From the title alone, A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen has an adolescent connotation, with dolls being immediately associated with girls and young men. In this controversial playwright, Ibsen portrays his Danish protagonist as an ignorant youth. Set in Copenhagen, Denmark, during the 1880s, the childlike character of Nora suggests what the lifestyle of many women may have been like during that time. Ibsen reveals Nora's innate, child-like nature by incorporating strategic set placement and direction, meaningful symbols, a series of revealing dialogues, and elaborate descriptions, wholesome in detail. Ibsen creates a setting that traps Nora in domestic comfort. The show opens with a description of the setting, detailing it as "A comfortably furnished room" (Doll's 1). Most of the show takes place in this room. With Nora confined to this room until the final scenes of the play, the idea of ​​restrictions emerges. While Nora may simply be a recluse because of her gender, she doesn't have much more power or significance than the children; this not only places her on a subordinate level compared to her relationship with Torvald, but equates her to that of a child. Ibsen reveals both literal and symbolic restrictions on Nora not only through the setting but through Torvald's direction. While waiting for Dr. Rank, Torvald orders Nora to send Dr. Rank to his office (1), never to enter Torvald's office herself. Further indications, coming from Ibsen rather than Torvald, suggest that, like a child, Nora is willing to run away from the problems she creates by deciding "to never see them again... (puts the shawl over her head)" (3), instead to act maturely and face his self-inflicted problems head on. Nora's restrictions... half of the card... express her childish nature, wanting to destroy something just because the outcome is not as expected or the end result is too difficult to achieve. The audience also finds Nora's adolescent attributes in Ibsen's brilliantly incorporated symbols. Trapped in the comfort of home, Nora Helmer's childish nicknames, along with the act of dressing up and playing the part of Torvald's wife confirm that Nora is simply a child playing at home. Even assuming that the house was like a playroom, Nora lives the last eight years of her life in this childhood illusion. Ibsen ingeniously incorporates revealing dialogue, carefully orchestrates an entrapped setting and direction, and skillfully marries both symbolism and indirect description to present Nora's immature, child-wife nature. Works Cited Ibsen, Henrik. A doll's house. Trans. Michael Mayer. Mineola (NY): Dover, 1992