Comparing Courage and Cowardice in A Dolls House, Ghosts and Hedda Gab

Courage and Cowardice in A Doll's House, Ghosts and Hedda Gabler All successful drama consists of conflict, whether between or within characters. Henrik Ibsen's work, A Doll's House is no exception.   Ibsen's play studies Nora's early courage and her confirmation of that courage at the end of the play. Nora's strength of character in forging her father's signature on a loan, and the repercussions of that act, provide much of the driving force for the drama. But Nora's great choice remains until the last act. She speaks of "the most wonderful thing," she has countless opportunities to escape from her dilemma through the assistance of Krogstad or Rank, but it is not until the final pages of Act IV that her final decision, and that resounding door slam, emphasize Nora's final courageous choice to leave her husband and unhealthy marriage. If A Doll's House takes an early act of courage as its driving force, its successor, Ghosts, uses one of cowardice. Mrs. Alving's early failure to reveal her husband's true character and actions to his children provides the "tragic flaw" for t...