If one didn't know she was married with three children, one would assume she was a child. The reason for this could be because she was not granted independence. Living in this era she was never independent; it was almost unheard of for a woman to have independence. Isben uses a line from Tovald that shows readers the lack of trust men had in women: “Good. Then we will share the burden, like Nora, husband and wife, as it should be” (1123). This quote from Torvald is a perfect example of the life lived by women in the 19th century, because it shows the way men thought about women. She says this as if Nora couldn't bear the burden of repaying a debt, as if her being a woman made her inferior