Growing up through life we have played with dolls imaging the perfect life. The wife stays home taking care of the kids, cooks, and cleans the house. The husband goes to work and provides for his family. We have imbedded this idea into our minds as being normal. These are ideas based on the male dominance over the world. Over time we have distanced ourselves from this idea but in 1879, when the Doll House was written and performed, these rituals were widely practiced. Ibsen distorts this idea and shows us a new perspective on family behavior, bringing us away from the normal and showing us a side that usually is not expressed in public.
When the play starts we are given a sense that this family portrayal is considered to be an average household. Torvalds fascination with Nora’s nicknames and her amusement with hiding macaroons give us the idea that they are madly in love and enjoy playing games to liven up their love life. However Torvald's insistence on calling Nora by diminutive names shows her dependence on him. The only time that Torvald calls Nora by her actual name i
Torvald's explanation for refusing to take the blame, that a man can never sacrifice his integrity for love, again reveals the depth of his gender bias. Nora's response that "millions of women have done just that”(405) underscores a fact that her actions to sacrifice herself for Torvald, has destroyed Nora's belief that Torvald should take responsibility for her seems justified, since what she expects from Torvald is no more than what she has already given him.
s when he is scolding her. When he is greeting her or admiring her, however, he calls her by childish names such as "my little skylark" and "my squirrel"(377). By placing her within such a system of names, Torvald not only asserts his power over Nora but also humiliates her to a degree. Later we find that Nora uses Torvald's pet names in order to win his cooperation in an act of manipulation. She knows that in calling herself his "little bird," his "squirrel," (377) and his " sweet little lark,"(378) and thus conforming to his desired standards, he will more willingly give in to her wishes. She realizes that her husband does not see he
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