Foil Characters in A Doll's House

Foil Characters in A Doll’s House

Henrik Ibsen creates characters in A Doll’s House who change throughout the play. Foil characters are characters that contrast each other. They are like mirror images; they are clearly different but they share similarities. Ibsen’s use of foil characters helps the reader understand each individual character better.

Christine is a foil to Nora. Nora is the main character and Christine is a less important character. They both have similarities, but generally Ibsen uses Christine to compare with Nora and to bring out her flaws. Nora is living in a dolls house, and this is a separate environment from Christina and the real world. This is the world that Nora is longing to be a part of but Torwald won’t let her.

Christina is a hard working independent adult, and she is more than capable of looking after herself in the outside world. Nora is something of the opposite. She can’t even look after herself, let alone her own children. Chrisitinas journey from independence to marriage is a foil to Noras journey in the opposite direction.

Some of the characters in the play seem to be opposites, but in fact they have several similarities. Krogstad and Torvald, Christine and Nora, and Krogstad/Christine’s relationship and Torvald/Nora’s relationship are all foils to each other. As foil characters, they have similarities as well as differences.

Krogstad and Torvald are foils to each other. They both have children and are lawyers. They were childhood friends and now they work together at the bank. Even though they have the same professions as each other, Torvald’s position at the bank is much higher than Krogstad’s. Everyone hates Krogstad, while on the other hand everyone loves Torvald. The idea that Krogstad is the villain of the play is reinforced by the reactions that Nora displays whenever Krogstad is around. Eventually we understand that Krogstad committed forgery to help his children, not to help himself. Krogstad is hated by others for the crime he committed to help his children, yet Torvald is loved even though he committed a dishonest act to serve himself. Torvald helped Nora’s father in order to win Nora as his wife. Krogstad no longer has a wife because Christine left him for money.