Nickolaou, 1

Katie Nickolaou
Mrs. Rutan
AP Literature and Composition
18 December 2014
Strange Little Bird
It seems that every couple has a pet name for their counterpart. Kitten,
sweetie, boo, cutie pie, I could go on forever. This concept of pet names gets
pushed to the extreme in Henrik Ibsens play A Doll
House. In his play, the husband, Torvald, of the main
character, Nora, has some very disconcerting
nicknames for his wife. Not only do his names demean
her, but they also bring to question the details of their relationship. The pet names
dehumanize Nora throughout the entire play and give the reader a sense that she is
nothing more than a weak, adolescent animal.
Torvald treats Nora less like a wife and more like an injured woodland
creature. He feels that he must do everything for her, as if she is a pet. Ibsen even
characterizes Nora as a bird by having her attempt to flee the house when she got
the chance. When Torvald stopped her from leaving,
she panics and begs him to let [her] go much
like a bird screeches when caught in a trap (Ibsen,
1145). At the beginning of the story, Torvald refers
to his wife as a lark and a songbird, which are
A lark in its natural habitat

Nickolaou, 2
both types of small birds (Ibsen, 1093-1094). This characterization dehumanizes
Nora to the reader because they imagine her as a helpless, fragile animal.
Ibsen pushes the bird analogy by having Torvald tell Nora that he has
broad wings to cover [her] with to protect her (Ibsen, 1148). He also boasts
that he will keep [her] safe like a
hunted dove [he] has rescued from the
hawks talons (Ibsen, 1148) This
sentence carries a lot of weight with it.
Since Nora is the dove, it
characterizes her as something small
and pure. It also characterizes Torvald

A hawk viciously attacks a smaller bird

as the vicious, bloodthirsty hawk because he was the one who wished to harm
Norathe dove.
Ibsen makes Nora Torvalds pet by having her say that she earned [her]
keep by doing tricks forTorvald much like a dog does tricks for its master
(Ibsen, 1149). The word master perfectly describes Torvald in the play. He holds all
of the power in the household; he is the only one with a steady job and is the man of
the house.
To push the characterization of Nora and Torvald even further, Ibsen
constantly has Torvald refer to Nora as a child. In the story, Torvald tells Nora that
she think[s] and talk[s] like a silly child as a sort of put down. The thing is that
it doesnt seem to phase Nora one bit. Because of this, Torvald appears to be an
aggressive bully to his wife, while Nora is characterized as a child who is afraid to

Nickolaou, 3
stand up to her father. This father/daughter type of characterization seems to be
Ibsens style throughout the play.
Torvalds monopoly over Nora is brought to a dramatic climax when he finds
out that she illegally forged her fathers

signature and stole money from him. Once

all is said and done, he tells Nora that he wont go back to being married to her, but
would rather live together like brother and sister (Ibsen, 1153). Not only is
this disturbing to say the least, but it also shows that Torvald wants to keep the
power he had during their marriage. His brother/sister suggestion shows that he
wants to have more power over her, just as a brother has power over his weaker
sister. Ibsen used this line to show that people need to stop thinking men should be
in charge of women and that women can be independent.
Although it may seem cute at first, Torvalds pet names for Nora are nothing
but putdowns; they are his way of demeaning her so he can feel more powerful. His
words not only give him power, but also characterize both himself and Nora; he as a
power crazy man, and her as a weak pushover who will let her husband do anything
to her. By characterizing Nora as a bird, Ibsen dehumanized Nora, and sets a tone of
detachment for the entire play.

Nickolaou, 4
Works Cited
"Karoo Lark Photo: One of a Pair Found in Coastal Dunes a Few Km. South of Po | the
Internet Bird Collection." Karoo Lark Photo: One of a Pair Found in Coastal Dunes a
Few Km. South of Po | the Internet Bird Collection. Web. 15 Dec. 2014.
<http://ibc.lynxeds.com/photo/karoo-lark-calendulauda-albescens/one-pairfound-coastal-dunes-few-km-south-port-nolloth>.

"Bill Schiess' Wild in Idaho - Experiences and Essays of Life." : February 2012. Web.
15 Dec. 2014. <http://wildinidaho.blogspot.com/2012_02_01_ar

"8 Reasons Why A Doll's House Rocks." Seattle Shakespeare Company. 14 Dec. 2012.
Web. 13 Dec. 2014. <http://www.seattleshakespeare.org/8-reasons-why-a-dollshouse-rocks/>.

Arp, Thomas, and Greg Johnson. Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound & Sense.
Eleventh ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2012. 1092-1154. Print.