Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment and Ibsen's A Doll's House have one main thing in common: crime. In A Doll's House Ibsen highlights the injustice of the law and the restrictions it places on individuals in society, while Dostoevsky uses it to show freedom through the law and the need for individuals to abide by it. Both the novel and the play introduce crime into the plot at the beginning of the play. In A Doll's House Mrs. Linde enters and Nora tells her but immediately says that “Torvald must not hear” (Perrine 876). Ibsen uses this early introduction to crime to immediately develop a secret between Nora and her husband that will ultimately lead to their separation. Dostoevsky has his main character refer to the crime as "that" while Rodya questions his intentions. "Is this something serious?" (Dostoevsky 4). Dostoevsky uses crime to introduce moral struggle into Rodya's consciousness. The immediate use of crime in both plays forms the basis of groundwork for the plot and develops the beginnings of important themes that will progress within the play/novel. In the play A Doll's House, Henrik Ibsen uses crime primarily as a plot advance. If there were no crime, the play would mean nothing. Nora's forgery leads to a secret that she hides from her husband which leads to him being embarrassed at being saved by a woman which causes her to leave. However, Ibsen expresses an important theme regarding crime: sometimes the law can be unjust. Mrs. Linde lays down the law as soon as the idea of ​​Nora borrowing money is proposed: “A wife cannot borrow money without the consent of her husband” (Perrine 877). This seems wrong enough in itself... Furthermore, the only reason Nora forged the signature was to save her husband's life, and for this she was blackmailed by Krogstad and oppressed by society's standards. In a critical review “Northam refers to Nora as Bercume 2, an example of the individual's struggle against society” (Mitchell 136). She was punished severely for something that could be considered a petty crime, and the crime ultimately led to her and Torvald's separation and her leaving home. Furthermore, "Christine Linde and Nils Krogstad's subplot ending in marriage occurs at the same time as Nora's breakup with Torvald." (Davies 51) The stark contrast between the two creates conflict among audience members because Krogstad is rewarded for blackmail while Nora is punished for saving her husband's life.