When you first read Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll House, at first glance you may focus on the themes of interpersonal relationships and a variety of deceptive acts . However, during the third act it becomes clear the controversial impact that A Doll House will have around the world for years to come. When Nora slammed the door on her marriage and therefore her children, there was outrage around the world. According to A Doll's House by David M. Galens and Lynn M. Spampinato, critics could not believe that a woman would "willfully choose to sacrifice her children in search of her own identity." Indeed, Galen and Spampinato point out that Ibsen had to write an alternative ending for the play by the direction of its first German production when even the actress refused to play a mother who would leave her children. Galens and Spampinato stated that the alternate ending portrayed Nora changing her mind after seeing her children for the last time and that Ibsen considered this alternate ending "a barbaric outrage to be used only in an emergency". According to Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing written by Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell, the cultural context in 1879, when the play was first published and performed, prevented “women from voting, managing their finances or borrow money in one's name (1165).” Ibsen's use of symbolism, irony, and realism work together to demonstrate the struggles women faced during the nineteenth century. The nineteenth century posed many obstacles for women around the world. According to Eric Foner and John Garraty, during the mid-nineteenth century in America women were forced to follow the common law, which meant that anything on paper could not be a good mother. because many women become bitter and mistreat their children. Some argued that it was actually a sign of strength that Nora made the decision she did (Galen and Spampinato). This can also be reflected in A Doll House, when Torvald tells Nora that when there is deception in the house it is the children who suffer and “every breath the children take is filled with the germs of something degenerate (1:474) . Torvald then goes on to blame the mother for all the children doing badly in life (1:476). Then when the nurse tries to take the children to see Nora she refuses to see them because she has the revelation that she is guilty of deception and according to her husband's claims her children were in danger because of her. Nora states: “You hurt my children! Poison my house! It is not true. Never. Never in the whole world (1:482,483,485).