"Why can't you understand your place in your own home?"

Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House uses the design of the Helmers' home to reinforce many themes of the play. The detailed set descriptions and the manner in which Helmer and his wife Nora interact in their own house reflect domestic relationships in Ibsen's society.

The common room serves as centre of the Helmer household, and while it is only one part of the house, the action of the play centres on it.  It is the extent of Nora's world; she is confined by it. She must deal with all the issues that arise in the common room - the entrance of Krogstand, for example.  The room functions to show Nora's lack of privacy as well as her limited world.  In contrast to this is Helmer's study, which we never see, and which offers him the control and privacy that Nora lacks.