A Dolls House
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A Dolls House
A Dolls House represents a womens marital life from many years ago. The central theme of this play is Noras rebellion against society and everything that was expected of her. Nora shows this by breaking away from all the standards and expectations her husband and society had set up for her. Women were not considered of importance to their husbands and that made women feel like in a “dolls house”, such as with Nora and her husband Helmer. In her time women were not supposed to be independent. They were to support their husbands, take care of the children, cook, clean, and make everything perfect around the house. Nora had two main rebellions; her taking out the loan, and when she left her family, and everything was all planned out by her.
Noras first rebellion was when she took out a loan so that she could pay for her husband, Torvalds medical treatment. It was against the law for women to take out a loan without their husbands consent. When she did this she proved that she was not as submissive and helpless as Torvald thought she was. He called her “helpless”. A perfect example of Torvalds control and Noras submissiveness was when she got him to re-teach her the tarantella. She already knew the dance but she acted as if she needed him to re-teach her the whole thing. When he says to her “Watching you swing and dance the tarantella makes my blood rush”. This shows that he is more interested in her physically than emotionally. Then when she told him to stop he said to her, “am I
not your husband?” Again, this is an example of Torvalds control over Nora, and how he thinks that she is there to fulfill his every desire on command. Torvald does not trust her with any money and with the little money that he does trust her with he is afraid that she will spend it on Macaroons, a candy that he has forbid her to eat. He calls her his “little squirrel”, and many other animal names in a way to degrade her.
Noras second rebellion was when she left Torvald and her children. The society she lived in demanded that she should submit to her husband and that she should take a place under him. Society considered women to be property of their husbands and that they should fulfil their every command. When Krogstad tries to blackmail Nora, and Torvald did not even support her she realized that there was a problem. Then finally when Torvald realizes that his social stature will not be harmed he displays his real feeling for Nora, both physically and emotionally. It