Imperfection Is Beauty;

A Doll’s House is the perfect title for Henrik Ibsen’s play. The play revolves around the relationship between Nora, a seemingly careless, yet truly cunning and thoughtful woman, and her condescending and domineering husband Torvald. At the beginning of the play the reader is tricked into believing that Nora, Torvald, and their three children live in a perfect world, only to see their true characters at the close of the play. Nora is the stereotypical housewife, both beautiful and easy going. Torvald is the model husband, hardworking and supportive. And the children are well-behaved, and have a strong relationship with their parents. The family, from the outside, is perfectly sculpted and put together. But like most dolls upon closer inspection, they are merely synthetic.

Nora Helmer has spent a large part of her married life concealing a secret, a secret that she believes she is protecting her husband by keeping to herself. So why then, if she is truly protecting her husband, does this secret lead to the deterioration of her marriage? By the end of the story, the reader realizes that Nora is not the typical housewife. She is not as playful and easy going as she seems in the beginning, but just uses these qualities to cover up the truth. When Torvald reads the letter from Krogstad uncovering Nora’s long kept secret, and Nora sees how Torvald responds to the situation, not only are her true colors showing to Torvald, but she sees Torvald’s as well. By keeping the secret and covering up her true identity, Nora is not the only fake person, but she is allowing her husband to be a fake person as well.

Early on, Torvald Helmer seems like Mr. Right. He has a great job, and is a supportive and loving husband. Although sometimes condescending, Ibsen leads the reader to believe that no matter what, Torvald will always be there for Nora. Nora also believes that Torvald loves her enough to forgive her for her mistake. She awaits the ‘miracle’ when Torvald offers to take the blame for her wrongdoing, in order to protect her. When instead, Torvald gets upset with Nora and tells her that she must take the blame for her mistake, the make-believe world that that the Helmer’s have been living in is shattered. Nora realizes that Torvald has been so blinded by his misconception of both herself and reality that he cannot see that Nora made the decision to loan the money in order to save him.

I was amazed to see Nora react as strongly as she did at the end of the story, because she had not given off the impression of being an independent and responsive person throughout the majority of the story. I was proud of her for finally realizing that her happiness had not been sincere, and that in order to find true happiness she had to not only find herself, but she had to rid herself of those things that had made her fake in the first place. One thing that I found rather disappointing was Nora’s decision to leave her children. Putting myself in her children’s shoes, I would be not only devastated but also puzzled as to why my mother left without a word. Even if it was explained to me that there were problems between her and my father, I feel as though I would blame myself for her sudden departure. Hopefully those three children can take a lesson from their mother and father, and learn that even splinter-free doll houses crumble eventually.
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Act III Scene IV: The Queen's Closet

[Enter QUEEN GERTRUDE and POLONIUS]

LORD POLONIUS
He will come straight. Look you lay home to him:
Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with,
And that your grace hath screen'd and stood between
Much heat and him. I'll sconce me even here.
Pray you, be round with him.

Polonius, obviously frustrated, tells Gertrude sternly that there is no time for beating around the bush, and that as Hamlet’s mother she must do something to end his outlandish behavior.

HAMLET
[Within] Mother, mother, mother!

QUEEN GERTRUDE
I'll warrant you,
Fear me not: withdraw, I hear him coming.

Irritated by Polonius, and worried about Hamlet finding her with Polonius, Gertrude motions hastily for Polonius to take leave.

[POLONIUS hides behind the arras]

[Enter HAMLET]

HAMLET
Now, mother, what's the matter?

Hamlet finds his mother slightly disheveled, and can tell at first glance that something is up and she is not herself.

QUEEN GERTRUDE
Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.

Gertrude is trying to be as stern as possible while also pleading to Hamlet’s soft side.

HAMLET
Mother, you have my father much offended.

Quickly turning his mother’s words around, Hamlet, offended and surprised by his mother’s comment, makes it clear that he will not accept Claudius as his father.

QUEEN GERTRUDE
Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue.

HAMLET
Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue.

Hamlet continues with his sass.

