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Metaphor
Explanation and Analysis—My Little Sky-Lark:
A few times throughout the play, Torvald metaphorically compares Nora to various small animals, thus highlighting his perception that she too is small, delicate, in need of protection, and more of a pet or a possession than an actual living, breathing human adult. The first of these metaphorical pet names occurs on the very first page of the play:
Is that my little sky-lark chirruping out there? [...] Is that my little squirrel frisking about? [...] When did my little squirrel get home?
It is significant that Torvald’s words in the passage above are his very first lines of dialogue in A Doll’s House. While he means these terms to be endearing, they reveal how little he actually regards Nora as a serious adult with serious feelings. By comparing her voice to the twittering of birdsong and her chores and daily activities to mere “frisking about,” Torvald casually and unthinkingly demeans both Nora and the labor she does as a wife and mother.
Nora internalizes the hidden messaging in Torvald’s words and even refers to herself using his language when she tries to convince him to help Krogstad in Act 2:
If a little squirrel were to ask ever so nicely…? [...] And the pretty little sky-lark would sing all day long…
Although this line of attempted manipulation doesn’t work, Nora’s adoption of Torvald’s play-language reveals the extent to which her life as his wife has become the mere performance of a role rather than a genuine partnership. Her inability to communicate with her husband without using his cute, patronizing metaphors is yet another sign that their marriage is doomed.
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