In the play A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen, Ibsen tells the story of a wife and mother who have not only been wronged by society, but also by her beloved father and husband because of her gender. Nora left her father's house as a naive daughter only to be passed into the hands of her husband, forcing her to be a naive wife and mother, or so her husband thinks. When Nora's husband, Torvald, becomes seriously ill, she takes matters into her own hands and illegally obtains a loan that will give her the means to save her husband's life. Her closely guarded secret is then used against her, to extort Torvald, who had no idea that his wife was or could be anything other than what he had made her. However, Nora has many overlooked dimensions: “In addition to being lovable, Nora is selfish, frivolous, seductive, unprincipled, and deceptive” (Rosenberg and Templeton 894). Nora is a dynamic character because her father and husband treat her like a child and do not allow her to have her own thoughts and opinions. As the play progresses, she breaks free from the chains of her gender expectations to explore the world around her. In the first glimpse of Torvald and Nora's relationship, Nora returns from a day of Christmas shopping. She is recognized by her husband's greetings in the form of degrading animal names which he uses in a discreet and therefore unnoticed form of verbal oppression and verbal stake to claim her as his property. “But if Helmer considers Nora his property, as he apparently does, Nora encourages him. to do it. For him, she is called his little squirrel and his lark” (Dukore 121). These actions are not Nora's fault, it seems that Nora does not fight her degrading nicknames because she knows no difference and it also benefits her in the ability to manipulate Torvald with...... middle of paper. ..... in A Doll's House. " Readings on a Doll's House. Hayley R. Mitchell. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 1999. 120-27. Print. Heller, Otto. " Wedding in a Doll's House. " Readings on a Doll's House. Hayley R Mitchell. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 1999. 97-102. Print. Ibsen, Henrik "A Doll's House." Portable Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing by Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. Boston, MA: WadsworthCengage Learning, 2011. Print. Kelly, Katherine E. “Pandemic and Performance: Ibsen and the Epidemic of Modernism 25.1 (2008): 12- 35. November 25, 2011. Rosenberg, Marvin and Joan Templeton. “Ibsen's Nora.” Ibsen. “PMLA104.1 (1989): 28-40. JSTOR. Internet. November 16. 2011.