The goal of marriage is not for individuals to remain independent but to equally share the responsibilities of being married. In A Doll's House, Ibsen shows that during this era men dominated women so completely in marriage as to view them as possessions, like Torvald attempts to construct a "doll's house" for his prized "doll" Nora (Ibsen, 1972, p. 104). Torvald has Nora dress up and play larks and squirrels as she caters to his every need and those of her children. The one thing she seeks, a trip to Italy, he calls "frivolous" and denies her (Ibsen, 1972, p. 106). Nora realizes she can never exist as a woman with her own thoughts and ambitions in such an oppressive environment, so she abandons her husband and family, taking her chances on the streets rather than live like someone's "doll." If Torvald would share parental duties, help keep the house, and permit Nora to do some of the things she would like to do, then they would equally share the responsibilities of marriage and could take care of their dependents. As it is, only Torvald benefits from marriage and Nora must leave him to be a woman in her own right.
Ibsen, H. (1972). A doll's house. In J. Hurt (Ed). Cataline's dream. Champaign, IL: Univ. of Illinois Press.
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