Societal Norms In A Doll's House

Constrained by the ones closest to you

All societies have expectations and societal norms that guide the way individuals act. Often individuals closest to us, determine to what extent a person follows these societal conventions. In Henrick Ibsen’s play A Doll’s house, characters closest to one another have enormous amounts of influence on one another and how they fit into societal norms. The play commences with Torvald and Nora having a discussion; Already we see Torvald’s view on Nora. As the play continues, we see the fight Nora has between accepting societal expectations and being her on person. When one is constrained by societal conventions, it is difficult to escape these societal norms as they may not realize that are constrained;
This was the case with Nora throughout part of the play. In the beginning, Nora was held to Societal conventions strictly through the actions and words of her husband, Torvald. When Act 1 commences, it is shown that the way he addresses her gives a him a tone of authority towards her as well as treating her like a possession. He continually calls her names such as skylark, his squirrel, and sqaunderbird. These names and the way that Torvald addresses Nora represents the Societal conventions that surrounded them (The man is the leader and a woman is a possession). Early on there are also many instances in which the reader is shown how Nora has no say in the relationship. When Nora argues about how they should spend there money, Torvald quickly rejects her and patronizingly says, “ Oh Nora, Nora, How like a woman! No, but seriously, Nora, you know how I feel about this. No debts! Never borrow! A home that is founded on debts and borrowing can never be a place of freedom and beauty” (173). Torvald gave Nora little say in the decision as shown by what he says. This also shows the Irony evident throughout the play as Nora had taken a huge amount of money from Krogstad as a debt and Torvald has not been aware of this yet. As well, this conversation with Torvald shows the huge societal conventions placed on women--and what Nora has to go through--at the time the play was written. The quote talks about how she was just like a woman to be ignorant to these problems and quick to spend. This is just another representation of the constraints that hold Nora back. However, there is evidence that Nora may not always realize these constraints as when one is held in these societal conventions for her whole life. Regardless of how Torvald treats Nora, she continues to love him and listen to whatever he has to say. After Torvald revokes her idea about