Doll House

            
            
             In reading Ibsen's A Doll's House today, one may find it hard to .
             imagine how daring it seemed at the time it was written one.
             hundred years ago. Its theme, the emancipation of a woman, makes it .
             seem almost contemporary. .
             In Act I, there are many clues that hint at the kind of marriage .
             Nora and Torvald have. It seems that Nora is a doll controlled by .
             Torvald. She relies on him for everything, from movements to thoughts, .
             much like a puppet who is dependent on its puppet master for all of .
             its actions. The most obvious example of Torvald's physical control .
             over Nora is his reteaching her the tarantella. Nora pretends that she .
             needs Torvald to teach her every move in order to relearn the dance. .
             The reader knows this is an act, and it shows her submissiveness to .
             Torvald. After he teaches her the dance, he proclaims "When I saw you .
             turn and sway in the tarantella-my blood was pounding till I couldn't .
             stand it"(1009), showing how he is more interested in Nora physically .
             than emotionally. When Nora responds by saying "Go away, Torvald! .
             Leave me alone. I don't want all this"(1009), Torvald asks "Aren't I .
             your husband?"(1009). By saying this, he is implying that one of .
             Nora's duties as his wife is to physically pleasure him at his .
             command. Torvald also does not trust Nora with money, which .
             exemplifies Torvald's treating Nora as a child. On the rare occasion .
             when Torvald gives Nora some money, he is concerned that she will .
             waste it on candy and pastry; in modern times, this would be .
             comparable to Macauly Culkin being given money, then buying things .
             that "would rot his mind and his body" in the movie Home Alone. Nora's .
             duties, in general, are restricted to caring for the children, doing .
             housework, and working on her needlepoint. A problem with her .
             responsibilities is that her most important obligation is to please .
             Torvald, making her role similar to that of a slave. Many of Ibsen's .
             works are problem plays in which he leaves the conclusion up to the .