A Doll's House Acts II and III

     In acts II and III of A Doll’s House, the plot thickens. In these acts the protagonist (Nora) struggles to find a solution to the dilemma presented earlier at her.  At the end of the first act I believed that Krogstad was the antagonist but I considered him to be more pathetic than evil. Now I do not think he is the antagonist, actually I can’t find who that character would be. I have thought about Torvald as being the antagonist but I do not think he fits the profile completely. Torvald seemed to me as the loving and condescending character but now I realize that he liked having everyone around believing he was that way. He turned out to be a very subtle but firm controller and manipulator.

     My perspective towards the character of Mrs. Linde changes in these last acts. At first I thought she was a scheming and calculating woman that had arrived at too good of a time. Now I know that even if her intentions are not the best from the beginning, she evolves and commits herself on helping Krogstad have a better life. I still think she is the foil character but I also believe her to be the confidant. I think she blends both parts into her character.

     The major character or protagonist of this play (Nora) is quite the person. She has a complex personality that develops throughout the entire story. Instead of becoming more understandable she becomes more difficult and enigmatic. She has been the perfect wife for eight years and now that a threat seems to challenge her reality, everything changes. Decisions are made and steps are taken. When she realizes that all of her marriage life has been a lie and that even if things went back to being what they used to, she would not be the same, she makes up her mind and decides she wants to face her problems, whatever the outcome might be.

     These last acts captured and kept my attention. I wanted to keep reading and find out how the play ended. The outcome surprised me; I had speculations of various outcomes but did not expect this particular one. When I started reading the second act I believed that Nora and Dr. Rank would have an affair and maybe leave the town. I even thought that Nora would commit suicide. I also suspected that maybe she had planned to leave but I thought that once she knew that Torvald forgave her, she would have been happy and grateful. That is where the surprise came. It shows how the author intended for this character to portray an independent woman. What is very interesting is the fact that the author believes in gender equality and woman’s liberation, this coming from a male author that lived in a time when men were thought to be superior. Overall a good and interesting story which I really enjoyed.