a doll's house essay outline

BP1

Nora’s Initial Role

→ “little skylark”, “squirrel” (dimuntive pet names)

→ “I’ll do everything that you like, Torvald” (Act 1) (self-worth dependence on his approval, upper middle class women expected to maintain beautiful homes + flawless reputations)

BP2

Origins of Nora’s Role

“I was simply transferred from Papa’s hands into yours” (act 3)

→ submissive role from the start

→ she is viewed as a possession

→ women in victorian-era expected to keep up social image

→ identity built around fulfilling expectations rather than her selfhood

“He’d never have allowed it”  (act 1)

→ act of defiance twisted into illusion of obedience 

→ part of a larger performance advanced by her marriage + class

BP3

Nora’s Awareness + Rejection

“I have been your doll-wife, just as I used to be Papa’s doll-child” (Act 3)

→ critique shows it was not glorified, it was humiliating/demoralizing

→ Nora’s self awareness of her objectification

“I believe that before all else I am a human being, just as much as you are” (Act 3)

→she is a human being who does not have to be constrained to a role (she defines her value as a human not a possession)

→ establishes her freedom; she can do what she wants

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