QUEEN GERTRUDE
Why, how now, Hamlet!

Gertrude is becoming disheartened.

HAMLET
What's the matter now?

Although Hamlet is aware of what is that matter with his mother, he asks calmly, prying as a way to egg her on.

QUEEN GERTRUDE
Have you forgot me?

HAMLET
No, by the rood, not so:
You are the queen, your husband's brother's wife;
And--would it were not so!--you are my mother.

Hamlet, in a snide tone, is further reinforcing his distaste for his mother’s choice in marrying Claudius.

QUEEN GERTRUDE
Nay, then, I'll set those to you that can speak.

Gertrude seems to give up here, offering for Hamlet to talk to someone else who can deal with his attitude.

HAMLET
Come, come, and sit you down; you shall not budge;
You go not till I set you up a glass
Where you may see the inmost part of you.

Hamlet, realizing he may have gone too far, motions for his mother to sit down and then walks away to get her a drink.

QUEEN GERTRUDE
What wilt thou do? thou wilt not murder me?
Help, help, ho!

Gertrude thinks that Hamlet is going to poison her and she is fearful and begins to back away from him. Aware that Polonius is behind the arras and the only one who could help her, she frantically cries for help.

LORD POLONIUS
[Behind] What, ho! help, help, help!

Polonius shouts from behind the arras, frightening Hamlet who was not aware that there was anyone behind the curtain. He believes that it is Claudius.

HAMLET
[Drawing] How now! a rat? Dead, for a ducat, dead!

Hamlet, thinking this is his opportunity to kill Claudius, pulls his sword and advances towards the arras. He tells ‘Claudius’ that he knows that he killed his father, and stabs through the arras.

[Makes a pass through the arras]

LORD POLONIUS
[Behind] O, I am slain!

Polonius, realizing he is slain, falls to the ground. In the background Gertrude screams in shock and horror.

[Falls and dies]

QUEEN GERTRUDE
O me, what hast thou done?

HAMLET
Nay, I know not:
Is it the king?

Hamlet is completely oblivious to the fact that he just killed Polonius, for he could not see the man he stabbed.

QUEEN GERTRUDE
O, what a rash and bloody deed is this!

Gertrude, hysterical, is shocked by Hamlet’s impulsiveness.

HAMLET
A bloody deed! almost as bad, good mother,
As kill a king, and marry with his brother.

Hamlet says that killing ‘Claudius’ was just in retribution for Claudius killing his brother and marrying his widow, therefore justifying his own actions.

QUEEN GERTRUDE
As kill a king!

Gertrude is still hysterical, and slightly confused as to why Hamlet keeps talking about killing the king.

HAMLET
Ay, lady, 'twas my word.

Hamlet still believes that he killed Claudius, and tells Gertrude that he did it because he had given his word (to the Ghost).

[Lifts up the array and discovers POLONIUS]

Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell!
I took thee for thy better: take thy fortune;
Thou find'st to be too busy is some danger.
Leave wringing of your hands: peace! sit you down,
And let me wring your heart; for so I shall,
If it be made of penetrable stuff,
If damned custom have not brass'd it so
That it is proof and bulwark against sense.

Upon finding Polonius, Hamlet does not immediately feel guilty but merely calls Polonius out on being a sneak, and puts the blame on anyone but himself.

QUEEN GERTRUDE
What have I done, that thou darest wag thy tongue
In noise so rude against me?

Gertrude is greatly offended by Hamlet’s actions and words. She is pacing back and forth across the room.

HAMLET
Such an act
That blurs the grace and blush of modesty,
Calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the rose
From the fair forehead of an innocent love
And sets a blister there, makes marriage-vows
As false as dicers' oaths: O, such a deed
As from the body of contraction plucks
The very soul, and sweet religion makes
A rhapsody of words: heaven's face doth glow:
Yea, this solidity and compound mass,
With tristful visage, as against the doom,
Is thought-sick at the act.

Hamlet, in a rage, continues to yell at his mother. She is becoming increasingly more frightened.

