A Doll House

5 Pages 1172 Words

The Patriarchal Marriage Of Nora And Helmer!

From the beginning of time until about the 1970’s women were expected to be seen and not heard. In A Doll House, Nora and Helmer’s marriage reflected this typed of thinking. Nora and Helmer’s relationship was built on the idea of the man goes to work and makes all the household decisions and the woman takes care of the children and the house. They were part of a patriarchal society, were according to Webster’s New World Dictionary is a form of social organization in which the father or the eldest male is recognized as the head of the family or tribe. Also it means government, rule, or domination by men as far as the family or tribe. Women had to secretly do things without their husband’s permission. I think that this made the women feel important, or that they could do things by themselves. If the truth ever came out it could ruin the relationship between husband and wife, it make s the man feel less of a man when his wife doesn’t come to him for everything.
Women were considered to be possessions of their husbands, Helmer sees Nora as his possession or maybe even a child. He always makes sure to say “my” when calling her “ Is that my little lark twittering out there?”(997). Just to ask her if see was home he says it in a way to make sure that she understands that she belongs to him. He even goes on to say “Can’t I look at my richest treasure? At all that beauty that’s mine, mine alone- completely and utterly.”(1038). I don’t know if he is just trying to remind Nora that she beings to him and only him or if he is trying to make sure that she is faithful to him. I believe it’s a little bit of both. He’s saying that nobody else can have you because you belong to me. Helmer often chastises Nora when he feels like she is getting beside herself. “My little songbird must never do that again. A songbird needs a clean beak to warble with. No false notes. T...