Importance Of Nora In A Doll's House

In Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, it illustrates the primary ideals of motherhood and marriage through the protagonist Nora Helmer. Nora make a decision to walk out on her husband and three small children after discovering her life has gone no where. Nora’s decision to leave is seen as a very controversial and scandalous act during this time period. I feel that Nora’s action are justifiable. Nora went through her life in the shadow of the two men in her life and she finally realized the wrongs they had done to her. Nora decided to leave to ensure that her children are brought up right, to leave an unhealthy relationship and to live the life she has not been able to. To begin, when Nora decided to leave Torvald, she decided that she must also leave her children behind. Nora had been used as a toy by both her father and Torvald and she had done the same to her children. Nora was leaving her husband going out into a world were women’s rights were limited, were she would be jobless, with no income or …show more content…
All these eight years—she who was my joy and pride--a hypocrite, a liar--worse, worse--a criminal! The unutterable ugliness of it all!--For shame! For shame! I ought to have suspected that something of the sort would happen. I ought to have foreseen it,” (Ibsen 71). Torvald acts as if Nora has committed the unthinkable. To conclude, Nora was never treated as a spouse throughout her eight years of marriage with Torvald, she was dehumanized, treated like a child, and abused and she had every right to leave. Lastly, Nora has been trapped in the houses of her father and Torvald for her whole life, never being able to do something on her own. Nora told Torvald her reason for leaving to regain her freedom and re-educate herself when she said,
“There is another task I must undertake first. I must try and educate myself--you are not the man to help me in that. I must do that for myself. And that is why I am going to leave you now,” (Ibsen