Metaphor

In A Doll's House, Ibsen uses the metaphor of the doll house in a very prominent way. He basically uses it to compare Nora's life to that of a doll being controlled by others. In the play, she was seemingly only used by Torvald for show, when she believed that she was in control of her entire life. Torvald controlled her by simply using money, which had a major power over her. But when Nora finally realized what was happenning to her, she broke off her marriage with Torvald and decided to become individualistic for the first time in her life. Nora says,"I mean, I went from Papa's hands into yours. You arranged everything to your own taste..." (Ibsen 109). Nora felt almost discriminated against, because ever since she had been a young girl, someone had always been controlling her. At first, she was operated by her father, and later by Torvald. In the end, though, Nora was able to break away from her doll-like lifestyle and become independent from Torvald and her past. I feel that by doing this, she was able to improve her life in a major way.

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In the play, it was almost as if Nora was a doll or puppet, who was trying to break away.



In the World Today

I feel that the metaphor of being trapped in a "doll house" is prevalant throughout our world today, because both women and men often wrongly choose who they want to be with based on the other's possessions or physical beauty. In these relationships, it almost always ends up with one, or both, of the parties involved being used for show or, in modern terms, as "eye candy." Just like Ibsen, I believe that this is not the way that anyone should be treated, because all human beings should have a right to choose and act for themselves.