Class Discrimination

The most predominant theme in "The Doll's House" by far is that of class discrimination and the effects of socio-economic disparity. From the very beginning of the story, Mansfield makes wealth and status her central focus, detailing the opulence of the doll's house and, by extension, the Burnell family. The description of the doll's house shows its extraordinary detail and superiority to real homes as it comes to represent the ideal manifestation of wealth and success. The narrator even exclaims, "That is the way for a house to open!" (1) and goes on to compare the miniature house to other real ones: "Why don't all houses open like that? How much more exciting than peering through the slit of a door into mean little hall with a hatstand and two umbrellas! That is – isn't it? – what you long to know about a house when you put...