Question

What kind of wife does Helmer want Nora to be? He affectionately calls her names such as “skylark” and “squirrel.” What does this reveal about his attitude toward her?

Answer 1

Answer:

Helmer Torvald wants his wife Nora to be the type of wife who will depend on him for assistance and in whatever she does. He wants her to be incapable of living without him.

By calling her by different names, animal and bird names, Helmer is asserting his superiority and power over her, representative of the society's stand on patriarchal notions.

Explanation:

In Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House", Helmer calls Nora by various nick names as his way of asserting his authority over her. through the images of the bird and animals names, he is imagining himself as a protective figure in her life, the one to depend on and the masculine help that Nora needs to survive. Through the name calling, he is not only asserting his power but also dehumanizes her to a certain level. he sees himself as superior to her feminine being, incapable of surviving without a stronger presence. The only time he ever calls her by her name is to scold her. Other than that, he uses the nicknames, depicting his personal convictions of maintaining the gender roles in the society and family of those times.