Throughout Denmark during the late nineteenth-century, the typical marriage was represented with the male dominance because women were looked down upon with no rights or thoughts for themselves. Torvald, the father figure in the play, represents the male dominant figure during the nineteenth-century. Throughout the play, the patriarchal symbolism that Ibsen emphasizes throughout the marriage of Nora and Torvald gives the reader a better understanding as to why Ibsen would put certain symbols to represent a typical marriage. In A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen portrays male-controlled symbolism throughout the play in order to emphasize the standard family structure of the late nineteenth-century. A Doll 's House is a play in the eyes of social …show more content…
Throughout A Doll’s House, Henrick Ibsen gives emphasis to male-controlled symbolism in order to emphasize the standard family structure of the late nineteenth-century. Torvald, the central male character, perfectly depicts the typical male dominance through his actions of control and dominance in the relationship with Nora Helmer. The names he gives her throughout the play: skylark, little squirrel, little spendthrift, etc. shows his looking down to Nora. He gives her no respect and like all typical marriages in nineteenth-century Denmark, he gives Nora no means to have any control in the marriage. The title A Doll’s House in itself generates the whole definition of the play, giving symbolism to Nora and how she is “trapped” in her own home and being ordered by Torvald in everything she says and does. As the play comes to a close, Nora exits the room by slamming the door on Torvald, showing her standing up to the patriarchy that exists in the family and in nineteenth-century Denmark. Male dominance is the key attribute to nineteenth-century marriages because women were never thought to have ways of power through the eyes of the man. When Nora slammed the door on Torvald, she was not making a stand for herself; she was making a stand for feminist equalization in