Playwright Henrik Ibsen wrote "A Doll's House" in 1879 as a way to creatively, yet powerfully, make a critique of 19th century society. At the time it was written, the play was considered controversial due to its subject matter; the advocation of women's rights. The play opens with Nora in her house around Christmas time. Nora is talking to her husband Torvald who uses names such as "little squirrel" to address her and reaffirm his dominance. She also meets with an old friend, Mrs. Linde, who is a widow. Nora is miserable because she lives her life serving Torvald. She lives through lies, but her husband perceives her as naive. In reality, she saves his life and proves that women in this era are not helpless. Torvald cannot know that she got a loan for him to get treatment in Italy because that would ruin his manhood. In this era, it would be considered embarrassing for your wife to do anything other than household chores for the family. In the end, the truth of Nora forging a signature for the loan comes out, and in that moment the true Torvald is revealed. When Torvald is put in a troubled situation, he does not help get Nora out of the mess, and instead he gets angry with her and is furious that she ruined his reputation. Once he found out that they were no longer in danger of trouble, he thinks of them as one again. Nora decides that she really does not love Torvald or even know him well, so she leaves her family. Nora is going against what was considered "right" during that time because disobeying your husband was unheard of in that era. Throughout A Doll's House, Nora illustrates female independence through her desires for education , financial autonomy, and self expression.
During the play A Doll's House, Nora demonstrates female independence because of her desire for an education. In this era, women grew up only knowing what was taught to them by their elders, and they received less education than men.