Response to a Doll House

This story written by Henrick Ibsen has made it clear that in the late nineteenth century women were not treated equally to men. Men were stereotyped to be very overpowering, and they had most of the control where the women would tend to the husband’s needs and take care of the family. That was my impression based off of Nora and Torvald’s relationship. I would say though that these two did not have much of a relationship at all, they both lacked a depth of understanding when it came to one another. Author Henrick8u Ibsen argued was, “a woman could not be herself in modern society,” because it is “an exclusively male society, with laws made by men and with prosecutors and judges who assess feminine conduct from a masculine standpoint” (A Doll’s House). Ibsen caused a huge controversy because others, like the Europeans, thought that feminism was scandalous and disrespectful. Nora, based on her past, was use to relying on men to take care of her. That explains why it was so easy for her life to be controlled like a puppet in the hands of others. Torvald was manipulative and had complete control over everything Nora did. Torvald would say things to Nora for example, "My little song-bird must never do that again. A song-bird must have a clean beak to chirp with - no false notes!" (183). Nora was being portrayed more like an object rather than a human being, showing that she was not of great importance to Torvald.
Throughout the story Torvald’s appearance began to unfold. He didn’t have a clue to what extent his wife Nora would go for the sake of his well-being; destroying his dignity was not worth risking. Torvald said to Nora, "I would gladly work night and day for you, Nora - bear sorrow and want for your sake. But no man would sacrifice his honour for the one he loves" (214). Nora unknowingly committed a crime in order to keep Torvald’s sanity, and has carried the burden of having financial issues. She feared of him finding out because she knew he would never