Entry 1

Act One: Winter

Before the reader dives into the dialogue of A Doll’s House, a lengthy description of the setting
is laid out. An important component of the setting is the season, winter, which has a connotation to
chapter 20 of How to Read Literature Like a Professor. In the chapter, Foster asserts that winter is
imbibed with symbolism relating to death, depression, and despair. This notion, however, is
immediately contrasted by the apparent jubilance within Nora’s household. Nora, the
housewife/mother to a happy family is shown to be fully content with her life, as seen when she
laughed “in quiet contentment.” From this dissonance the reader can infer that either: her “house”
provides her contentment despite the winter, or that there is foreshadowing for an unbeknownst
element which will become the pivotal point of conflict in the story. Supporting evidence of the
latter is insinuated and later shown when she reveals how she sneakily took a loan to save her
husband, the consequences of which rapidly send Nora into paranoia and prove to be the inciting
incident of the play.

Act Two: “A penniless girl who’s gotten herself into trouble has to be grateful for whatever she
gets” (142).
This piece of dialogue emanates a sort of self-diminishing, gender-driven aura that is typical of
its time. In it, Nora defines her worth as a woman as miniscule; so gracious the man who cares for
the penniless, vulnerable maiden. In the pages that follow, we see her continuance of the gender
notions by wearing her superficial smile for her husband, filling the mold of the “angel in the
house.” This is best exemplified in the last lines of Act Two, in which she, in an ostensible jubilance,
says to Torvald: “Here is your song-lark!” (164). However, we see Nora subvert these gender
norms by doing all she can to cover for her mistake and coercing her husband and Dr. Rank to
ensure the safety of her family and herself. This duality is representative of the late-1800s woman,
who must perform in more facets than meets the eye.

Entry 2
Act Two: “So I locked myself in and sat there writing every evening, long into the night. Oh,
I was often so tired, so tired. But it was terribly fun, nonetheless, to sit like that, working
and earning money. It was almost as though I was a man” (Ibsen 123).
As the reader learns more of Nora’s true nature, we see how societal norms corrupt
and restrict Nora’s character as a defier of the ideals befitting the “Angel in the House.”
Although Nora appears ditsy and unintelligent - the stereotypical woman of that time - her
layers are peeled back to reveal a bright, hard working person. She herself does not
recognize her potential, however, as evidenced by her undervaluation of herself by
subordinating her display of determination and ambition to that of the typical man: “It was
almost as though I was a man” (Ibsen 123). She says this in spite of her demonstrated
financial and business acumen, combined with unwavering mental strength to live the life
of two people at once; the life of the perfect housewife and the life of the breadwinner.
Furthemore, the dialogue in this excerpt is between Nora and Mrs. Linde, evidence that
furthers the notion that Nora’s capability is restricted by the men in her life. All in all, this
passage impresses upon the reader that Nora - and women at large - are being
incapacitated by the gender norms that persist, even today.

Act Three: “Helmer: And I really need to tell you that! Aren’t they the duties to your
husband and your children? Nora: I have other equally sacred duties. Helmer: You do not.
What duties could they be? Nora: The duties to myself” (Ibsen 184).
A Doll’s House is very conspicuously a morality play, with Helmer and Nora personifying
the patriarchy and the “real woman” who stands against it, respectively. In Nora and
Helmer’s cathartic confrontation, Nora recognizes that her value, first and foremost,
derives from her individuality instead of her capacity to fulfill the role of women as the
“Doll in the House.” This is despite the coaxing of Helmer, whose specious love has
commanded Nora throughout the play, exemplifying the tenacity of Nora to cast away her
dutiful shackles and establish her own worth as a woman - as a human. This reflects the
persisting patriarchal constraints on women, who are still partially defined by their
capacity for aesthetic consumption and subservience to their male counterparts (if
heterosexual). It is impertinent to note that Nora didn’t recognize her capability to thrive
and survive on her own since the beginning of the book, symbolizing how women on the
whole are predisposed to the axiom that male dependence is vital to the female species,
despite their competence.88