The final scene of A Doll’s House dictates how you read
the play. The whole plays builds up to the ending in a way. The final scene represents a moment of
enlightenment for Nora who realizes that in trying to meet the social
expectations of her, she has given up her own individuality. Torvald even tells
her, “you are a wife and mother before you are anything else”, which
exemplifies that society expects her to put her husband and children before
herself. At this point Nora probably feels like a slave to a family and society
that takes her for granted; she dedicates her whole life to serving her father
and her husband. Of course Torvald, a man who has strictly obeyed his gender
role in society, is baffled by Nora. A woman leaving her husband was something
that was unheard of in 1800 society. It is ironic that while the man is
expected to be the enlightened one who guides the ignorant wife who blindly
follows him, Nora is the one who is enlightened about the true nature of their
relationship and thus guides Torvald who has been blindly following society.
Nora leaving Torvald represents her breaking the societal chains that have kept
her from developing as an individual. Yet this raises the question, can you
really break free from society? I mean unless you on a mountain by yourself,
everyone is shaped by the society they live in. Sure Nora has left her societal
obligations to Torvald and her children, but she will still be confined by how
the outside world judges her. She will be looked down upon as a woman who left
her husband and she will have difficulty finding work. So is she truly free of society? Will Nora,
who has lived her whole life sheltered by the warmth of the doll’s house, be
able to survive in the harsh, outside world? I think implies that she won’t.
Kristine, a foul for Nora, is pushed back into marriage. Nora says for her to
return, “the most wonderful of all would have to happen”. The wonderful represents when Torvald can
treat her as his equal which would allow them to have a “true marriage”, one
not based on lies or pretending. However I don’t think the most wonderful thing
will happen. Torvald’s last line in the play, “The most wonderful -?!” ends with
a question mark, meaning that he still questions what the wonderful is. If Torvald doesn’t even know what the most
wonderful thing is, how can he ever achieve it? Though Ibsen seems to imply
that Nora will be unsuccessful in breaking free of her societal expectations
and possibly changing society, history tells a different story. Women’s rights
was achieved by independent who forcefully went against the grain such as by
entering the work force and showed the world that women can operate in society without
being babied by their husbands. Some women like Kristine did so out of
necessity while others like Nora did so for personal development. The
unresolved fate of Nora is what makes this play so thought provoking, possibly
implying that the struggle between the individual and society is forever on
going.
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