A Doll's House Gender Roles

When Torvald finds her hairpin stuck in the keyhole of the letter box, Nora tells him it must have been their children trying to get into it, not willing to admit that she had tried to break into his things. Although the truth about her is about to be discovered, Nora wants to preserve the last bits of dignity that she has left, finally worrying about herself before anyone else. This last lie however, leads up to her finally speaking the truth and expressing that she no longer feels that she loves Torvald. Her husband is furious at her, insulting her, and fails to see that every lie that she told was for his sake. Realizing that Torvald can’t see her side of things and will only find fault in what she did, she comes to her decision to leave her family. Nora states that she is not happy and never really was, her marriage to Torvald was as fakes as a doll house according to her. Rather than lie, she is completely honest now and states that she wants to become her own person and learn that which she doesn’t know despite what society might think.

Nora finds strength in realizing her failure, resolving to find herself as a human being and not in what society expects of her. Nora’s recognition comes when Torvald so

Nora proves to Torvald and herself that she indeed is an independent woman, and that her happiness comes before

With the home she lives in, her "self" is very much silenced, and this eventually comes to displease her. As she confesses to Torvald of her decision, she tells him her most sacred duty, "Duties to myself"(Act III, 76). She begins to realize that not every woman has to rely on a manly figure to survive in society, and begins to take on the rebellion by going on a journey to seek her own individuality with determination. It will make one inhumane if they lost their own precious soul; Nora created the right path for herself and also for future women who struggle with finding their own

Nora is married to Torvald for over 6 years and they have a comfortable routine that they follow. One day Torvald takes ill and Nora takes action. In the 1870’s the man was the provider for the household. Though, with Torvald sick, Nora needs to find a way to help her husband no matter the cost. They take off to Italy and “Torvald couldn't have lived if he hadn't managed to get down there.” (180) Nora feels a sense of pride knowing that she is the one that saves her husband. Nora wishes she could tell her husband what she had done but she understands the repercussions it would have on their relationship. Torvald would feel the humiliating effect of having his wife being his protector. To Torvald, Nora is just an object that is to serve his every need. She is his entertainer, his squanderbird. Torvald believes that Nora is just his “....poor, helpless, bewildered little creature.” (226) Their marriage is only real on paper, there is no equality in their household. This is something that Nora comes to terms with. She understands that “I must stand on my own feet if I am to find out the truth about myself and about life.” (228) Nora is a person of strong will. She knows how to put on a mask when the time comes, and she plays her cards just right. Because Torvald treats her as more of a trophy wife, she does not tell him about how she was able to take him to Italy.

Nora begins to take offence to the words of Torvald. He refers to her as his most “prized possession”, and continues to say that he often imagines her as though she is his mistress, and she is a temptress. Nora continues to get offended, telling Torvald she doesn’t want any of this. Nora begins

Although people abandoning their family and responsibilities as a parent and spouse is wrong and highly frowned upon, Nora’s decision to leave her life and family behind was justified. At this point in history, women were seen more as objects and not considered to be a person with equal rights as men or have a say-so in society. Especially in Nora’s case, her whole life she was treated as a human doll, a trophy first to her father and then to her husband, Torvald. She is considered a middle-class woman and is expected to keep a certain image both in public and with her husband to keep his reputation and the family’s social status intact and be entirely dependent on the man of the house at the time to provide for her. She spent her whole life

restricted to playing with the children, doing little housework, and working on her needlepoint. A problem with her responsibilities is that her most important obligation is to please Torvald, making her role similar to that of a slave. Torvald easily talks down to Nora saying things like: “…worries that you couldn’t possible help me with”, “Nora, Nora, just like a woman”, and “Mayn’t I look at my dearest treasure? At all the beauty that belongs to no one but me—that’s my very own?” as if she is considered his property.

