Family+Relationships

= __Family Relationships__ = The relationship between parents and children is a complicated one. This concept of [|family relationships] is seemingly captured in //A Doll's House// by Henrik Ibsen. A parent is obligated to lead a moral life in order to set a good example for their children. This is shown through the environment that Nora and Torvald create around their children. Although they do not necessarily pamper their kids, they seem to give them necessary attention and proper care at the beginning of the play. But just like any relationship, parents and children can grow apart through a variety of situations. For example, a husband and wife can split, which is modernly called a divorce, and this can damage the children even more than it does the adults. A study from the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine shows these [|relationship effects] and some of the results are staggering. One such result even showed that the child may be given the huge burden of holding one or both parents together psychologically. If the play had continued, I feel as if this may have been the case with Torvald, who seemed to have a mental breakdown in the closing lines of the play.

= __Relationship Effects on Children__ = As stated earlier on the page, a break in a family relationship can be devastating to children. Although the play does not continue on long enough to show these effects, one can assume that Nora and Torvald's children experienced some, if not many, of the following qualities.

They may have experienced:
 * Insecurity and fear of what may be in store for the future
 * Fear of abandonment by their parents
 * Feelings of being rejected
 * Thoughts that put themselves at fault for their parents' split
 * Feelings of being powerless
 * Sadness or depression
 * Loneliness
 * Increased stress levels
 * Anger at their family

[|Click this link to be taken to an Oprah Radio discussion on the emotional effects of divorce on children!]