What do you see when you look at me?

Before the Mirror - Manet

In A Doll's House, a major aspect of the life that Nora leads is based on image and what she looks like to everyone, especially to Torvald, who wants her to look the best that she can.

At the beginning Nora acts like a child without any consideration for others. However, as the play continues we notice that she actually is aware of what she is doing, she is simply following the norms of the time that she lived in. In fact, the main job of women was to look good and create the appearance of a happy home and marriage to the outside world and at home, even if she was not happy.

The painting that you see, Before the Mirror by Manet reminded me of Nora when Torvald tells her that lying can cause the children to become bad and misbehave because they will follow the behavior of the mother. Afterward, Nora looks at a mirror hanging on the wall.

Nowadays, there are so many things that are considered looking good in our culture and society.  For example, there are so many women that are getting plastic surgery to make sure that they are accepted by society just like Nora does by pushing down her opinions and making sure that she looks exactly right. Also, we do know that the environments that we grow up in shape us but it is not just the mother that causes us to be "bad" its also whole as a family and what we experienced.