A Doll's House

Text Guides

Character Analysis

Torvald Helmer

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:

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