Strings Attatched

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKJilc_6TtI Specifically in this video clip, from 3:08-5:27, is a good representation of how parents can be controling and try to arrange things for their children so they can have the best in life.  Allie was in love with Noah, but her mother did not approve.  When they started to get serious, Allie and her family moved.  Noah sent her letters everyday and never got a single one back.  Turns out the mom never let Allie see these letters! In this clip we understand the mom was in love with a scrub like Noah but decided to marry a rich man for a 'better life'.  She did not want her daughter falling in love with Noah and tried to set her up with a fine, rich young soldier. 
This type of parental control reminded me of A Doll's House because Nora's father would plan things for her and have her do things that would be 'best for her'.  Not only did her father order her around, but her husband did too.  I guess you could describe him as her puppet master.  He had pet names for her which made her seem like an object he just kept around.  He bought her things to please her and gave her whatever she wanted.  He wanted her to be the perfect wife and look the best.  He treated her like his doll and controlled whatever she did for the longest time.

Leaving the High Life

I was watching TV and came across a show called Football Wives.  One girl on the show, Mercedes, left her NFL star boyfriend for personal reasons.  With her boyfriend, she had it all- a famous, rich man to buy her things she wanted.  Mercedes ended the relationship to focus more on her career, goals, entertainment, education, and fashion. 
Nora, in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll House, married a man she did not love and hardly even knew.  He was a rich man who loved her so much, gaver her what she wanted, and treated her well.  When Nora realized who the real man that she married was, she stood up for herself and left the man that was so in love with her.  She wanted to start fresh, and forget all about him. 
Both women chose to leave the ideal life for something that would make them happier.  Just because they had 'stuff' and had easy access to money did not mean they were happy with their lives.  Little things in life are what make people really happy, not money and expensive things.

little light of truth

While reading the short story A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen, a symbolic light showed up constantly near the end.  I thought of a song I sang in my Sunday school class in second grade, "This Little Light of Mine".  In the story the light represents the truth and values.  As the song goes, "this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine..." the light stands for many different things, and in some cases can represent the truth.  The song goes on to say, "hide it under a bushel? No!..." and this can show that you should not hide the truth, and always be honest. 
In A Doll's House, near the end of act II Nora demands the lamp be brought in because she was uncomfortable and wanted to know if Dr. Rank was ashamed of his confession.  The light in the story reveals the truth.  In the dark room, many lies surround the Helmers, but when the lamp is present, the truth comes out.