In A Doll's House, how does Henrik Ibsen use characterization, plot, setting, and dialogue to highlight the need for mutual respect among all people?

Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's House is set in a traditional middle-class home. We can tell the Helmers are middle class, soon to be upper-middle class, because Torvald works as a solicitor but has just been hired as manager of the bank. In addition, Ibsen describes the setting as a "comfortably and tastefully" furnished home, but not "extravagantly" furnished, meaning the furnishings did not cost a great deal of money. Since, at the start...

Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's House is set in a traditional middle-class home. We can tell the Helmers are middle class, soon to be upper-middle class, because Torvald works as a solicitor but has just been hired as manager of the bank. In addition, Ibsen describes the setting as a "comfortably and tastefully" furnished home, but not "extravagantly" furnished, meaning the furnishings did not cost a great deal of money. Since, at the start of the play, the Helmers do not have a great deal of money to spend on expensive furnishings, we know they are middle class. By creating a middle-class setting, Ibsen shows his audience that the issues of social injustice, such as those Nora faces when society does not pay her respect, apply to multiple social classes, not just the more frequently oppressed lower social class.

In addition to setting, Ibsen characterizes both Nora and Krogstad as being so oppressed by society that they are driven to commit acts of fraud just to survive. Nora is oppressed by her husband's efforts to control her, by the fact that her society does not permit women to legally take out loans without the permission of a man, and by the fact that her society does not permit married middle-class women to work, making it difficult for her to pay back the loan she obtained through forgery. Only single women were permitted to work. Similarly, Krogstad was so oppressed by society that he was driven to commit forgery to try to save his wife's life. In addition, according to Torvald, Krogstad managed to escape legal retribution through a "cunning trick," a trick that made it even more difficult for Krogstad to regain his reputation. Yet, what Torvald, as well as the rest of society, fails to realize is that, with Krogstad's wife dead, Krogstad needed to do everything in his power to keep himself out of jail so he can continue providing for his sons. Society's oppression drives Krogstad to commit fraud, and then continues its oppression by frowning upon his actions, preventing him from getting and keeping a decent job. Through his characterization of Nora and Krogstad, Ibsen shows that society needs to start showing mutual respect for all people, which would help to eliminate oppression.

Ibsen further uses plot to develop his theme concerning respect by having Nora strike out on her own in the resolution. In believing her first duty is to herself and seeking to try to become a "reasonable human being," Nora is setting out to demand of society the respect that has been owed to her all her life.