Unravelling the Visibly Invisible in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House: Krogstad, a Contemporary Antagonist or a Saviour Grossly Misunderstood?

Abstract

Krogstad, the mass consensus proclaimed antagonist, who visits the Helmers only to bring a flurry of disruption and catastrophe comes off as someone greater than what he is deemed to be. The critics of the play, that ends with Nora Helmer leaving the house, her children and her husband, had for ages single-handedly antagonised Krogstad as the lone, villainous figure who had brought a massive sledgehammer upon the glass house of the Helmers shattering every corner towards a marital disaster that ended with more than just a bang and whimper. What the sympathisers of the couple failed to notice is that their marriage had been nothing less of a sham; with Torvald playing the ultra-domineering husband in the marriage and Nora, his wife being the caged bird that sang to every beck and call of her master. The Helmers never had a marital relationship that was founded on trust and understanding, instead it was all make-believe to dupe naïve people like Dr Rank. Krogstad acts as the only potential force who not only unveils the shroud off the seemingly cheerful domestic life but also brings forth the debate whether he is ‘the antagonist’ or merely an overburdened soul grossly misunderstood?