Thursday, August 1, 2019
Eric Bentleyââ¬â¢s Criticism of Krogstadââ¬â¢s Character in a Dollââ¬â¢s House
When Eric Bentley wrote in ââ¬Å"Ibsen, Pro and Conâ⬠that Krogstad was ââ¬Å"a mere pawn of the plot. â⬠adding that ââ¬Å"When convenient to Ibsen, he is a blackmailer. When inconvenient, he is converted,â⬠I believe he had entirely missed the point of his character in A Doll House. Krogstadââ¬â¢s characterization is a flagship example of the way Henrik Ibsen wrote all the characters in the play: representations of manââ¬â¢s true multià faceted nature. On the surface the reader makes quick judgement about the content of the rolesââ¬â¢ characters; Nora, ditzy; Torvald, loving; Linde, reliable; and Krogstad, evil. It is not merely a convenience to the plot when Krogstadââ¬â¢s true nature is revealed, but the first obvious example of Ibsenââ¬â¢s desire to show the reader that not everyone is simply a oneà layered individual, and not everyone is just as they seem. When the reader realizes that the source of Krogstadââ¬â¢s misdeeds lies in result of his troubled past and love for Mrs. Linde in Act 3 when he says, ââ¬Å"When I lost you, it was as if all the solid ground kage,â⬠readers no longer view him as the villain they saw before. By the end of the novel Nora ââ¬Å"believe[s] that first and foremost [she is] an individual, just as [Torvald is]â⬠and ââ¬Å"stands aloneâ⬠rather than beneath Torvaldââ¬â¢s thumb. Torvald, himself, is no longer the perfect husband and morally upright, but more like Noraââ¬â¢s original characterization with a desperation for a perfect doll house. Mrs. Linde who seemed independent and wellà off living for herself at the beginning of play reveals her want to be a mother and care for others again by the end. went from under my feet. Look at me nowââ¬âI am a shipwrecked man clinging to a bit of wreck. Ibsenââ¬â¢s Krogstad is no more a flipà flop of characterization than any other character in the play, but this flop is not just a simple plot device. The revelation of the changes in all the roles are not actually changes at all, they are simply the reveal of the multiple layers to each of them.
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