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

Keywords: A Doll's House, Nils Krogstad, antagonist, misunderstood, debate on character

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?

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Author Biography

Ananya Roy, Postgraduate student of English literature

Ananya Roy is a postgraduate student currently pursuing her masters in English Literature from Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi. Her focus on researching and critiquing is widespread ranging from the renaissance to the modern contemporary literary world, more significantly on themes related to gender, masculine-feminine divide and many more. Her works have been previously published on e-journals. Apart from academic articles, she also writes on social issues, winning numerous essay and debate competitions with her pieces being published on magazines like Competition Success Review (CSR) and Pratiyogita Darpan. She has recently self-published her poetry collection “Kaleidosocope: Of Women Behind the Curtains” (2020) on Notion Press besides her dystopian novel “Torque” (2018) on Amazon self-publish.

References

1. Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll’s House and other plays. Translated by Deborah Dawkin and Erik Skuggevik, Penguin, 2003
2. Ibsen, Henrik. Ghosts and Other Plays. Translated by Peter Watts, Penguin, 1964
3. B.C. “Nils Krogstad: A Man Misunderstood (Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’ Analysis)”. B.C. Hollywood Dark Fiction Writer & Bibliophile, http://bchollywood.com/nils-krogstad-misunderstood/
4. Egan, Michael. Henrik Ibsen: The Critical Heritage. Taylor & Francis, 1972
5. Bradford, Wade. “A Doll’s House” Character Study: Nils Krogstad, ThoughtCo. Jan 2020. https://www.thoughtco.com/dolls-house-character-study-nils-krogstad-2713015
6. Williams, Raymond, Drama from Ibsen to Brecht. Oxford University Press, 1969.
Published
2022-02-20
How to Cite
Roy, A. “Unravelling the Visibly Invisible in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House: Krogstad, a Contemporary Antagonist or a Saviour Grossly Misunderstood?”. Contemporary Literary Review India, Vol. 9, no. 1, Feb. 2022, pp. 28-34, https://literaryjournal.in/index.php/clri/article/view/795.
Section
Research Papers