Ibsen's A Doll House is a psychological play that shows the inequalities between the two sexes during the late 1800's early 1900's and how this inequality affected peoples' lives. A symbol that Ibsen uses to do this is Nora's "illegal" macaroons. Throughout the play, the macaroons are a type of defiance of character, an object resulting from forced dominance. The contrast created by the macaroons shows how people act one way while under societies' hold and how, when not under a close eye, a person dons the cloak of their own true personality.
             During the late 1800's men and women were not considered socially or legally equal. This lack of equality is exemplified in the home of Nora and Torvald Helmer, the protagonist couple of the play. In the story, it is apparently obvious from the very beginning that Torvald holds all of the power. He holds the key to the mailbox, designates the spending of money, and controls all major goings on. Nora, his wife, is merely a child or favorite plaything of Helmers to complete his perfect and morally sound home. This is demonstrated through Helmers treatment of Nora, calling her his little "lark", "spendthrift", "squirrel", etc. One symbol that Ibsen uses to portray how confined Nora really is by Helmer is the macaroon. At the beginning of the play, it told to the reader that Nora's husband Helmer has banned macaroons from her because they will "rot her teeth". Despite his ban, however, Nora hides the sweets and takes from them whenever he is not around, showing her will to be herself despite her husband.
             By showing how Helmer regulates Nora's sweets consumption, Ibsen demonstrates to his readers how confined and imprisoned Nora really is. This regulation is found throughout the book on numerous occasions such as when Nora needs money. The understanding of this reg
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