discussion post on Drama

  I have to admit, “A Doll House” did not end the way I thought it would. Nora had been portrayed repeatedly as powerless and solely reliant on Torvald’s approval. Of all the endings I thought of, I didn’t consider she would leave. I thought Krogstad's death or her own were the most likely outcomes. Given the circumstances, and how men had been always been controlling her life up until that point, I think Nora made the most mature decision available to her. I realize not everyone would agree with that, some might sympathize with Torvald’s views that Nora was abandoning their children. I don’t see it as such, myself. I think Nora realized that she had never really been given a chance to simply be herself. How could she raise her children and instill values in them if she didn’t even know what her own values were? She would have simply taught her children that the sort of marriage and family life she had with Torvald was normal. Anyone who is or has been married knows that serious discussion, disagreements, and even arguments happen. They have to be ironed out via discussion, not with one spouse deciding they’re right and the other is not. Torvald always had to be right.

            Nora also realized how little Torvald really cared about her. As Nora herself pointed out, “. . . it was not fear for what threatened me, but for what might happen to you . . .” that Torvald was most concerned with (Ibsen, “A Doll’s House”, 1211). Nora realized that she had been little else to Torvald but a beautiful doll to show off and play with as he liked. When this realization struck her, Nora knew she had to leave. I believe it took a great deal of courage for Nora to make her decision and stick to it. It was not an ending I foresaw, but it was an ending I appreciated.