A Doll's House Themes

Marriage

The main message of A Doll's House seems to be that a true (read: good) marriage is a joining of equals. The play centers on the dissolution of a marriage that doesn't meet these standards. At firs...

Women and Femininity

Nora of A Doll's House has often been painted as one of modern drama's first feminist heroines. (Get it, Nora!) Over the course of the play, she breaks away from the domination of her overbearing h...

Men and Masculinity

The men of A Doll's House are in many ways just as trapped by traditional gender roles as the women (Torvald Helmer being the chief example). The men must be providers. They must bear the burden of...

The Home

When a play is called A Doll's House, chances are that home might be a prevalent theme. Early on in the text, the home is seen as a thing of joy, a place of comfort and shelter. The idea of home is...

Respect and Reputation

The men of A Doll's House are obsessed with their reputations. Some have good standing in their communities and will do anything to keep it, others have lost their good name and will do anything to...

Love

There is much talk of love in A Doll's House, but in the end, the Helmers discover that true love never existed between them. Throughout the play we hear of and see many different forms of love: fa...

Lies and Deceit

The essential tension running throughout A Doll's House comes from Nora's fear of a secret being discovered. Her absolute terror of this revelation leads her to tell lie after lie. When her web of...

Money

Early in A Doll's House, the characters spend a good deal of time talking about their finances. Some are on the upswing, with the promise of free-flowing cash in the future.

“A Doll’s House” By Henrik Ibsen In Henrik Ibsen’s play, “A Doll’s House”, the character Nora Helmer is a character subjugated to the wills and desires of her husband, Torvald; to him she is merely an object which he possesses. At the end of Act III however, she has become sufficiently independent to arrive at her decision to leave the children, her husband and what life she had behind, as she slams the door on the family home. A significant transition of power has occurred and this is one of the major themes that Ibsen raises in this dramatic play ‘A Doll’s House. However, in examining the underlying issue of power presented, one cannot simply look at the difficult situation of Nora’s character; three major aspects of this theme should also be considered. They are the demonstration of power at home, the power and control of society over the actions of Ibsen’s characters and finally the causes and effects in the shift of power to Nora. From very early on in the text, in fact from Helmer’s first line, we are introduced to an obvious imbalance of power present in the domestic setting. “Is that my
little lark twittering out there? (1559) The manner in which Torvald talks down to his wife and the apparent, unopposed acceptance of this by his wife, is evidence that, at least initially, power firmly rests in the grip of Nora’s husband. Nora’s language is full of indefinite, qualitative statements, demonstrated especially when talking about Torvald’s salary, however, when Torvald speaks he uses many imperatives and speaks to her in the third person. The difference in each character’s use of language is a personification of the power they have in their relationship.

While Nora uses general descriptors indicating a lack of definite knowledge Torvald delivers commands in a belittling way, a constant affirmation to his wife (and himself) that he is the man of the house, and therefore, he believes, entitled to control. Ibsen further demonstrates this through Nora’s desire to have some pennies, some financial power of her own. It is made clear in this conversation that Torvald has power over the household assets and through his reluctance to ive Nora any money of her own and his disparaging explanation as to why, Ibsen further sets up the imbalance in power. However not all of the opening act focuses