While reading this play it became very difficult to follow the closer to the end that I came. In the end I was very confused and after reading and re-reading quite a few times I believe I have figured out what is so difficult for me. Nora is completely insane. She loses all recognition of logic and reason and forgets all ethics and morals that seemed to me to be natural for a person to have.
In the beginning of the play Nora is talking to her childhood friend Kristine Linde about how wonderful her life is with her lovely children and wonderful husband and all of the security of the money and home they have together. On page 867 she tells Kristine that she doesn’t want anything to ruin their “beautiful, happy home”. She is willing to sacrifice wearing the fine clothes that she enjoys and giving up some of her luxuries just to be sure that her husband was alive and well. He means that much to her, but then by the end of the play we see that he feels the same way about her and wants her to be happy and peaceful and is willing to accept that she was willing to do her duty to try to take care of him and love him “the way a wife ought to love her husband” and he loves her even more in that moment than he had previously. For some reason she is unable to accept his love for her and his forgiveness. It makes no sense that after he realizes that he can talk to her and will be able to have her as his equal and tells her that he will “guide her and teach her” that she should be unhappy when earlier in the story she was happy with knowing that she had contributed to the household with her copying! Then on page 908 she tells her husband the reason she is leaving her husband and children is because she has a duty to herself because she is not less than him, yet he has just admitted that she is worth more than what he previously thought and would like for her to be able to have more responsibility. The only thing I can possibly imagine is that because she has never really had to run a home and try to work enough to pay the bills and pay for everything for herself and she is used to a certain way of life she will come to her senses sooner or later and come back and accept his love and forgiveness for lying to him about his money that he worked for so he could provide for his wife and children, although that would seem to be the logical way of thinking and it seems that where the story left off she is missing the common sense way of thinking.
3 comments:
“A Doll House” portrays a woman named Nora who is completely blinded by the way her husband, Torvald, treats her. She is ruled by her husband and her father her entire life. I was interested seeing a male's point of view on this poem considering it is based on sexism. Although we have different views on the ending of the poem, I see where you get the idea she could possibly come back home because she is used to a certain lifestyle. I feel as though she had enough of her husband treating her like a child. Sometimes people can push others to the point of no return. I think you do have a good outlook on this poem and I appreciate your thoughts!
The end of the play leaves me surprised; Torvald gets to know that Krogstad is not threatening him again and therefore he decides to forgive his wife Nora. The family should be happy now that the man has forgiven the wife but Nora tells Torvald that she plans to leave the family. Experience has made her realize that Torvald pretends to love her and thus she has not been happy because he treats her like a doll. She feels that the nanny can take care of the children better than her for she considers herself dishonest. I do not agree that Nora will return to her husband, because I believe that she finally realized that her husband would never change and would rather struggle with very little than be treated like a child by her husband.
I agree with you. I don't think she will return to her husband either. She may, however, come back for the kids, but I think she realizes that what her and her husband have for each other is not real love.
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