Henrik Ibsen

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             Raymond Williams, in Drama from Ibsen to Brecht states that Ibsen's individuals " are caught between being absolutely fulfilled and being allowed to break their barriers." (Zeineddine, 9) The sole battle is not to determine a women's independence, but wether one has the courage to cross the barriers of society's norms. Ibsen stated that "A maker in modern society, like certain insects, retires and dies once she has done her duty by propagating the race." (Zeineddine 10).
             In a Doll's House, Ibsen lets you know from the title that Nora is a doll, not a person living in a house. Nora, the main character, has gone from living under her father's rule to living under her husband's. She has never had any responsibilities or made any choices. Ibsen uses the need for Torvald to re-teach Nora the tarantula dance to show that he views her as a puppet. She dances as a doll would to amuse him. This dance symbolically represents the need to be rid of the bite of the tarantula. Ibsen uses it symbolically to represent Nora's wish to free herself of outside forces. Nora has to act as if she needs Torvald to treat her as a doll just to please him. .
             Ibsen also uses animal imagery as a way to degrade Nora. He calls her names ranging from squirrel and song-bird, to a little lark. His use of which animal is dependent on how he's feeling at the time. Most of the animal imagery refers to happy peaceful animals. Torvald sees Nora as being a happy, carefree housewife. He is not aware of her discontentment. Nora has spent so much time in a doll's world she is not aware of the penalties that the outside world has for her illegal behavior. Slowly, Ibsen allows Nora's character to discontinue the role of the doll and seek out individuality. Two sides of Nora have conflicting problems, although she is wealthy, she likes to find sales and buy cheap clothing. Although she is confronted with the realities of the world, she still hopes that her husband will protect her.