Influence of Patriarchy in A Doll’s House is a play written by Henrik Ibsen

A Doll’s House is a play written by Henrik Ibsen. Set in the late eighteen hundreds, the play depicts a well off family living in Norway. As the play begins the reader meets Nora, a childish young women who loves to spend money and make sure everyone knows it. Her husband Torvald appears from his study and instantly one sees the type of relationship that the two share. Torvald speaks to Nora in such a way that gives the impression that he does see her as anything more than his trophy wife. Throughout the play the absence of a father plays a huge role in the development of events that take place in the play. Particularly, Nora, who is scrutinized for not having a respectable father figure in her developmental years. Nora’s actions are a tell tale sign of the patriarchal role that Torvald and the other men have over the women in the society they live in. However, at the end of the play, the patriarchal authority in Nora’s life shifts and gives her what she has always dreamed of. The influence of patriarchy in A Doll’s House changed Nora, which gave her the power to think for herself and create the life she has always wanted.

In the first act, it is the day before Christmas and Nora enters with a plethora of gifts for her family. She gives the delivery boy a generous tip and continues to unpack the gifts. She makes little noise, but just enough for her husband, Torvald, to here that she is home. He calls to her “Is that my little squirrel fussing about in there?” (Ibsen 333). She asks Torvald to come out of his study to see what she bought. As soon as she says that he immediately goes to see. They exchange few words about spending money and Nora tells him that if they run out they can borrow some. Torvald responds by saying “Nora!...

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...om society because she is still under someone’s patriarchal authority. Nora’s dreams became a reality and her Torvald played a huge role in making that happen for her.

Works Cited

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DeVaull, Natalie Hamm. "Nora's Final Inheritance In Henrik Ibsen's A DOLL HOUSE." Explicator 70.4 (2012): 275-278. Literary Reference Center. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.

Drake, David B. "Ibsen's A Doll House." Explicator 53.1 (1994): 32. Literary Reference Center. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.

Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll’s House. 1876. Literature and Ourselves, Sixth Edition. Henderson, Gloria, ed. Boston, Longman Press. 2009. 332-389.

Rosefeldt, Paul. "Ibsen's 'A Doll's House.'(Henrik Ibsen)(Critical Essay)." The Explicator 61.2 (2003): 84+. Academic OneFile. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.