The image of Feminism in The Doll House Backlash Essay

During the play, the audience is let in on Noras secret  she had to take out a loan from a blackmailer to have enough money to take her sick husband to Italy to recover from tuberculosis. She believed that nothing was going to happen when she took out this loan, but the loaner comes to her house requesting his money back, and continues to blackmail her. She believes that her husband will be happy with her taking out the loan, since she sacrificed herself for him and his family, but she is wrong. Torvald does not like that his wife is making decisions, such as taking out a loan, without asking him. Torvald calls her many different names, such as featherbrained woman and a child. This frustrates Nora because she thought he would be grateful to her, since she saved his life, but instead Torvald tells her that she wrecked his future, happiness, and social standing within the community. This argument between the two of them allows Nora to realize that her marriage is not based off of love, but as a benefit for the selfabsorbed Torvald. Nora begins to realize that she has been living in a fantasy world and the only way to get out of her current situation is to leave Torvald and her children, and live independently, which is something that society did not agree with.

Nora exclaims to Torvald, after she decided to leave him and her family, that she was his wifedoll, just as she was her fathers dollchild. The statement shows that she does not want to be controlled like a doll anymore as they are silent and are not able to do anything without someone  in this case, she cannot do anything without the permission of Torvald. This is when she leaves her past and does not let Torvald control her any longer. She begins to follows her own principles and decides for herself what her future will hold for her.

In the beginning of the play, Nora does not realize that all of the important men in her life, such as her father and husband, have oppressed her. She went through life believing that her duties were to take care of her husband and children, and by doing this her husband would show some appreciation, which ends up not being true. When her past catches up with her, and her husband finds out she took a loan out without asking him, he becomes enraged. This is the moment she realizes that her marriage is not based off of love, but social status, and this infuriates her. She decided at this moment that she is leaving her husband and children, and is going to become her own woman without the control of a man. Nora is a representation of feminist women at this time, all fighting for equal rights and the want to not be viewed by society as a doll under the control of a man, their master.