Without tragedy interfering, one’s present life will be affected and in many ways dependent on their past. Pertaining to the play A Doll’s House , one could say that the present is pregnant with the past. In A Doll’s House there is a great deal of the past that is still a major part of the present day.
There are many characters in this play that who have a past that is altering their present situation. Nils Krogstad who is a lawyer in the play, is living a life of hard times right now because he is paying the consequences for his wrong-doings in his past. His past actions and choices are affecting what happens and what he does in the present day. With one’s present situation being affected, then it is clear that the results of that will affect the future that is in store for them. Most of the characters in the play have a past that has made the present day a rough and worrisome time.
Although, there is an instance in this play where the past of one man has blessed him with many advantages. Torvald Helmer had made choices in his past that supplied many benefits for him in the future. Christine Linde who is a friend of the Helmer’s is suffering from the decisions she made in her earlier days. (There is one character in particular who one may say that the past she is carrying may be a set of twins, pertaining to the pregnancy of the past.
awkward) Nora Helmer had made many choices in her earlier days that have made her future hard and very worrisome. Overall, there is not a person on this earth that who will not be affected by the choices they he/she makes in their his/herpast. The characters in A Doll’s House are just a few examples of the effects that good and bad choices have on the future of an individual. Nils Krogstad’s past is revealed in the play and it is visible to see that it has caused him much suffering. One may say that this man is morally sick, for his actions seem to suggest that his morals are not all that good. In a society like that of todays,the play does not take place in modern society an individual will pay for his wrong doings and will have to take responsibility for them too.
Krogstad had broken the law in his past by committing forgery. Now in his present situation he is unemployed because his employer Torvald Helmer discovered he was a dishonest man. His actions then ruined any reputation that he held, and lost him his job and any future opportunity for a decent job. Any reference the man had before was now lost. Nils’s present situation was overcome by the past, and the truth had to come out sooner or later. Nils then had to take responsibility for his actions.
What is performed in the past will stick with one and in some cases it may perhaps be passed on to others. Krogstad being a dishonest and cheating man has influenced his children and in some ways poisoned them. It is remarkable how easy it becomes to lie to another person. When one small lie is kept a secret and one benefits from it, it becomes very easy to do it again. Sometimes the dishonesty becomes a habit and all your integrity is lost. Dishonesty may have short-term benefits, but in the long run the benefits are obsolete.
The reason why lying is so habitual is because the long-term consequences are not visible and the short-term benefits are right in front of the person. In the act of making right choices the benefits are numerous, both short-term and in the long run. You are going off topic. Stick to the literature and do not write so generally. Torvald Helmer who is another lawyer in A Doll’s House is proud of his present situation, and has many reasons to be. Torvald had made many right choices and tried to avoid his past having negative effects on his future.
Torvald believes in being honest and not cheating your way out hard situations. Torvald states, ” Men often succeed in re-establishing themselves if they admit their crime and take their punishment” (pg. 194) From reading the play it is thought that Torvald has been honest his whole life and dedicated himself to working hard. Torvald’s present situation may be pregnant with the past, but whatever is going to affect his future has affected it in a positive way. In the play Torvald was promoted to a bank manager, and it is hard to believe that a dishonest man that made wrongful choices could be promoted to such a position. Torvald is a wealthy man and has many children that whom he loves.
Torvald’s past choices have benefited him a great deal. On the other hand, Christine Linde who is a friend of the Helmer’s is having to deal with the choices she made in the past, but in a negative aspect. Mrs. Linde is holding much of her past and dealing with it all in the present day. Mrs. Linde decided to leave Krogstad who was once her lover.
Mrs. Linde is now a widow who is desperate for work and has no husband to support her. That choice that was made in the past is now affecting her and the lifestyle she lives. Mrs. Linde has made right choices though, and it is believed she is also an honest woman. The fact that she did leave Nils, she avoided being poisoned.
Furthermore, Mrs. Linde was going to help Nora Helmer, who is a friend of hers get out of a lie. Mrs. Linde had second thoughts about it and decided not to contribute to the lies of her friend. Nora Helmer the friend of Mrs.
Linde, is a fine example and relates closely to the clich ” The present is pregnant with the past”. Nora Helmer who is the wife of Torvald and the friend of Mrs. Linde, is living in many lies which is a result of many lies before them. Nora has many secrets that she has kept from everyone, including Mrs. Linde until near the end of the play.
Nora’s past is like being pregnant, and in the play it is near birth, for the truth is ready to be told. The secrets that she holds are about to come out unwillingly. Nora has lived in many lies, and lies from very petite things to breaking the law by lying. Nora’s husband Torvald was very ill a long time ago and Nora needed some money for her and Torvald to move away for a while so Torvald could regain his health. It was then that Nora committed the forgery to get the money, which indeed was breaking the law. This mistake led to many consequences that were not very splendid.
Krogstad the man who Nora did borrow the money from had much the same attitude, and their actions were very similar. Krogstad having many of the same bad habits attempted to blackmail Nora in hopes of her influencing her husband to give back his job. In the end the truth was revealed and the marriage between Torvald and Nora almost ended. The near ending of their marriage was a disastrous effect of the choices Nora made in her past. Also, Krogstad never did get his job back from what we know. Another example of the lies that Nora was living was that of her Indulging in sweets when she had promised her husband she would stay away from them.
Nora had been lying for such a long period of time that in her present situation she does not even understand herself. Like a child in birth, it can only be nursed for about nine months in the womb. That is much like one’s past, it can only be held in for so long. So it is a fact that a person can be pregnant with their past. Nora was also making her children suffer, for they had to hear and listen to the lies daily.
When the day came when the lies were revealed, it was then that the children were poisoned. Overall, Nora was living many lies and it was affecting her future. The justifying that can be done for wrong doings can only hold up for a short while. The justifying that Nora did for her lies did only hold up for so long. A person can justify their his/her wrong doings that they have he/she has commited, but what good does the justifying do? When you justify the lies to a certain extent then every wrong doing is then suddenly okay. Justifying the lies just makes it much easier for a person to lie again, and easier for them to keep living the lies.
All the characters in the play have had some sort of an affect from what they have performed in their past, and it only proves that the past of an individual will effect greatly what is in store for them in the future. In other words, ” The present is pregnant with the past”. Stick to the literature and avoid the temptation to overgeneralizeBibliography:
