Deconstructive Analysis on the Characterization of Nils Krogstad
(a play of Henrik Ibsen “A Doll’s House” – 1879)
Written by Zubaidi
A student of Semarang State University
Literary works are divided into fiction and non-fiction. Fiction then is divided into some kinds. They are; poetry, novel, prose, short story, and drama or play. Each f them has special characteristic in its form. Poetry for example, it is concern with lyrics and stanzas, novel and short story are in form of paragraphs, while a play is more special one because most of its form is written in a form of dialogue. The other characteristic of a play is it is written not only to be read, but also to be performed by actors before audiences.
The elements of play are similar with other fiction’s elements. They are; theme, plot, setting, character, point of view, style, mood and tone, etc. If we are talking about a play, it is impossible to discuss only one elements of it because those elements are kinds of structure which relate each other as a totality bigger structure. Even, the meaning of a play will not be achieved if we do not pay attention to all of the elements that structured the play itself.
In this essay, I will not discuss about all elements of the play entitled “A Doll’s House”, but I will try to expose one of the characters within it. The focus will concern toward Nils Krogstad, a character that play a role as antagonist. I will deconstruct the character as people will be sure that he is certainly is a bad character. In this analysis I will try to show whether it is right or wrong.
Character
There are people and things in a story. Things are included because we often find the characters in the form of animals, plants, or even strange creatures. Roberts (1969:11-12) defines character in literature as the author’s creation, through the medium of words or personality and consistent with it.
The characters in a story (including a play) can be divided into two groups. Koesnobroto (1988:67) says that in the basis of importance, we can distinguish two types of characters, main or major character and minor character. Major character is the most important character in a story, while minor character is character of less important than those of the main character.
Character may be delineated in four ways. First, character is delineated by appearance. The actor physical qualities give an immediate stimulus to the audiences. A playwright sometimes has a specific image in describing the character’s appearance in considerable detail. The second, character is revealed by speech. The kind of language employed by the person, his manner of speaking can reflect the characterization of him. Third, character is reflected by action, while the fourth is concern with what others say about him.
Characters on “A doll’s House”
Major Characters
Major characters are those who play important role in the play. In the play A Doll’s House, there can be found five major characters. They are Torvald Helmer, Nora, DR. Rank, Mrs. Linde, and Nils Krogstad.
1) Torvald Helmer
He is Nora’s husband. He works as a lawyer and then change into a manager of a bank. He loves his wife very much, even that he knows his wife is a spendthrift.
“very well. But now, tell me, you little spendthrift, what do you want for Cristmast?”
2) Nora
She is Torvald’s wife. She is very kind to everyone, loves her husband and children, a very charming woman, but a spendthrift.
“yes, yes, off course I will. But come over here, I want to show you everything I’ve bought. And so cheaply!
Look, here are new clothes for Ivar- and a sword. And a horse and a trumpet for a Bob. And a doll and a candle for Emmie- they are nothing much, but she will pull them apart in a few days. And some bits of material and handkerchiefs for the maids. Old Anne-Marie ought to have had something better, really.”
3) DR. Rank
He is an old doctor. He is a best friend of Nora and Helmer. He usually visits them everyday. As he become a best friend for them, Nora usually talks much about her old friend to him that her husband does not want to hear it. He is very close to them.
4) Mrs. Linde
She is Nora’s old friend. She is a widower. She comes to the town where Nora is living in for seeking a job. When she told about it to Nora, then Nora asked her husband to look for a job for Mrs. Linde. He will get a job in a bank where Helmer becomes a manager ther to change the position of Krogstad as Helmer would like to kick him off the job for doing a crime there.
5) Nils Krogstad
He is an old friend of Helmer. He works in a minor position in a bank where Helmer becomes a manager there. He will be hired from his job because he does a crime, a conspiration with Nora. He struggle for his job very much.
Minor Characters
There are six minor characters in the play A Doll’s House. They are Helmer’s three children, Helen. Anne-Marie, and a porter.
1) Three of the minor characters are Helmer’s children. They are Emmie, Bob, and Ivar.
2) Helen
She is a maid in Helmer’s house.
3) Anne-Marie
She is an old nurse working in to care helmer’s children.
4) A Porter
He is a porter which only stated in the beginning of the play helping Nora to carry her stuff from shopping.
Characterization of Nils Krogstad
1) He is morally sick
(act one)
Rank: “you bet I do. However miserable. I sometimes feel, I still want to go on being tortured for as long as possible. It’s the same with all my patients; and with people who are morally sick, too. There is a moral cripple in with Helmer at this moment.”
Mrs. Linde: (softly). “Oh!”
Rank: “oh, a lawyer fellow Krogstad- you wouldn’t know him. He is crippled all rights; morally twisted. But even he started off by announcing, as though it were a matter of enormous importance, thet he had to live.”
2) A good struggling man for his right
Krogstad: (more controlled) “now, listen to e, Mrs. Helmer. If I am forced to I shall fight for my little job at the bank as I would fight for my life.”
3) He is sly
Krogstad: (changes his tone) “Mrs. Helmer, will you have kindness to use your influence on my behalf?”