QUEEN GERTRUDE
Ay me, what act,
That roars so loud, and thunders in the index?

HAMLET
Look here, upon this picture, and on this,
The counterfeit presentment of two brothers.
See, what a grace was seated on this brow;
Hyperion's curls; the front of Jove himself;
An eye like Mars, to threaten and command;
A station like the herald Mercury
New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill;
A combination and a form indeed,
Where every god did seem to set his seal,
To give the world assurance of a man:
This was your husband. Look you now, what follows:
Here is your husband; like a mildew'd ear,
Blasting his wholesome brother. Have you eyes?
Could you on this fair mountain leave to feed,
And batten on this moor? Ha! have you eyes?
You cannot call it love; for at your age
The hey-day in the blood is tame, it's humble,
And waits upon the judgment: and what judgment

Hamlet tells Gertrude that he knows Claudius murdered his father, and makes Gertrude begin to feel ashamed of her marriage. He asks her, “Have you eyes?”, with a look of disgust, and rampantly throwing up his arms.

Would step from this to this? Sense, sure, you have,
Else could you not have motion; but sure, that sense
Is apoplex'd; for madness would not err,
Nor sense to ecstasy was ne'er so thrall'd
But it reserved some quantity of choice,
To serve in such a difference. What devil was't
That thus hath cozen'd you at hoodman-blind?
Eyes without feeling, feeling without sight,
Ears without hands or eyes, smelling sans all,
Or but a sickly part of one true sense
Could not so mope.
O shame! where is thy blush? Rebellious hell,
If thou canst mutine in a matron's bones,
To flaming youth let virtue be as wax,
And melt in her own fire: proclaim no shame
When the compulsive ardour gives the charge,
Since frost itself as actively doth burn
And reason panders will.

QUEEN GERTRUDE
O Hamlet, speak no more:
Thou turn'st mine eyes into my very soul;
And there I see such black and grained spots
As will not leave their tinct.

Gertrude does not want to have to confront her sins.

HAMLET
Nay, but to live
In the rank sweat of an enseamed bed,
Stew'd in corruption, honeying and making love
Over the nasty sty,--

QUEEN GERTRUDE
O, speak to me no more;
These words, like daggers, enter in mine ears;
No more, sweet Hamlet!

Gertrude, upset and offended, turns around and begins to leave slowly, but Hamlet follows behind her, speaking softly and passionately into her ear.

HAMLET
A murderer and a villain;
A slave that is not twentieth part the tithe
Of your precedent lord; a vice of kings;
A cutpurse of the empire and the rule,
That from a shelf the precious diadem stole,
And put it in his pocket!

Hamlet’s passion is almost too great, as his desire to kill Claudius grows stronger.

QUEEN GERTRUDE
No more!

Gertrude stops in her tracks and turns around to face Hamlet, yelling as she says “No more!”.

HAMLET
A king of shreds and patches,--

[Enter Ghost]

Save me, and hover o'er me with your wings,
You heavenly guards! What would your gracious figure?

Hamlet speaks to the ghost, but Gertrude cannot see it. She is confused about who Hamlet could be speaking to.

QUEEN GERTRUDE
Alas, he's mad!

HAMLET
Do you not come your tardy son to chide,
That, lapsed in time and passion, lets go by
The important acting of your dread command? O, say!

GHOST
Do not forget: this visitation
Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose.
But, look, amazement on thy mother sits:
O, step between her and her fighting soul:
Conceit in weakest bodies strongest works:
Speak to her, Hamlet.

The ghost is trying to calm Hamlet down, and remind him that his purpose is to hurt Claudius, and to leave his mother to her own fate.

HAMLET
How is it with you, lady?

QUEEN GERTRUDE
Alas, how is't with you,
That you do bend your eye on vacancy
And with the incorporal air do hold discourse?
Forth at your eyes your spirits wildly peep;
And, as the sleeping soldiers in the alarm,
Your bedded hair, like life in excrements,
Starts up, and stands on end. O gentle son,
Upon the heat and flame of thy distemper
Sprinkle cool patience. Whereon do you look?

