It seems that in times before the women's movement, women weren't thought of by men to be capable of being self sufficient. All a woman could do and was expected to do before today's times was to get married, take care of the children and the house, cook meals, and do anything and everything her husband asked of her. Women weren't expected to get a detailed education like men would. Men would often treat their wives like children making them listen and obey every command that was given. Women were often looked at as weak and incapable of intelligent thought. Because women were thought of this way, they thought this way as well pretty much until the women's movement. These views become apparent in the readings of "A Doll's House," and "Trifles." .
In "A Doll's House," a controlling father and a controlling husband treat a young lady like a child, and in turn she grows up acting like a child, or doesn't grow up at all. Torvold, the controlling husband, talks to his wife, Nora, as if she were a child. By her being treated like this all of her life, she acted as if she were a child. This becomes more and more apparent throughout the play until the very end. It starts off by Torvold getting sick and needing to take a long vacation, which is the only thing that can save his life. Knowing this, Nora took him away for a while so that he can relax and not focus on anything. They didn't have the money to do such a thing so Nora had to secretly borrow money from a man by the name of Krogstad. .
Throughout the play, Torvold finds out that Krogstad had borrowed money in the past. Torvold didn't think it was right to spend money you didn't have or that wasn't your own and had said that it made him physically sick to be around such people. Knowing this, Nora tries as hard as she can to keep the secret from him so that he won't feel the same way towards her. This is one of the many child like characteristics that she displays from being treated like a child all her life.
