Best of Miami Portfolios 2001 - Units.muohio.edu

“my little squirrel” (2). Torvald does not love Nora as an equal, and because of this, Nora finds that
she cannot love Torvald. When Torvald asks what he had done to make Nora not love him, Nora
replies, “It was tonight, when the wonderful thing did not happen; then I saw you were not the man
I had thought you” (69). The wonderful thing would have happened if Torvald had taken
responsibility for Nora’s romantically-inspired forgery that saved his life. By taking responsibility,
however, he would have lost his honor in society. He states, “no man would sacrifice his honor for
the one he loves” (70). Nora sums up the inequality between man and wife by retorting, “It is a
thing hundreds of thousands of women have done” (70). Torvald, however, expresses the maledominated
society’s views of women and says, “Oh, you think and talk like a heedless child” (70).
Because of Torvald’s inability to grasp the concept of equality, Nora leaves him. Society’s values
are revealed by Nora’s declaration of equality and independence.
Through Nora’s rebellious declaration and departure, she removes herself from society’s
standards and makes a move towards equality. She renounces society’s views of a woman as a
child, doll, and slave. Men in Victorian society told a woman how to act as a parent to a child, how
to dress for a public event as an owner to a doll, and how to keep her thoughts to herself as a master
to a slave. Henrik Ibsen portrayed qualities of the Victorian era through the alienated female
gender, represented by Nora.
Note: While the primary text referred to in the essay serves as the source for all quotations, a
complete citation in a “Works Cited” page is considered standard in academic writing. Please
include complete citations whenever primary and/or secondary sources are used.
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