A Doll’s House looks at various aspects of inheritance. Most
often, inheritance is looked under the concept of coming into material wealth
left behind by a dead relative. Banking on material inheritance, Nora lies to
Torvald that the money she had used for their trip down south was part of her
inheritance from her dead father.
By the end of the 19th century, there was a growing
interest in genetic science. However, society’s understanding of this science
was not as conclusive as it is today. Therefore, there were a lot of
misconceptions on what could be passed on from one generation to another.
Among the misconceived notions was that moral decadence
could be inherited. Dr Rank suffers from a strange illness which he believes
he inherited from his father who led a promiscuous life. When Nora learns about
her own immoral conduct, she begins to distance herself from her children. She
believes that she will poison her children with whatever disease she currently
has. To reinforce her predicament, Torvald sets the terms of their new
arrangements and forbids Nora (pg105) from bringing up the children. In fact,
Torvald believes that Krogstad will poison his own children with his own moral
crimes.
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