The people elected Andrew Jackson President of the United States even though he had married a divorced woman. Nonetheless…men and women had specific marital responsibilities and lived with considerable restraint on their behavior, always subject to community approval. Men were assigned the world of business and family support. Women were custodians of the home.

In such a social situation, Ibsen, by having Nora walk out on her husband, is literally slapping social convention in its face. In fact, in such a social context, Nora is a walking contradiction: she breaks convention by forging her father's name and taking on work herself (without her husband knowing) to pay a debt that saved his life. Yet his ungratefulness scathes her so badly that she sees no point in acting like his "doll."

Still, it is not social custom that Nora goes out of her way to buck. All of her actions have...
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