The villain of "A Doll's House" is Torvald Helmer. Torvald is a man who is only worried about his reputation. He must always prove himself to those in doubt. When Nora asks Torvald to let Krogstad keep his job, he says that letting Krogstad keep his job would make his other workers laugh at him. This shows that he puts he reputation over his wife's wishes. When finding out about Nora's forgery, he makes several demands to make their household appear happy and normal.
Torvald controls Nora to an extreme extent. He refuses to let her eat macaroons. He scolds her for spending too much money on Christmas presents. Torvald treats her as a father would treat a child. He even uses pet names for her, such as skylark and squirrel. Another example of this is that he pays Nora an allowance, just as a father would. He feels the need to be in control so much that he has the only key for the mailbox. Torvald views Nora more as an object rather than a person. In act three he goes as far as calling her his prize possession. Once he reads Krogstad's letter, he says that Nora is no longer able to take care of their children. He believes that parents lying are the cause of children turning into criminals.
Torvald's attitude toward himself and Nora are important to the meaning of the play. It shows the male domination that was the social norm during that time period. The result of Torvald's villainy was Nora realizing that she was not in control of her life. She realized that she had to leave her normal life to become an individual instead of someone's possession.