Henrik Ibsen 's A Doll 's House

Throughout the entirety of the play, Nora's conformity is shown through the conventional lifestyle of Nora and her husband. Her calculated actions are determined by the need to maintain this image placed upon her as wife and mother. As a wife, she worries

Throughout Nora’s whole life she has been controlled by whomever she has been close to. She has never had to chance to have her own experiences, to think her own thoughts and to try to make something of her life. She knows nothing but what her and her father let her. Nora admits to

Therefore, Nora seems to be a hardworking woman when she has to be, however her doll-like life has never had severe consequences and at the first sign it might, she flees. She flees after a heated argument with Torvald at night, not even giving it a night’s rest to really think about her decision further and consider other options. When Torvald askes her what about the children, she tells Torvald: “I have another duty equally sacred…my duty to myself” (Isben, 1076). It is one of the worst things a mother could do to leave her children without a caretaker, even if she was not much of one to begin with. Nora shows a lack of courage by not sticking it out since a true hero would have stayed and tried to work something out that would not be so damaging to the family.

Nora’s character development and maturity begins after Nora has been confronted by Krogstad and Torvald for being a “lying mother.” In

As long as Nora stays with Torvald, she would never find the freedom that her heart desires. In the novel, the reader can understand that Nora's main conflict is her finding her own individuality and her husband blocks the ability of her to see the path to her goals. A huge amount of bravery, courage and strength would have been aqcuired to make such a decision and she had all three characteristics. Nora decides to leave her family with many justified reasons, which makes her choice understandable.

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.

In the end, Nora makes the decision to end her marriage, leave her children, and run away from her problems, showing only self-interest. She forfeits her family for that of her happiness believing what Torvald previously says, "an atmosphere of lies contaminates and poisons...breath...children draw...contains the germs of evil" (1509). Even though she is aware of his dishonesty, "I must try to buy him off" (1534), she still leaves her children with their father. Her decision is selfish, and her selfishness is backed up with the fact

Nora plays the part of a slave in her subservience to her husband, for she is supposed to

  Later in the play, after this first scene with her children, when Nora is talking to Anne Marie, we can see that she is making efforts to ensure that her children will be cared for if even if she is not there to raise them.  Anne Marie is the only mother Nora has ever had and, as Nora says, she was "a good mother to [Nora] when [she] was little" (36).  Nora goes on to say, "And if my little ones only had

Nora Helmer was one of those many women who lived off their husband's paychecks. However, Nora was less than a wife to Torvald. She was a plaything for him and that was the only thing she knew how to do. Nora’s father taught her to not work for money because that is why she had Torvald; he was to provide for her and the family. Nora was taught to sing and dance like a doll, just to please others. However, this all changed when Nora looked at the way she lived her whole life and decided to change it for good. Nora became the hero for herself and other girls reading A Doll’s House by working in secret and leaving a life that never made her happy. Because, despite what her environment lead to her to believe, she is more than a doll. She is a

Girls need a women figure to talk to about female things. Not only that but if Nora left and then later on down the road decided to enter back into the children's lives, they might have resentment towards her.

Torvald’s wife Nora is the center of several of the traits that classify him as a morally ambiguous character. Nora is more like a possession to Torvald than a soul mate or wife. She is like a doll to him, something that he can control and shape into what he wants. Nora is treated like a child and as if she can not function a second without him to be there to tell her what to do. Her dependency on him is extremely important to him because that is

Nora’s need for independence and self discovery are other things that stem from her socioeconomic status. Nora felt that her duties to herself were equally sacred during her quarrel with Torvald (905). Him saying, “you’re a wife and mother” made no difference to her (905). Her selfishness in wanting independence stemmed from a lifetime of living as a doll. She says, “When I lived with Papa… He used to call me his doll-child…then I came into your house and you arranged everything to your taste…It’s a great shame what you and Papa did to me. You’re to blame that nothing became of me” (903-904). Nora had been so accustomed to living by other’s standards that she lost herself in their lives. She had become used to having no opinion and input on

She says that the most important duties are to herself and not to Torvald and her children. However, she will regret being alone and will miss her family and her old, easy life. The love that she had for Torvald can not go away as quickly as she says. Nora committed a crime to save Torvald’s life which shows unconditional love. She will always have feelings for Torvald and her children.

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.