The Power In A Doll's House By Henrik Ibsen

When a high schooler thinks of love, they often think of butterflies in their stomach, spending time with the person they love, having a future together, and sharing a life together. Most of the time, these feelings get associated with happy thoughts and a sense of equality with their partner. However, in A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, Torvald Helmer manipulates his obsession with power to convince himself and others of his love for Nora. Though the reader sees that the imbalance of power lacks attention from Nora until the end of the play, it becomes evident as the play continues that Torvald not only holds his power over Nora to manipulate her, but becomes more and more obsessed with having power throughout A Doll’s House. Most of the time that Torvald mentions his love or adoration for Nora, it connects to holding power over her. This becomes evident when Nora decides to make her own decision, and Torvald exclaims “No, no; only lean on me; I will advise you and direct you,” (Act 3, Scene 1). Much like a constant formula, the reader sees that whenever Torvald starts to doubt that Nora will continue allowing him to have control over her, he attempts to make her feel that she cannot survive without living under his power. This proves true in Act 3, Scene 1, when Torvald tells Nora “I should not be a

The reader sees this when Torvald speaks to Nora about her loan and tells her “Only you did not have sufficient knowledge to judge of the means you used,” (Act 3, Scene 1). Though she got the loan to save his life, and likely made the right decision even though she broke the law at the time, Torvald says that she lacked the knowledge to make the correct decision. Throughout the play, Torvald constantly dehumanized Nora, only seeing her as an object that lacks