Marriage Lessons from a Doll's House Divorce has been widely accepted across the world. In today's world, the violent destruction of a family is ignored like everyday weather. The Norwegian play A Doll's House, by Henrik Ibsen, is a great example of a marriage that didn't work. Torvald and Nora Helmer's marriage had many problems because husband and wife failed to discover the secrets of marital happiness. To keep a marriage alive and growing it must be faithful to four qualities: love, communication, trust, loyalty and perseverance. With the incorporation of these qualities any marriage would work. Without love a relationship probably wouldn't even start. Two people meet, a friendship is born and a love story soon blossoms. Although the basis of Nora and Torvald's relationship seemed to be centered on love, the necessary balance was not achieved. Torvald did not really love Nora; to him she was just another little girl to think about. He said, "And I wouldn't want you to be anything other than what you are, just my sweet little songbird." But now that I think about it, you look rather... rather... how can I put it? -a bit as if I had made some trouble today" (151). Calling his wife names like "lark", "squirrel", and "spendthrift", Torvald does not love his wife with the respect and sensitivity that a man should. The main way Torvald demonstrated his lack of love for Nora was the way he ran his household. Torvald was the owner of what he believed to be a perfect doll's house. This dollhouse was initially controlled by Nora's domineering father, and once Nora married, the titles and shares of this dollhouse were handed over to Torvald. Torvald manipulated Nora, and then the children through her, according to his wishes, confident that he could never lose control over his precious dollhouse. This lack of love and imperious attitude would eventually ruin their marriage. Nora was the only one of the two partners to show love for each other in this play. Going against all the odds a woman faced in the late nineteenth century, Nora went behind her husband's back, borrowed a large sum of money, forged her father's signature and continued to repay it with the hope that Torvald wouldn't get it never aware. She refused to be a doll and alternated personalities between "Torvald's little lark" and "Nora, the intelligent, strong woman"..