Many familiar themes sporadically came to my mind when reading Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House." Indeed, much like in the short stories we read earlier this Summer session, including: "Chrysanthemums," "A Rose for Emily," and a "Yellow Wallpaper", a woman is portrayed stuck in a societal rubric that is very patriarchal. Nora is in a very controlling relationship with her husband Helmer. While he is very loving, not abusive, supports her financially, and shelters her, he is controlling as a father would act to a young daughter. He treats her as she is a child and eventually this culminates into events that end with Nora leaving her controlling husband at the story's end. I would compare Ibsen's "A Doll's House" mostly to "A Yellow Wallpaper" because while the husband is controlling, he is doing it for a number of mildly intentioned reasons. Firstly, in both stories, the husbands wish to help their wives; indeed, both husbands are 'controlling' because this is how they show their love to their wives. The second aspect one should consider is the societal morals that were in play in the cultures that inspired both stories. Woman were very subservient and had a much smaller voice in the household (as well as society) in comparison to today.
