A few of the many ways he does this is in which he calls her degrading names and treats her as if she is a pet, or his property. He has referred to her many times as “ ‘[...] a sulky squirrel’ ” as well as, on multiple occasions, his “ ‘[...] little lark [...]’ ” (Ibsen 866). These are just a few of the many times in which he used names of animals to refer to his wife, bird names in particular such as lark seem to be his favorite. Healthy relationships are built on a foundation of equality between the couple in which neither is superior in regards to the other. However, with Nora and Torvald’s relationship, it is extremely prevalent that their relationship is not built on equality within it. Rather than that, shown in Torvald’s ways of referring to his wife, it is shown that their relationship is one in which Torvald is the superior one, and Nora is not. Their relationship seems to be more like a master-pet relationship or parent-child one rather than a mutual respect between two lovers. Moving past …show more content…
Certain times, after he found out about Nora’s debt (which was paid off at the time), he lashed out at her in a completely unnecessary way which would spark fear in anybody. He went off, yelling at her and just being very angry in general in a way that was not needed and excessive. He told her that she was “ ‘[...] a hypocrite, a liar, [...as well as] a criminal’ ” all of which are not things you should ever call your wife under any circumstances ever, but he went on to say that the whole situation was “ ‘[...] infinitely disgusting’ ” (Ibsen 935). These words he said out of pure anger and hatred towards his wife, displaying very clearly that he did not truly love her and well as the fact that he could become very abusive very fast. After finding out that the debt was actually paid off, he did not even thank Nora or acknowledge the struggles she went through in order to pay it off. Instead, he “[...] cries out joyfully [... and claims he is] ‘saved!’ ”(Ibsen 935). Rather than saying that they have both been saved, he only recognizes that he is the one who is ‘saved’ and Nora had nothing to do with it, that is reputation is safe. These all display clearly that Torvald is a very violent person, borderline abusive and he does not care for Nora in a way that could be called true love. Nora’s realization of his lack of true affection for her pushed her to