What does the doll house symbolize for Nora?

Answer 1

In the play "the doll's house" by Ibsen, the position of Victorian woman is represented by using the symbol of a doll. As the heroine, Nora, explains at the very end of the play, the women seen as the doll of first their father, then of their husbands with the underlying codes that are sticked by the society. What he mean by "doll" is that women didnot allowed to explain themselves and didnot have any freedom to think, to live in the way they want. They should be silent and good housewieves as long as they did these kind of jobs, such as looking after to children and husband or father, they could be seen as good characters, if not then they began to be seen as 'witches'. So the doll's house symbolizes the strict rules and lines that clenches women of the time (and mostly today's women as well) inside of a house and the few chances or opportunities the society give to them. It's an important symbol so as to comprehend the status of women.