A Doll's House

I can see now how this play was quite a shocker when it came out. Nora was a horrible wife by the standards of the time. She borrowed money without consent, committed forgery, lied and manipulated her husband, defied her husband and up and left. A woman, thinking for herself, shunning those standards, probably upset some people. Modern readers, though, like myself, can see where she's coming from. I mean, true, she did lie and forge. But no one seems to take motive into account, she did it for her husband. And even when Torvald finds out and she tells him she did it for him, that fact seems to just zip right over his head until he's read the second letter. Torvald's reaction to the second letter is really what broke the last straw with Nora. She was all set to go drown herself in the river when that letter arrived. The turning point in her thoughts is almost palpable. Torvald is going on about how he's forgiven her, he thinks she's worried he doesn't mean it, which is pretty self-centered I have to admit. Watching it on film, I and everyone around me just cringed, because we knew she'd finally had it. Then she has that talk with him and leaves. He even tries to forbid her leaving, to which she says, "It is of no use forbidding me anything any longer." His last ditch effort to prevent her leaving is to bring up the children. This is really the one part of her argument with which I do not agree. She's abandoning her children, doesn't know if she's ever coming back or if she even wants to. Her thoughts that she's not suitable are noble, but she's just running away. I'm not saying I agree wholeheartedly with Torvald's notion of "sacred duties" and that she's a mother and wife before a human being, but I do believe she has a responsibility to help raise those she brought into the world. Of course, back then she really had no say in how they were raised, and her husband actually tells her to leave them alone after reading the first letter. I don't approve of her leaving, but really, what options did she have, being a woman with no authority?