4) He is a liar
Helmer:”men often succeed in re-establishing themselves if they admit their crime and take their punishment.”
Nora:”Punishment?”
Helmer:”but Krogstad didn’t do that. He chose to try and trick his way out of it; and that’s what has morally destroyed him.”
5) He is a humble man
Nora:”I’ve learned more than you could ever teach me.”
Krogstad:”yes, a bad lawyer like me.”
6) Ambitious man
“I’ll tell you. I want to get on my feet again, Mrs. Helmer. I want to get to the top. And your husband is going to help me. For eighteen months now my record’s been clean. I’ve been in hard straits all that times; I was content to fight my way back inch by inch. Now I’ve been chucked back into the mud, and I’m not going to be satisfied with just getting my job. I’m going to get to the top, I tell you. I’m going to get back into the bank, and it’s going to get back into the bank, and it’s going to be higher up. Your husband’s going to create a new job for me.”
Nora:”he’l never do that!”
Krogstad:”oh, yes he will. I know him. He won’t dare to risk a scandal. And once I’m in there with him, you will see! Within a year I’ll be his right-hand man. It’ll be Nils Krogstad who’ll be running that bank, not Torvald Helmer.”
7) An over-careful man
“and life has taught me to distrust fine words.”
8) He is a threatener
“have you forgotten that then your reputation will be in my hands? Well, I’ve warned you. Don’t do anything silly. When Helmer read my letter, he’ll get in touch with me. And remember, it’s your husband who forced me to act like this. And for that ‘ll never forgive him. Goodbye, Mrs. Helmer.”
Deconstructive Analysis on the Character Nils Krogstad
The play deals with the opposition of the good and bad characterization of Nils Krogstad. As we see that he role as antagonist in the play. After pay attention to his characterization, we find that he is a bad man rather than a good man for his bad characteristics are much more than the good side.
He is an ambitious man, liar, sly, and morally sick. And the most bad side of him is when he threatened Mrs. Helmer with a letter of their conspiration that finally made Mrs. Helmer went away from Mr. Helmer and her children. That he does that seems to because of the condition in which he is forced to do. He does not intend to do that. But since the crime that he does to help mrs. Helmer will make him will be fired from his job, he try to struggle and defense his self.
“have you forgotten that then your reputation will be in my hands? Well, I’ve warned you. Don’t do anything silly. When Helmer read my letter, he’ll get in touch with me. And remember, it’s your husband who forced me to act like this. And for that ‘ll never forgive him. Goodbye, Mrs. Helmer.”
The main thing here is his threat to Mrs. Helmer. But, before we discuss that, it is stated that he is also an ambitious man. In the fact it is not as bad as people think because he behaves like that because as his children grows up he want to be in respectable position. It is common for a dad to be a respectable man in order to his children will also behave to be a respectable man. Because his position in a bank is a minor, he has prepared it as well as possible for about eighteen months and his record is well till he do a crime by helping Mrs. Helmer to borrow money as signed by her father, but because her father had died and the signature is not her dad, but she does, it become a problem of being hired Nils from the bank.
He want to get respectable position by promotion, but it is impossible since the crime happened. So he tries to threat Mrs. Helmer in order to help him so that her husband will not kick him off the bank. It is not fault since he does the crime with motivation to help Mrs. Helmer that at the time she need money to rescue her husband to go to Italy for recovery from his very worst ill. So, we can say that he does the crime not forhis self, but for other who needs his help. Is it a crime? I don’t think so. It is such kind of he becomes a victim of birocration that does not see the motive, but only see it is as a crime. If we take a look at a thief who steal stuffs to give food to his starving family, is it a crime? certainly not. But if we take the case to the court (birocration) it keeps become a crime and the thief should be tke into the jail.
The character of Nils is also stated that he is an ambitious. If we look at what he has done, off course because he want to get a promotion he will keep his record working in the bank as clean as possible and does not want to help Mrs. Helmer. Because an ambitious person usually behaves as selfish person. In the fact, he is not a selfish and wants to help Mrs. Helmer even though in the time goes by it will threat him to e hired from the job.
The play seems to state Nilsas a bad character an role as antagonist, but if we look at his motifs to do the crime is not for his self rather to help other who needs his help, we cannot say that he is a bad person. He is a good person.
Everybody was born with the good side and bad side. However, the good wins over the bad. In this case, the bad side of Nis has defeated his good side. But he does it because of the condition and situation which force him t do so. Sometimes the situation does not tolerate to ourselves.
Te other fact to show Nils’ goodness is actually he works as a clerk, then a lawyer and finally a minor position in the bank. He want to get respectable position in the bank is because of he does it for his family as he is a single parent who earning living for his children. So, he is a good father. A responsible father.
In the last paragraph I ask you to see somebody not only by his appearance or his behaving, but let’s take a deeper look at him what his motives to behaving like that. The deconstructive analysis of Nils prove that he is not bad man. He is a good man. He does a crime a s he becomes a victim of hierarchy of law which seems does not care about feeling in right thing. Helping other show that Nils is not a selfish person.
That is the analysis by using deconstruction approach. Thank you.
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