Fear as a motivation in A Dolls Hous

I think fear is a key emotions of many of the characters in this text. Many of the character’s actions and thoughts are a purely a result of their fear.

   Nora, in the beginning, forges her father’s signature in order to borrow money to save her husband as she fears for his life. Her troubles are a result of this rash action. She spends most of her time working to try and earn this money back, but refuses to tell her husband of what she has done as she fears what his reaction to it will be- she knows he is against borrowing money. She lies and deceives him because of this. She leads him to believe she is irresponsible and unable to manage her money when in reality she is very careful and cautious with the money she spends. Although Torevald may not see it at this time, but I think this causes an emotional distance between these two characters, especially on Nora’s end- I think this, in the end, contributes to the failure of their marriage. This all being a result of Nora’s fear to tell her husband the truth.

   Krogstad, on the other hand fears losing his job and again becoming a social outcast again after spending so much time trying to redeem himself in his community. He is desperate to keep his job and uses Nora’s decision to bribe her. I think this act by Krogstad seemed very drastic and we can see his anxiety and fear because of this .

Likewise, when Torevald finds out about Nora’s doings, he acts extremely irrationally. He loses his temper with Nora and explodes at her, telling her she is no longer suitable to mother his kids and he fears that she will poison their minds with her lies. His first thought is of his reputation and name in society, that Nora has disgraced him and their family, he fears that this will get out and ruin him. He acts and speaks too her very rudely and lets his fear and anger take over him at that moment -a mistake on his part which causes Nora to finally realize that this marriage is over.In one of the versions of the play that we have watched, the directors has interpreted his anger as so violent that he hits Nora.

  I think all of these characters have traits in common. They have all panicked and made rash decisions which in one way or another they have come to regret. If it wasn't for Nora's fear for her husbands life, she would not have committed this crime in the first place, This was an act of desperation and a decision made under great pressure, however her decision to keep this form Torvalds was calculated and planned until krogstad got involved.

KL

I think that this I the case for many of the characters in King Lear also.

Regan poisons her own sister Goneril as she fears he is going to steal the man she is in love with.

Gloucester naively believes the forged letter from his son Edgar and fears for his life as he believes that his son in planning to overthrow him. He orders for him to be captured.

Lear, one of the main culprits of making rash decisions due to fear. He fears lack of acceptance, He feels the need to be loved by everyone. He feels he is going mad and this makes him fearful..He banishes his own daughter from the kingdom when she refuses to follow his orders to tell him how much she loves him. He fears rejection from his family and people and feels the need for their approval and as a result ends up isolating himself because of this. I think that in this play, Lears family have considered his state and treat him slightly more tolerantly because of this. I think that Goneril and Regan are blinded by the power they are being given and will do anything to what. Goneril and Regan reject him from their household and try to takeaway all of his authority. I think that Lear fears this as in some ways he is scared to let his crown go because her does not know who he is if he is not king.

When Thorwald finds out Jeff knows what he did, he tries to kill him. He is terrified about people finding out about what he did and will do anything to keep this secret.

that I some ways Jeff is scared also. He sees the other couples through his window and is probably wondering what his marriage would be like is he did marry Lisa. I think that he is scared of settling down and marrying Lisa because he thinks that it would mean letting go of everything in his old life, travelling around the world. He is too stubborn to compromise and in the end is actually slightly fooled by Lisa.- she pretends to read the travel book but when he is not looking reverts back to her fashion magazines!