Act 2:

In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s, Ibsen utilizes a Christmas tree to symbolize a multitude of things to

move the plot forward as well as give readers an idea of what happened during the holes that

were not explicitly shown during the play. At the end of act 1, the Christmas tree had just been

brought in and about to be decorated by Nora, but by the beginning of act 2, the tree had been

disheveled, with all the leaves and branches stripped and the candles being burnt into nubs. The

usage of the Christmas tree could symbolize Nora’s relationship with her actions. Beforehand,

Nora had thought that all her problems had been resolved regarding her borrowing money, but

Mrs. Linde had brought up certain things, causing Nora to panic about the past situation. In the

beginning of act 2, Nora is pacing and frightened by the small things, muttering “Oh it’s

ludicrous! Of course he won’t actually do it. Something like that can’t happen. It’s impossible.”

(Ibsen 141). The tree could represent Nora’s anxiety and how it grew overtime, as she wasn’t

feeling much anxiety in act 1, but is feeling an overwhelming amount of that anxiety in act 2.

The Christmas tree could also symbolize Torvald and Nora having sex in between the acts. In

Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster explains the implication

that time has passed with people in the general area usually meant that 2 characters had sex.

Ibsen described the tree in act 2 as “stripped, disheveled and with its candles burned down to the

stubs” (Ibsen 141). Since the candles were fresh before the second act and are now burnt down to

the point where they are snubs could imply the passing of time Foster had pointed out. This

implication of time passing out could imply that Nora and Helmer had sex in between the two

acts at some point in time, filling in the gaps of time that were not explicitly shown to the

audience. The usage of the tree symbolizes Nora and her relationship with anxiety, while filling

in gaps of the narrative to move the plot forward.

Act 3:

The play A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen was written to criticize the gender roles of the 1880s,

and the impact these gender roles had on a person’s individuality and self expression.

Throughout the play, especially in the last act, Nora slowly comes to realize that the way she

lives: to conform and to provide for Torvald, is not the ideal way to live. As time passed, Nora

slowly started to break free from that role while finding ways to balance conformity and self

expression as towards the end of the play she had said “Oh, every single thing you do is right” to

“Don’t look at me like that Torvald!” (Ibsen 172). She had started to set the boundaries and

defend herself as a form of her self expression, showing critique to the gender roles. She ended

up leaving Torvald and decided to not be in marriage anymore, further breaking the gender role

and showing Ibsen’s critique to them. With Nora leaving and retiring the role she originally had

to play, Torvald is still stuck in his gender role and is desperate to keep Nora by his side. Torvald

still being stuck in this role shows how the gender roles during this time not only affected

women, but also men. With Nora leaving, Torvald still feels obliged to help her even though she

resists pleading “Oh, but surely I can send you– help you, if you should need it” (Ibsen 188).

This example shows how he’s still stuck in this position, and how his only identity is being

Nora’s husband. The gender roles affected not only Nora’s identity and ability to self express, but

Torvald as well, critiquing the way gender roles from this time negatively impacted both men

and women.