Gertrude, looking around, inquires about what/who Hamlet is addressing.

HAMLET
On him, on him! Look you, how pale he glares!
His form and cause conjoin'd, preaching to stones,
Would make them capable. Do not look upon me;
Lest with this piteous action you convert
My stern effects: then what I have to do
Will want true colour; tears perchance for blood.

Hamlet is shocked to hear that his mother cannot see the ghost, and speaks slowly and quietly.

QUEEN GERTRUDE
To whom do you speak this?

HAMLET
Do you see nothing there?

Hamlet points to where he sees the ghost.

QUEEN GERTRUDE
Nothing at all; yet all that is I see.

Gertrude looks, and shakes her head to imply that she cannot see the ghost.

HAMLET
Nor did you nothing hear?

QUEEN GERTRUDE
No, nothing but ourselves.

HAMLET
Why, look you there! look, how it steals away!
My father, in his habit as he lived!
Look, where he goes, even now, out at the portal!

Hamlet, slightly frantic, tries one last time to show his mother what he is talking about before the ghost slips away. He points and motions, but Gertrude cannot see it.

[Exit Ghost]

QUEEN GERTRUDE
This the very coinage of your brain:
This bodiless creation ecstasy
Is very cunning in.

HAMLET
Ecstasy!
My pulse, as yours, doth temperately keep time,
And makes as healthful music: it is not madness
That I have utter'd: bring me to the test,
And I the matter will re-word; which madness
Would gambol from. Mother, for love of grace,
Lay not that mattering unction to your soul,
That not your trespass, but my madness speaks:
It will but skin and film the ulcerous place,
Whilst rank corruption, mining all within,
Infects unseen. Confess yourself to heaven;
Repent what's past; avoid what is to come;
And do not spread the compost on the weeds,
To make them ranker. Forgive me this my virtue;
For in the fatness of these pursy times
Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg,
Yea, curb and woo for leave to do him good.

Hamlet, calmer now, gives Gertrude advice. He also informs her that he is not truly insane.

QUEEN GERTRUDE
O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain.

HAMLET
O, throw away the worser part of it,
And live the purer with the other half.
Good night: but go not to mine uncle's bed;
Assume a virtue, if you have it not.
That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat,
Of habits devil, is angel yet in this,
That to the use of actions fair and good
He likewise gives a frock or livery,
That aptly is put on. Refrain to-night,
And that shall lend a kind of easiness
To the next abstinence: the next more easy;
For use almost can change the stamp of nature,
And either [ ] the devil, or throw him out
With wondrous potency. Once more, good night:
And when you are desirous to be bless'd,
I'll blessing beg of you. For this same lord,
Turning towards where Polonius lay slain, Hamlet gets closer to him and appologizes.
[Pointing to POLONIUS]
I do repent: but heaven hath pleased it so,
To punish me with this and this with me,
That I must be their scourge and minister.
I will bestow him, and will answer well
The death I gave him. So, again, good night.
I must be cruel, only to be kind:
Thus bad begins and worse remains behind.
One word more, good lady.

QUEEN GERTRUDE
What shall I do?

HAMLET
Not this, by no means, that I bid you do:
Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed;
Pinch wanton on your cheek; call you his mouse;
And let him, for a pair of reechy kisses,
Or paddling in your neck with his damn'd fingers,
Make you to ravel all this matter out,
That I essentially am not in madness,
But mad in craft. 'Twere good you let him know;
For who, that's but a queen, fair, sober, wise,
Would from a paddock, from a bat, a gib,
Such dear concernings hide? who would do so?
No, in despite of sense and secrecy,
Unpeg the basket on the house's top.
Let the birds fly, and, like the famous ape,
To try conclusions, in the basket creep,
And break your own neck down.

QUEEN GERTRUDE
Be thou assured, if words be made of breath,
And breath of life, I have no life to breathe
What thou hast said to me.

Hamlet turns and walks away, leaving Gertrude to herself to think about what just happened.

[End scene]

Imperfection Is Beauty;

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