surely something symbolic afoot here.
A constant friend to the Helmers, his demonstrative comradeliness goes hand in hand with an otherwise lonely existence. Although he declares he would give his life for Nora - which she takes as a highly inconvenient declaration of love - it is also noticeable that he spends a lot of time with Torvald.
Seemingly dependent on both Torvald and Nora for his happiness, he is perhaps playing the role of 'enabler' in the couple's harmful relationship with each other. This is to his advantage, because the ongoing unhappiness in the couple's relationship leaves a vacancy that he can then fill. He is not trying to change their relationship but loitering in the wings to get what crumbs of intimacy he can. At the same time, he genuinely makes Nora's life more bearable by seeing her more for who she is, than Torvald ever can.
So a sad, yet intriguing and disarmingly amiable figure. Although, by the way, Christine Linde doesn't trust him!
Christine Linde
How is it that some people find Christine Linde heroic and others find her unpleasant?
Perhaps because she has chosen a pragmatic path, marrying for money to provide for her mother and brothers, then after her husband's death becoming the breadwinner herself. She says herself that her fight for survival has made her 'bitter and selfish'. Yet she also functions as a model of women's emancipation and independence.
Perhaps it's also because she has not signed up to some of the prevalent fantasises about what a woman should she be like. She belittles Nora for attempting to live up to those fantasies, and this makes her come across as superior. But it stings Nora into discarding her pretence of being the woman Torvald thinks she is, to prove to her old friend that she is capable of something more.
In the end it is Christine whose story takes a romantic turn as she shows what a partnership of equals could look like. And it is also Christine who is brave enough to make Nora and Torvald confront the truth, because she believes her friend will be happier that way.
Nils Krogstad
Appearing at first sight to be the classic sinister villain (with all the delicious drama that entails), there is more to Nils Krogstad than meets the eye.
Having once committed the same crime as Nora Helmer (forgery), unlike her he has been ostracised for it. Society seems to relish denigrating him as a scapegoat. Since his crime has never been tried in court, his punishment is seemingly never-ending and he has no means of officially rehabilitating himself, so feels forced into further unsavoury actions such as blackmailing Nora Helmer. He is determined to redeem himself and this pushes him to challenge the status quo where people like Torvald Helmer feel entitled to unquestioned authority and status, based on a perception that they are better than others.
There is something else gnawing away at Krogstad. He was rejected in favour of another by his childhood sweetheart Christine Linde. The resolution of this conflict brings out another side to him which adds to the complexity of the character.
Anne-Marie
Nanny to the Helmer's three children, Anne-Marie also brought up Nora and acts as both parent and servant to her. She has an interesting, heartbreaking back story which emerges in a dialogue between herself and Nora. She also shows what practical parenting looks like, in contrast to Nora's burst of high-energy playtime with her children. A manageable but interesting role.
Helene, the Helmers' maid
Ostensibly only there to open and close the doors and let visitors in and out of the room where all the action is contained. But those doors and all the comings and goings are laden with meaning. The maid surely knows a lot about what is going on in this unhappy household. This is a role with few lines but many opportunities for commenting wordlessly on the action.
A porter
A lovely role for someone who would like to appear on stage but with only two short lines to learn. Potential for physical humour. Must be able to carry a Christmas tree.