A Doll's House Essay

Divorce and separation are frowned upon in society and it is even more so when it is the wife that leaves the family. In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, this becomes the controversial topic of debate for many readers; was Nora Helmer justified in leaving her husband and kids or not? It is argued that both parents are needed for a child to succeed in life and that separation is an act of cowardness. However, several readers also debate that Nora was justified in leaving Torvald and her kids. The mistreatment Nora constantly faced through offensive nicknames, her child-like mentality that made her unfit to take care of her children and her identity as a doll demonstrates her need to leave the Hemler household.

Nora’s maltreatment through her

Nora has been a doll her whole life; Nora’s father “called [Nora] his doll child, and he played with [her] just as [she] used to play with [her] dolls” (3.608-09). When Nora married, she was “simply transferred from Papa’s hands into [Torvald]’s” (3.612-613) like the toy she was. Furthermore, the transfer of her was also a transfer of control. If Nora “differed from [her father], [she] concealed the fact, because he would not have liked it” (3.606-07). In like manner, Nora concealed the macaroons she ate from Torvald because it would anger him, disrupting his control and ruining the appearance of his prized possession. Moreover, she expresses her discontent, saying she “existed merely to perform tricks” (3.618-19) for Torvald. This demonstrates the doll-like qualities and behaviours she recognized yet followed for no other reason than to please her husband. Leaving Torvald would finally cut the strings that tied her to the dollhouse and allow her to grow and develop outside the only world she knew as someone’s doll. Finally, the identity as a doll she knew her whole life needed to be broken and leaving Torvald would be the only means to do