Imagined Human Beings. Bernard Jay Paris

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СКАЧАТЬ is necessary to care for the members of her family. She cannot imagine that “a daughter has no right to spare her dying father worry and anxiety” or that “a wife has no right to save her husband’s life.” Nora’s claims are that she cannot be adversely judged because she acted out of love and that there “won’t be any trouble” because she has “three little children” (act 2).

      Her belief system is shaken, however, when Torvald attacks Krogstad at the end of act 1. After committing a forgery, Krogstad had escaped punishment through “tricks and evasions.” When a man behaves like that, says Torvald, “his life becomes a tissue of lies and deception. He’s forced to wear a mask—even with those nearest to him—his own wife and children.” Krogstad “has been deliberately poisoning his own children for years, by surrounding them with lies and hypocrisy.” Nora recognizes herself in this description, since her life is a tissue of lies and deception. She, too, has committed forgery, and she has deceived Torvald about the loan. She lies habitually, about eating macaroons, about what she does with the money Torvald gives her, about what she is doing with the time she spends working, and so on. She justifies many of these lies as being in a good cause and required by Torvald’s rigidity, but after Torvald’s speech about Krogstad she becomes terrified. Afraid that she is harming her family and corrupting her home, she begins to withdraw from her children and to contemplate going away. The self-hate and self-doubt thus activated remain with her through the rest of the play.

      It is because Mrs. Linde is appalled by the “deceit and subterfuge” on which Nora’s relationship with Torvald is based that she insists on exposing Nora’s secret, even though Krogstad is willing to take back his threatening letter. She feels that Nora and Torvald must come “to a thorough understanding,” that “Helmer must know the truth” (act 3). She tells Nora that she has “nothing to fear from Krogstad” but that she “must speak out.” Nora’s reaction to this is remarkable: “Now I know what I must do”—that is, she must commit suicide. Why? If she has nothing to fear from Krogstad, she does not have to kill herself to save Torvald’s career and prevent the wonderful thing from happening. Does she want to die so as to avoid a confrontation with Torvald? Does she sense what his reaction will be? Does she fear that he will despise her, as he does Krogstad.

      Torvald’s denunciation of Krogstad had been extraordinarily passionate: “It would have been impossible for me to work with him. It literally gives me a feeling of physical discomfort to come in contact with such people” (act 1). The perfectionistic Torvald is pursuing a flawless excellence in the whole conduct of life, and he discharges onto Krogstad the contempt he would feel for himself should he behave as Krogstad has done. Krogstad is, in effect, his despised image, what he cannot bear to be, and he finds his very presence disturbing, especially when Krogstad, an old school friend, treats him with familiarity. His repudiation, condemnation, and defiance of Krogstad confirm his high standards and solidify his sense of identity.

      Nora dreads Krogstad partly because her father had been attacked in the newspapers, and she fears that Krogstad will attack Torvald. Confident of his rectitude, Torvald dismisses her fears: “My dear Nora, there is a distinct difference between your father and me. Your father’s conduct was not entirely unimpeachable. But mine is; and I trust it will remain so” (act 2). Torvald feels that his strength is the strength of ten because his heart is pure. His bargain is that he will ultimately triumph and have nothing to fear as long as his conduct is unimpeachable. At the beginning of the play, his bargain seems to be working. He suffered financially because he would not take shady cases, but he has received a splendid new appointment as the reward of his virtue.

      Torvald’s reaction to Krogstad’s letter is so intense because his well-earned success has been poisoned, and he has been put in the power of a man he detests. Since he will be in a false position whatever he does, the flawless excellence of his life has been lost forever. Perhaps the greatest blow for him is that his idealized image of Nora and their relationship has been shattered. He has awakened after eight years to discover that the woman who had been his “pride and joy” is “lawless” and “unprincipled” (act 3). He has had intimations of the conflict between his values and Nora’s before, but he has dismissed them because of his need to hold onto his exalted image of her and their relationship. When he catches her in a lie about Krogstad’s not having been to see her, he does not take the matter seriously: “(Threatens with his finger) My little bird must never do that again! A song-bird must sing clear and true! No false notes! (Puts arm around her) Isn’t that the way it should be? Of course it is! (Let’s her go) And now we’ll say no more about it” (act 1). Torvald now believes that Nora has inherited her father’s lack of principle; she has “no religion, no moral code, no sense of duty” (act 3). She embodies everything Torvald abhors in other people and is afraid of in himself.

      Torvald can be easily seen as a coward and hypocrite, but the situation is more complicated than that. He had made a show of courage as long as his conduct was unimpeachable, but Nora’s behavior has compromised his honor and undermined his belief in his power to control his destiny. Horney observes that for the perfectionistic person the appearance of rectitude may be more important than rectitude itself, and appearances are very important to Torvald. The “matter must be hushed up at any cost” in order to avoid a scandal, and he and Nora must pretend to have a marriage in order to “save appearances” (act 3). Nora’s dream was that Torvald would take the responsibility for the forgery on himself, thus showing how much he loved her, but given his own defenses, this is something that Torvald could never do. She is asking him to present his despised image to the world as his true reality. When Torvald says that “one doesn’t sacrifice one’s honor for love’s sake,” Nora replies that “millions of women have done so.” She is expressing values that belong to her defense system and he values that belong to his.

      Krogstad’s letter plunges Torvald into a state of psychological crisis. His solution has failed and his “whole world seem[s] to be tumbling about [his] ears” (act 3). He is going to pieces not only because Nora has exposed him to disgrace, but also because his misfortune forces him to realize that he has violated his own principles. His code is that one should not sacrifice honor for love, but that is what he did when he was sent to investigate Nora’s father and engaged in a cover-up for her sake: “If you hadn’t . . . been so kind and helpful—he might have been dismissed” (act 2). Torvald now feels that he is being punished “for shielding” Nora’s father (act 3). By failing to live up to his shoulds, he has exposed himself to catastrophe. This generates a sense of helplessness and panic and also a great deal of self-hate, which he externalizes by feeling victimized and blaming his wife. Like Nora, he feels unjustly treated by his mate: “And to think I have you to thank for all this—you whom I’ve done nothing but pamper and spoil since the day of our marriage” (act 3). As we have seen, Nora is also feeling self-hate, which she externalizes by blaming her father and Torvald.

      Torvald’s panic subsides when Krogstad withdraws his threat, and he immediately resumes his patronizing behavior. After forgiving Nora, he assures her that she is safe and that he will cherish her as if she were “a little dove” he had “rescued from the claws of some dreadful hawk” (act 3). Despite his craven behavior, Torvald wants to revive the old scenario in which he is Nora’s protector, but she no longer believes him. He becomes even more paternalistic than he was before. Nora will become his child as well as his wife, and he will be “both will and conscience” to her.

      Torvald’s behavior is incredibly inappropriate, and it may seem to some that Ibsen is presenting a caricature of a chauvinistic male. It is understandable, however, in terms of Torvald’s psychology. He is a male chauvinist, of course (“I am not a man for nothing”), but there is more to his behavior than that. His description of Nora as his “dearest treasure” is not an exaggeration (act 3). He is an emotionally needy man who, spellbound by Nora, wants to possess her entirely and live in a world of their own. When they are with other people, he romantically pretends that they love each other in secret, and he thinks that Rank’s death may be for the best, since now they will be “more than ever dependent on each other.” He is proud of Nora’s beauty СКАЧАТЬ