When Krogstad threatens to expose the truth, Nora must use her craftiness to distract Torvald and sway him into letting Krogstad keep his job. Unfortunately, she is not able to change his mind, but she does succeed in diverting his suspicions of her motives. She praises him and lulls him into a false sense of security by telling him that "[n]o one has such good taste as [he has]" and then goes on to ask him if he could "take [her] in hand and decide what [she is] to go as" for the dance. She confesses to him that she "can't do anything without [him] to help [her]". These statements lead him to believe that he is the one to "rescue" her, when it is in fact Nora who is trying to rescue him from dishonour. Later on, when Krogstad puts a letter in Torvald's mail, explaining everything that Nora has done, Nora uses her charms once more. She pretends that she has forgotten the tarantella so that Torvald will spend all his time with her and think nothing of the mail that awaits him. Nora truly believes that by deceiving her husband, she is protecting him from worry. Because of Nora's deception, the person that Torvald believes her to be is quite different from the person she actually is. He believes that she is a "spendthrift," infatuated by expensive things when in reality, she saves her money to pay back Krogstad and buys cheap clothing and gifts. Torvald

The enforcement of specific gender roles by societal standards in 19th century married life proved to be suffocating. Women were objects to perform those duties for which their gender was thought to have been created: to remain complacent, readily accept any chore and complete it “gracefully” (Ibsen 213). Contrarily, men were the absolute monarchs over their respective homes and all that dwelled within. In Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, Nora is subjected to moral degradation through her familial role, the consistent patronization of her husband and her own assumed subordinance. Ibsen belittles the role of the housewife through means of stage direction, diminutive pet names and through Nora’s interaction with her morally ultimate

As stated by Torbjorn Tornqvist in an article published in the Cambridge University Press, “No wonder [Nora] relishes her secret knowledge that she has performed an act of extreme altruism…Seemingly totally dependent on her husband, Nora knows that at least once in his life Helmer has been totally dependent on her,” (Tornqvist

    A Doll's House, by Henrik Ibsen, was written during a time when the role of woman was that of comforter, helper, and supporter of man. The play generated great controversy due to the fact that it featured a female protagonist seeking individuality.   A Doll's House was one of the first plays to introduce woman as having her own purposes and goals. The heroine, Nora Helmer, progresses during the course of the play eventually to realize that she must discontinue the role of a doll and seek out her individuality. David Thomas describes the initial image of Nora as "that of a doll wife who revels in the thought of luxuries that can now be afforded, who is become with flirtation, and engages

Nora would continuously put aside Helmer’s remarks: “My poor little Nora”, “My little skylark”; however, with Torvald’s increasing ego; mostly caused by his promotion in the bank, Nora comes to realize that the man she married, is nothing more than a blatant hypocrite. Torvald states, “Oh, my darling wife, I can’t hold you close enough. You know, Nora…many’s the time I wish you were threatened by some terrible danger so I could risk everything, body and soul, for your sake”. This seems like a very considerate gesture for a husband to makes, Torvald yearns to be by Nora’s side.

Nora’s lies and secrets added on to an ever-evolving description of her character. Such behaviour is exposed when she first eats macaroons and lies about it to Torvald stating that ‘she would never go against his wishes’ and that she had given him ‘her word’ for it. She had already gone against the society norm by disobeying her husband, (in the Victorian times, woman conformed to their husbands in every little way). The interaction between Nora and Torvald, especially in Act One, was not as if they were equals but rather of a loyal pet and master. Nora responds playfully to Torvald’s criticism. She is a willing participant in their dysfunctional relationship. She understands that her husband sees her as an innocent, child-like persona, and she struggles to maintain the façade. But as Act One continues we start to see Nora’s diligent and witty side. With Mrs. Linde she boasts about her life with Torvald and how happy she is, but is quick to speak of her achievements when she is thought low of. Another side of Nora is portrayed in that scene, a side which even Torvald never knew of; she talks to Christine about her “saved Torvald’s life”. This gives us a better insight on Nora, regarding how she leads a double life, that she has not been ‘thoughtlessly spending money, but saving money to pay of her debt’. Upon hearing this readers no longer see a naive little girl but a woman who can take risks to save what is

Here, Nora pulls together the tragic circumstances. She sees that she was never truly happy in the house, just content. Her father kept her as a child would a doll, and Torvald continued this when they were married. They formed her opinions for her, set expectations to which she was supposed to adhere, and wrote a vague script of how she was supposed to act. She was like a puppet, with no thoughts or actions of her own. When she finally realizes the injustice being done to her, she decides to free herself.