Henrik Isben's A Doll's House

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Recommended: Gender roles through history

A Doll’s House

In past history, society has been both very prejudiced and traditional with its view of gender roles. Often times a woman would not have had the same right to something as a man did. Many women however went against the law and tradition to do what they thought was right. In Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, Nora does something that is unimaginable during the time period. Nora’s husband Torvald believes he is the man of the house and that his wife should be grateful and entertaining for him. Nora however signs her father’s name to a document in an attempt to do something she feels is right. What she doesn’t realize though is that by doing so she has committed forgery. Nora’s act of forgery was inspired by many reasons, and resulted in both expected and unexpected outcomes.
Nora was inclined for many reasons to commit the forgery. At the time Torvald was on the verge of dying and Nora desperately wanted to save him. Doctors warned Nora that her husband’s “life was in danger” and the only thing that would “save him [was] a stay in the south” (Ibsen 976). Nora couldn’t afford to travel though and was forced to somehow find the money. During this time period however “a wife [couldn’t] borrow without her husband’s consent”, so Nora had to get a man’s signature to take out a loan (976). Nora knew Torvald would not take out a loan because it would hurt his reputation as a banker, so she forged her father’...

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