Set in the 19th Century Ibsen sets the scene of a typical burgeosie/ middle class

home he does this to match the socio-economic demographic that would see his
plays, this makes the message all the more applicable and shocking. Women
were socially conditioned at this time to be subservient to their husbands whilst
husbands were meant to be the main breadwinners of the house. We discussed
that the play appeared to be feminist, however the issues that Nora grapples
with are applicable to both the sexes- societal expectations and pressures for
example. The institution of marriage for example was deemed near sacred in
those times but by the end of the play NoRA no longer feels obliged to play
gender instead she slams the door on the repression of morality, religion and
her duty as a mother and wife, and goes out into the world on a voyage of selfdiscovery. At first I felt that Nora and Helmers relationship was just one of
dominance and submissive however it is used as an extended metaphor as the
paradigm of the institution of marriage. The play does not only point out
discrepancies within the genders but also the classes, it can be seen as a Marxist
reading humans being a product of their social/economical conditions. In a
capitalist society, the relationship between capitalist and worker is founded on
the exploitation of the workforce- a relationship of conflict and contention. We
see Krogstads job endangered on the whims of the bourgeoisie (Helmer) and
Nora and Helmers relationship we see more as a tacit business agreement than
a loving relationship.