Whether it be good or evil, breaking up or staying together, french fries or mashed potatoes, humans have to deal with conflicting forces every day of their lives. While the severity and consequences of these decisions vary, everyone knows what it feels like to try and choose correctly. The pressure, the niggling feelings of doubt, and finally deciding. The main character of Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's House, Nora, is torn by conflicting forces. Nora has to decide whether to live miserably in the role that society has molded for her, or be true to what she wants for herself. Ibsen writes this play to teach his Nineteenth Century society that women were not meant to be oppressed and that something needs to be done to change the current situation. Nora's battle with conflicting forces is meant to be a general formula that could apply to any household of the time and, therefore, meant to influence the decisions of citizens of the time.
             The first conflicting forces that Nora faces are her instincts to save the man she loves and the law. The laws of Nineteenth Century Europe reflected societal views that women were completely incapable of serious matters, and therefore were left bereft of rights. Nora is well aware of these social norms and rules, but she goes against them to take out a loan, showing the audience that she possesses a rebellious streak. Nora proves that she is very naive in the begging of the play because she feels that, despite the law, her decision is justified because she has done it to save her husband's life. Nora shows this when she is confronted by Nils Krogstad and says, "Is a wife not allowed to save her husband's life? I don't know much about law, but I am certain that there must be laws pertaining to things such as that" (Ibsen 24). While Nora does what she does to save someone she loves, she will still be condemned by society if her secret is e
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