Nora's Self-Discovery in A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen Ibsen's play, "A Doll House", involves a woman who begins the play as an ordinary housewife and through a series of joyous events and catastrophes becomes a self-liberating woman. Nora Helmer transforms and decides to abandon her family and home in search of her true self. It gets to this point due to several factors. Her refusal to submit to her husband and her self-realization are caused by the way she was taught to act by her husband and her father, and by the contradictory demands that the situations she faced imposed on her. Her true devotion to herself is exposed because of the false devotion she felt towards her husband and his role in her family. In “A Doll's House,” Henrik Ibsen uses the character of Nora to show that the way a woman is treated and the role she takes in society can actually lead her to discover her true humanity. Although it seems contradictory, it is actually Torvald Helmer, Nora's husband, who causes Nora to refuse to submit to him. Torvald has a very low opinion of Nora's ability to handle things on her own and gives her almost no responsibility to the family outside of mundane domestic matters. His incessant use of his nicknames, "songbird" and "squirrel" for example, trivializes his place in their home. However, when Torvald falls ill, it becomes Nora's responsibility to see to his recovery. Of course, Torvald must know nothing about the fact that Nora has borrowed money for his own good, which the situation requires. So Nora is faced with a dilemma. Here her first decision to disobey her husband's wishes, actually for the sake of her love for him... middle of paper... I would have told him her troubles long ago." (294) Works Cited: Gray, Ronald." Henrik Ibsen." Hardwick, Elizabeth "A Doll's House." Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1992. Vol. 2, pp. 294-295 Harris, Laurie Lanzen. "Characters in 20th Century Literature New York: Gale Research Inc. , 183Huneker, James. "Ibsen." Twentieth century literary criticism. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1979. Vol. 2, pp.222-223Ibsen, Henrik "A Doll House Forth Worth: Harcourt Brace College. pp. 967-1023 Works consulted Shaw, Bernard. "A Doll's House Again" Criticism Twentieth Century Literary Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1979. Vol. 8. 143