A Doll's House: Henrik Ibsen

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needed in a dire situation and would not think too damn their loved one for taking this course of action.

It is clear that the generational thinking of the roles women held kept Nora trapped, but it was also Nora herself that reinforced the boundaries. The only offence that Nora truly committed was the forging of her father’s name on a bank note and possibly not telling her husband sooner. Nora is reserved in voicing her own opinion because she is afraid of upsetting others. Nora even describes her childhood interactions with her father and if he had an opinion on something she would adopt the same idea even if hers were different because she didn’t want to upset him. It is really in the final act that you can see how Nora became who she is through her relationships with her father and then Torvald. As she is having a moment of self-realization, Nora describes how her father called Nora her “doll-child” and how that sentiment was “simply transferred from papa’s hands into yours” (A3). Continuing to recognize how her sense of duty towards Torvald has made her unhappy, Nora refers to the Helmer home as “nothing but a playroom” and she but just a “doll-wife” (A3).

In the final moments of the play Nora grasps that she is not truly free and even considers herself to be imprisoned in what she considers to be a doll house. The time period of the play certainly played a part in Nora’s sense of being constricted seeing as women of that era held very few rights and freedoms. As with most men in the 19th century, Nora’s husband also demeaned her for the simple fact that she was a women. Torvald regulated many aspects of his wife’s life and even though he was doing it out of love, he treated her as if she were a child. Probably Nora’s biggest hindrance was herself and her need of approval from either her father or her husband in an attempt to be the obedient daughter or wife. Nora’s sense of obligation to the men in her life was one of the main things holding her back. In the end Nora turned her back on what she thought was happiness and left them in hopes of finding not just her freedom but herself.

Word Count - 957