Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House is considered a feminist literary work. Some feminist critics consider it a feminist work as it presents the stereotype image of woman through Nora's character and man, through her husband as the only controller of everything. Throughout the play there are many examples of Torvald treating Nora badly and in a way insulting her because she's a woman. Torvald treats Nora almost like a child. He never actually talks to her like an adult. He thinks that Nora wasn"t intelligent, or mature enough to have a conversation that has to deal with serious matters. He also has a lot of pet names for her. Whenever Torvald speaks to Nora he usually calls her "my little squirrel", and "little lark". He doesn"t give Nora any freedom to speak or even think for herself. Every time she does something she does it for Torvald, or she does it because that's what Torvald wants. Everything that Nora does, she does it the way he likes it. Nora never really does anything for herself. When Nora, for example, is preparing for the ball, she asks Torvald what she should wear and what to perform instead of deciding for herself. He treats her more like a possession than a person. This is where you see that Nora is like a doll. To Torvald, Nora is like a pet that has been taught to be obedient and to do tricks for him. Feminism is evident in the play in the part where Torvald thinks himself to be superior to Nora because he is a man, and Nora is a woman. There are just many points to support the fact that feminism is a theme in Ibsen's play. This is clear in the way Torvald speaks to Nora, The names he calls her and the fact that he never has a serious conversation with Nora because she's a woman and she wouldn"t understand. He openly says this in the play, and because of that I believe that feminism is a very dominant theme in Ibsen's A Doll's House. These aspects are all clear in the following two extracts chosen from the play.
