In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, the main male character, Torvald Helmer, speaks very condescendingly to his wife, Nora throughout the first act of the play. He has a definite and narrow definition of a woman's role, which is clearly exemplified in his dialect towards his wife as well as in reference to her. In his opinion, it is the divine duty of a woman to be a good wife to her husband and a good mother to her children. Furthermore, he tells Nora that women are solely responsible for the morality of their children (yet also somewhat contradicts his point at the same time in reference to Krogstad): “It generally comes from the mother’s side, but of course the father’s influence may act in the same way” (164). Basically, he sees women as child-like, careless, helpless creatures detached from reality while they also must act as prominent moral forces responsible for the purity of the world via their influence in the home.
Torvald’s view of his wife in a more fragile sense is exposed when he states, “Now, I needn’t sit here boring myself all alone; and you needn’t tire your dear eyes and your delicate little fingers–” (Ibsen 142). In constantly referring to Nora as a small, delicate animal, he inflates his ideal and sense of himself as being the wise, domineering member of the union, reassuring him of his control over the situation.
so has nearly no trust in Nora. In the first act, he continually scoffs at her for her flirtatious way of spending money, stating, “It’s a sweet little lark; but it gets through a lot of money. No one would believe how much it costs a man to keep such a little bird as you” (Ibsen 140). He continuously mentions how he would give her money if she would do with it as he sees fit, then “gives in” as his part of this game they play with one another where Nora plays dumb so she may have what she wants.
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