Ibsen's A Doll's House

Nora's life represents one of secrets and play-acting because of them. Nora used to live the role of a doll while living under her father's authority as a daughter. In this manner she is more an owned possession than a woman in her own right. Her marriage to Torvald merely represents a transfer of power from her father to her husband. As wife, she must still play the role of Torvald's "doll", a possession more than equal partner. Though Nora dislikes this role and feels confined due to it, she consents to it for the sake of economics. Though she rails against Torvald's treatment of her, she also plays to it. She humiliates herself by stealing food, begging for money, and playing "larks and squirrels" for his pleasure. Nora's role as a "doll" is one that is forced upon her by men and her role-play while she leads a secret life represents her coping mechanism. We see her understanding of this when tells Torvald that "a great wrong was done to me, Torvald. First by Papa and then by you" (Ibsen 1972, 104).

Because Nora acts like a "doll" to exert her will or achieve her aims is not to say she is a hypoc