The Struggle for Identity in a Doll's House A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen, is a work written ahead of its time. In this play Ibsen addresses women's rights as an important issue. Throughout this period it was neglected. A Doll's House was written during the Naturalism movement, which commonly reflected society. Ibsen recognizes the fact that in 19th century life, a woman's role was to stay at home, raise children, and care for her husband. Nora Helmer is the character in A Doll House who plays the nineteenth woman and is portrayed as a victim. Michael Meyers said of Henrik Ibsen's works: "The common denominator in many of Ibsen's plays is his interest in individuals struggling for authentic identity in the face of tyrannical social conventions. This conflict often results in the division of his characters between a sense of duty to themselves and their responsibility to others." (1563) All aspects of this quote can be applied to the play A Doll House, in the character of Nora Helmer, who for much of the play is oppressed and presents an inauthentic identity to the audience and during the show attempts to discover his authentic identity. Nora's smaller role is extremely important to her character. Nora is oppressed by a series of "tyrannical social conventions". Ibsen in his "A Doll's House" describes the role of women as subordinates to emphasize their role in society. Nora is burdened by Torvald's manipulation. Torvald has a very typical relationship with society. He's a smug bank manager. With his job comes a lot of responsibility. He often treats his wife as if she were one of these responsibilities. Torvald is very authoritative and puts his appearance, both social and physical, before that of the wife he supposedly loves. Torvald is a man concerned about his reputation and cares little about his wife's feelings. The relationship between Nora and Torvald appears to be happy on the outside. Nora is treated like a child in this relationship, but as the show progresses she begins to realize how phony her marriage is. Torvald sees Nora's only role as that of a submissive, loving wife. He refers to Nora as "my little squirrel" (p.1565), "my little lark" (p.1565), or "spendthrift" (1565). For him she is just a possession. Torvald calls Nora nicknames and insults her because he thinks she is not intelligent and cannot think for herself..