Societal expectationsAt the beginning of Act I of "A Doll´s House", the scene is intended to impress the audience "with descriptions living room "tastefully furnished, but nothing too extravagant". (Ibsen) The first to enter is Nora. Nora arrives with her arms full of bags from shopping, and her husband, Torvald, calls from another room to make sure it's really her he hears coming through the door. Torvald sets limits on Nora's spending; he treats her both like a child and like a doll. The way the characters in the play treat and react to each other shows the selfish intentions in which society's expectations place them. The character of Nora's father was only mentioned throughout the play, but introduced a vision of her. past and childhood. In society's expectations, Nora's relationship with her father was not uncommon. A mother is usually the caretaker of the children; it's obvious that Nora didn't have that. Instead, she was “put on a shelf, like a doll,” by her own father. Nora was treated like a special child. Torvald repeatedly tells Nora that she inherited her negative traits from her father, as if justifying why he insults her and treats her like a doll, and sometimes also like a child. The male characters in "A Doll's House" play the role of typical roles of their gender that society also defends against them. The way Torvald speaks to Nora, calling her his "little squirrel" or his "lark" and casually telling her that she spends too much money, is based on his expectations of her. Torvald is considered an honest man within his society. With Nora being a “spender,” this doesn’t sit well with her. At the time, women were subject to societal expectations and had to be submissive to their husbands...... middle of paper ...... loves Torvald, she stops playing the role of the child and begins to play the role of a woman. Nora's idea of ​​letting her children find themselves is not what society expects of her. Nora's main acts are not so much selfless, but selfish, as she uses Torvald and then leaves him. When Mrs. Linde asked Nora if she would ever tell Torvald where the money came from, Nora replied, "Yes, maybe after many years of him and I no longer being interested in each other's the other will be something of good use in reserve.” (Ibsen)Works CitedIbsen, Henrik and Parker, Philip M. “A Doll’s House.” San Diego: ICON Classics, 2005. eBook. November 17, 2013 Benedict, David. “A doll’s house.” Daily Variety July 12, 2012: 22. Academic OneFile. Internet. November 17, 2013 Rosefeldt, Paul. "Ibsen's Doll's House." (Henrik Ibsen) (Critical essay). The explainer 61.2. 2003. OneFile Academic. Internet. November 17. 2013