In the play A Doll's House there are many important symbols and ideas that interrogated the 19th century status quo including the Tarantella, the I.O.U. and the calling cards of Dr. Rank. These images will be discussed in relation to the characters that they affected the most.

The first symbol that will be discussed here is the Tarantella and its relation to Torvald and Nora. In Taranto, where this dance comes from, it is believed that performing the Tarantella can save you from a poisonous tarantula bite. This belief can be related to the play in that the debt that Nora has incurred is like a tarantula bite, slowly poisoning her life with the constant pain and struggle of keeping her secret. Torvald upsets her when he says that Krogstad has "been poisoning his own children for years with lies and deceit"1 which Nora relates to...