Torvald Helmer is the uncompromising head of the household in A Doll's House. He is self-absorbed, self-satisfied, and rather oblivious to the inner lives of others.
We can see Helmer's lack of insight in several places in the play, most prominently in his understanding of Nora.
He is completely unaware that Nora is capable of making serious decisions and is baffled at the play's conclusion when she announces that she is leaving him.
Also, Helmer has no idea that Dr. Rank is seriously ill and going to die. He is surprised when Nora tells him this even after witnessing Rank's unusual behavior at the party.
Helmer seems to believe that his professional life and his own opinions are the only things he should be expected to consider. This is evidenced by his habit of advising Nora, by his rules for the home, and in his coversations about the bank...
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and about proper behavior.
Of all the characters in A Doll's House, Helmer is the most innocent. This is, arguably, a result of his lack of empathy. His ignorance regarding the inner lives of others functions as a curtain between him and the world of experience.
He is surprised by Rank's illness and surprised by Nora's attitude and, beyond his surprise, he is unable to understand Nora's point of view regarding her need for personal growth and an identity of her own. Helmer lacks the experience and depth to understand.
Believing that his views define his household, Helmer has difficulty making the mental leap that would allow him to see things from Nora's point of view.
How is Helmer's character developed in A Doll's House?
The character of Torvald Helmer is developed primarily through his interactions with those around him. Torvald represents a traditional outlook on marriage; he works as a lawyer while Nora stays at home, taking care of their children. Torvald isn't a warm or doting father; in fact, as Nora gushes over her children's return home, Torvald comments that their return indicates that "the place will only be bearable for a mother now." He often refers to Nora using nicknames that dehumanize her, such as "lark," "squirrel," and "featherhead." He adds "little" to these terms to reinforce the idea that he is superior over his wife.
When Torvald realizes that Nora has acquired a secret debt, he suddenly becomes a vicious man, insulting her skills as a mother and telling her that he doesn't "trust" their children to remain in her care any longer. He is obsessed with how her actions might impact him and inflict damage on his own appearances, questioning,
Do you understand now what it is you have done for me? ... From this moment happiness is not the question; all that concerns us is to save the remains, the fragments, the appearance...
Nora decides to leave him, at least in part because she realizes the superficiality of their marriage; she reflects that in all their married years, they have never shared a single conversation about anything of substance. Undoubtedly, this is because Torvald sees his wife as a "little" doll who is unable to understand matters of worldly significance.
Torvald has constructed a marriage where his wife is expected to play the part of a doting and beautiful plaything who can perform on command in ways that are expected of her. He is shocked when Nora wants more from her life and reminds her that her "most sacred duties" are to her husband and children—not to herself. He asks whether she cannot "understand [her] own place in [her] own home" and equates her desire to leave with lacking "religion."
Torvald is thus characterized as a man who needs his wife to fulfill expected roles and to prioritize her family over all else. He has prevented Nora from developing her own passions independent of her family, and this eventually rips apart the seams in their marriage. Though Torvald has controlled Nora throughout their marriage by establishing himself as the authority figure in their home, exerting control over Nora's life and choices, in the end, he is faced with a wife who is willing to walk away from it all in order to reclaim some portion of herself.