Who is the Doll Ibsen Refers to?
Who is the doll Ibsen refers to NU Henrik Ibsen s A Doll s House is a play about truth lies and freedom The doll in the title is Nora Helmer She is controlled decorated and used like a toy in her own home Nora as a Doll-Wife From the beginning Nora is treated like a doll Torvald calls her my little lark and my squirrel These are pet names not words of respect Nora eats macaroons secretly like a child hiding from her parent She dances the tarantella wildly to please Torvald She lives not as a real partner but as a doll-wife The Helmer home is not a true marriage It is only a doll s house Nora s Secret Loan and Doll s Prison Nora secretly borrows money from Krogstad to save Torvald s life She says It was I who saved Torvald s life But she
must forge her father s name because society treats her as a doll not as an adult Her secret makes her afraid The letter-box becomes a prison Nora sees she has no power in her own house She is trapped like a doll locked in a toy house Nora s Awakening and the Door Slam The truth comes in Act III Torvald reads Krogstad s letter and cries You have destroyed all my happiness He calls her unfit for children Nora realizes she is only a doll in his hands She says I must try and educate myself She leaves her husband and children She slams the door The sound breaks the doll s house The doll Ibsen refers to is Nora who awakens and walks out The doll is Nora Helmer She is first a doll-wife then a doll-prisoner and finally a free woman Ibsen shows how society reduces women to dolls but also how one woman finds the courage to leave the toy house