The Significance of the Title A Doll's House

The play's title, A Doll's House, has symbolic significance and strongly suggests the message that Ibsen
appears to have wanted to get over with it. The title specifically refers to the doll and the house as two
crucial elements of the play. The doll stands in for the main character Nora, while the house depicts the
Helmer home where Nora resides. If we attentively read and critically analyze the play, we can see that
the term "doll" has been employed in the title in a fairly satirical way. When we look at Nora from the
outside, we notice the word "doll," which connotes passivity, attractiveness, and the fundamentally
feminine essence.

Helmer, who is essentially a traditional possessive spouse, views Nora the doll as something of an
inanimate item that he can play with and enjoy. As Nora notes at the play's conclusion, she was
Helmer's doll during the eight long years following her marriage, having previously been her father's
doll. If we view Nora with a conventional or uncritical eye, or more specifically, as Helmer or Mrs. Linde
would prefer Nora to be viewed, the term "doll" fits.

However, the truth is that Nora has the full capacity to be a true human being, seeking individuality and
dignity and aware of all the restrictions placed on her by her husband and the customs of his
community. Nora is an apparent doll rather than a genuine one. She is submissive; she is created in
accordance with Helmer's demands and desires, who would like to believe that he creates her into the
person he wants her to be; she is also flawless and unchanging, insentient and simple to control like
dead dolls, that is, in Mr. Helmer's eyes. He completely shapes and directs her thoughts and interests.
She is his doll just like she was her father's doll before they were married.