Gender

• The play explores the way in which restrictions placed on female characters lead to unsettling results as Ibsen portrays the shocking and sudden mental decline of the protagonist as a result of her limited personal agency.
• Ibsen explores gender imbalances under a strictly traditional and patriarchal society wherein females are limited to domestic and subordinate roles. 
• The title of the play alludes to imaginary roles that are played out within the Helmer house; Ibsen portrays a wife who is perceived as her husband’s child-like possession or plaything. 
• Ibsen presents single women as equally victimised by societal constructs and inequitable laws.
• Male attitudes towards female characters in the play raise further questions about the way the traditional roles of males and females may diminish identity. 
• Ibsen depicts the traditional and stereotypical role of husband and wife in 19th-century Europe through Nora and Helmer
• Helmer - Control over his wife is exemplified in his dialogue - He repeatedly uses pet names to symbolise her powerless status in the marriage - He admonishes her for her stupidity and impulsiveness, suggesting these are female traits
• Helmer - traditional perspectives on women are presented unsympathetically as he is portrayed as an ignorant and superficial man - Not only is he cruel and dismissive to Nora and his children, but he behaves similarly to his male colleagues and friends - In the resolution, he is left alone, abandoned and confused
• Nora - Subordinate role as his wife is presented as equally superficial and resulting in secrecy and falseness - She repeatedly hides her true nature from him, keeping secrets and behaving differently when with him - Her feminine subservience is portrayed hyperbolically - She reveals her desire for autonomy to Mrs Linde - She tells her that working and arranging the loan was 'almost like being a man'
• Nora - Dissatisfaction with her status as a woman intensifies as her independent single friend challenges her on her insincerity and lack of independence
• At the time of the play, women were prohibited from conducting business or handling their own money - Approval was required from a father or husband for any financial arrangements - This system, under the Napoleonic Code of law, is the reason for Nora’s secret loan and forgery
• Mrs Linde - Portrayed as having greater personal agency as a single woman - As a widow, she is able to earn her own money - Despite this leading to long hours at menial jobs, she describes this as her “greatest and only joy” and a necessity if she is to “endure this life” 
• Ibsen emphasises the necessity of work in order for females to gain autonomy
• Nora - Works at night and spends nothing on herself to pay for the loan which saved Torvald’s life
• Nurse - Gives up her own child to support herself in working for Nora
• Mrs Linde - When Dr Rank suggests she rest, her caustic response highlights his ignorance to her circumstances
• The play’s female characters endure personal and silent sacrifice to earn money
• Helmer’s criticism of Nora as a mother is ultimately the final straw for her - Ibsen suggests her identity is tied up in her status as a mother and wife
• Nora - her motive for leaving changes within a short time - Ibsen depicts her awakening to the true nature of her madness - her repression - This is presented through the climactic tarantella dance
• Nora - In the final scene, a calm and collected Nora refuses Helmer’s forgiveness and expresses her desire for independence from his control - She specifically articulates the pressures she feels as his “responsibility”
• A Doll’s House challenges the restricted role of women in 19th-century Europe by illustrating the problems arising from power imbalances between man and wife
• Ibsen’s play depicts the damaging consequences of, and hypocrisies within, strict patriarchal standards
• Ibsen wrote A Doll’s House at a time when male dominance in the workforce afforded powerful men almost autonomous control to limit and restrict others’ lives 
• Ibsen challenges traditional roles within marriage by showing communication breakdowns as a result of gender stereotypes