Torvald By Henrik Ibsen: A Literary Analysis

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Nora’s idyllic married life comes to an abrupt halt when she realizes that have disparate ideas on what a happy marriage is. Ibsen uses metaphor and repetition to contrast Torvald's Victorian standards for marriage and Nora's Modern standards.
Torvald appears blind to the fact that his wife is a human being. He sees her more as a “hunted dove that [he’s] rescued out of a hawk’s claws” (Ibsen, 108). This metaphor dehumanizes Nora and emphasizes the codependency found in a typical Victorian marriage. He believes that it is his duty to protect and control Nora because she is unable to do so herself. Torvald’s possessiveness reaches an uncomfortable level when he claims that Nora has “become his wife and his child as well” (Ibsen 108). Unfortunately,

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