A Doll House In Ibsen’s play, A Doll House, Nora is the unhappy wife finding a hard time to gain affection and love from her husband. Throughout the play, it is revealed that she has taken illegal loans in order to pay for a trip to Italy that would improve the health of her husband, and has been working in secret to pay it off. Her life seems to be wrapped around supporting her husband and seeking his approval, as well as raising their children in a happy home, all in return for the reward of her husband giving her the love and attention she seeks and satisfaction with her efforts at being the perfect wife. At the end of the play, her efforts to save her husband’s life, and to secretly secure finances for the family, and to be the perfect wife and mother are shattered when her husband (Torvald) discovers her secrets and instead of appreciating her efforts, becomes angry and reacts cruelly towards her. In the end, Nora leaves Torvald so that she can focus on her rather than focusing on a man that doesn't care about her. Nora’s decision to leave her children is justified because of how unhappy she was in the marriage because of her husband's treatment towards her, because she truly believed her children would be better off without her, and because staying in an unhappy marriage would be a bad example for her children. …show more content…
Not only does Torvald not treat her well as a wife, he doesn’t understand that the illegal choices she made to raise money for Italy were done for his benefit and he doesn’t come through to support or defend her. She finally understands this when she tells him “Our home has been nothing but a playroom. I have been your doll-wife, just as at home when I was papa’s doll-child”(Ibsen 879). When Nora leaves Torvald, she is starting a new life with a new idea of