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Anne-Marie is Nora’s former nursemaid, the nanny of her children, and the only real mother figure she ever knew. Anne-Marie is kind, soft-spoken, helpful, and amenable (everything a woman in this time was expected to be). She embodies this selflessness from beginning to end, always making herself available to Nora. As the play progresses, we learn that this selflessness is not simply surface-level and is actually far more self-preservational than is initially obvious. She had to give up her own child in order to take the job offered by Nora’s father. Anne-Marie is a fringe character, popping in and out, caring for Nora’s children, shielding them from witnessing the turmoil and dread Nora finds herself in. She acts, in many ways, as the glue that keeps Nora’s world from completely falling apart. However, while she is an aid to Nora in the running of her household, she is also a constant reminder to Nora of how desperately her children want her– amplifying the war within herself over her obligation to be a “good” woman versus wanting to feel like she is her own person with real agency.
Anne-Marie’s character is minor, but is used to more thoroughly establish the reality of the world–that women are required to forfeit more, and stand to gain much less, than their male counterparts. Women must often exchange their agency, individualism, personal interests, and even their family for financial security and social protection. Because Anne-Marie fills the role of the ideal female archetype, there is very little we know about her on an individual level. We know that she loves Nora and her children, and she had to give up her own family to avoid financial ruin. We don’t know much else. This omission is intentional. Ibsen has included the character of Anne-Marie to amplify Nora’s feelings of being trapped– personifying the very real threats and sacrifices that plague the female sex– causing her to come face-to-face with the reality of her situation, and the awful lack of options. The lack of options available are, in many ways, the bricks that built this “doll’s house.”
