A Doll's House Marriage Analysis

The play was highly controversial when first published since it is sharply critical of Victorian marriage norms. Ibsen believed that women were best suited to be mothers and wives, but at the same time, he had an eye for injustice, and Helmer 's demeaning treatment of Nora was a common problem.

Marriage as an Unequal Partnership

In the play “A Doll’s House” the marriage is between Nora and Torvald – one fairly typical of the era. Nora always wanted to be a wife the way Torvald wanted. In the play she uses the quotation “Free. To be free, absolutely free. To spend time playing with the children. To have a clean, beautiful house, the way Torvald likes it”. She told this when she was talking to Miss Linde whom she knows from past 10 years. Nora claims that she will be “free” after the New Year—after she has paid off her debt to Krogstad. She had taken the debt for her husband Torvald. Three years back, Torvald was sick and the only way he could be back from the illness was by taking him for a trip to Italy. They didn’t have enough money to afford the trip so Nora had to ask money from her dad who refused to give them the money because he was also going from a bad stage. She had no option but to ask Korgstad for money. He accepted to give her the money. This shows how much Nora cared about Torvald and what all he wanted but at the

Linde, she faced a moral crisis at the beginning of her marriage. Unable to procure, in a legal manner, the funds needed to save her husband’s life; she resorts to forging her father’s name as guarantor of the loan. She places her love and concern for her husband’s well-being above the law. Since she diligently works to pay back the loan, the offence does not seem so severe; it is a crime in definition only. Torvald values social respectability and honour above all else, including actions done out of love; Nora values love over social honour. Consequently, a conflict emerges regarding their prioritization of