The imposition of specific gender roles by societal norms on 19th century married life proved stifling. Women were objects to perform the tasks for which their gender was supposed to have been created: to remain complacent, to readily accept any task, and to perform it “gracefully” (Ibsen 213). Rather, men were absolute monarchs of their respective houses and all that dwelt in them. In Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's House, Nora is subjected to moral degradation due to her family role, her husband's constant condescension, and her own assumed subordination. Ibsen demeans the role of the housewife through showmanship, diminutive pet names, and Nora's interaction with her morally ultimate husband, Torvald. Nora displays a naive and frivolous facade, deteriorating her character from a seemingly ignorant woman-child to a desperate woman in order to preserve her illusion of the security of her home and, ironically, her own sanity. A Doll's House's depiction of the imprisonment of the average 19th-century housewife and the societal pressures placed on her shows a woman's gradual descent into madness. Ibsen illustrates this descent through Torvald's gradual infantilization of Nora and the pressure placed on Nora to adhere to societal norms. Nora is a woman subject to the pressure of 19th century societal norms and their oppressive nature results in a gradual degradation of her character that destroys all semblance of family and identity. Nora's role in her family is initially described as background, often "laughing softly and happily". itself” (Ibsen 148) due to its isolation not only in space, but also in person. Ibsen's character rarely ventures outside the main setting of the drawing...... middle of paper ...... the married woman is transformed into that of a woman desperate to preserve the illusion of home Perfect. In order for Nora to preserve her sanity, she was forced to break free from stereotypical 19th-century family constraints. Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's House depicts the imprisonment of an average housewife and the societal pressures placed on her. The play shows his gradual descent into what would be considered "madness" in this specific period. Ibsen illustrates Nora's fall from societal grace due to her desire to represent herself as an individual and no longer be inhibited by the social norms imposed on her. Nora's oppression, brought on by Torvald, society, and herself, resulted in a complete degradation of her character that destroyed any semblance of the illusion of her perfect family and housewife identity imposed in the 19th century..