"A Doll's House" tells the story of Nora who was a woman of the Victorian
period. Nora Helmer was both a prisoner of her time as well as a pioneer. In her society
women were viewed as a inferior to men and were not provided full legal rights. Women
of that era were expected to stay at home and attend to the needs of their spouse and
children. Nora was a free spirit just waiting to spread her wings; her husband Torvald
would constantly disallow the slightest pleasures that she aspired to have, such as
Nora lived a life of lies in order to hold her marriage together. She kept herself
pleased with little things such as telling Dr. Rank and Mrs. Linde; "I have such a huge
desire to say-to hell and be damned!" (Isben 59) Just so she could release some tension
that was probably building inside her due to all the restrictions that Torvald had set up,
such as forbidding macaroons. The need for her to consume these macaroons behind her
controlling husband's back was a way for her to satisfy her sense of needing to be an
Upon the arrival of her old friend Kristine Linde, Nora took it upon herself to find
her friend a job since she had gone through a lot in her life. She asked her husband
Torvald, who also happened to be the new manager at the bank if Kristine could have a
job and he responded with an afirmative response. Mrs. Helmer had also stated that she
had single handedly saved her husband's life when she took out a loan for his benefit.
However, in those days women were unable to get a loan without their husband's consent
or another male's signature, so Nora took it upon herself to forge her father's signature in
order to secure the welfare of Torvald. She saw it as her obligation as a loving wife to
break the law so she would be able to save a life, especially when it was the life of her
husband. Others though saw it as a criminal offence; Nils
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