Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House comes to a shocking conclusion with Nora, arguably one of the antagonistic characters, turning the tables on the previous protagonist: Torvald. In Act III, Ibsen illustrates the idea of complacency and the struggle to escape it through Nora’s fight within herself to find the courage to denounce the meaning in her marriage. The entire play subtly builds up this idea and only becomes truly visible when Nora can no longer stand her husbands disregard to her inputs. This instance illustrates that true happiness cannot be found through the means that Torvald believes it to be found.
The final breaking point for Nora comes when her husband lashes out when he reads the letter from Krogstad. Only one “miracle” as Nora puts it could have resulted in her staying by his side after reading the letter and that would have been if he had taken the blame and stood up for her. She believed that “when he’d done that, I was so utterly sure that you’d/ step forward, take the blame on yourself and say: I am the/ guilty one.” (729-731) Nora has a vision of a true husband who loves his wife as not just a “little lark” or “doll,” but rather a man who would see her as such while still respecting, listening to, being honest with, and valuing her opinions. She attributes some of the blame to the way she was raised but another part comes from Torvald being kind to her as well as the fact that he “thought it/ fun to be in love” (589-590) with her. Nora becomes “clearheaded” at this part of the play and sends the strongest message that the play has to offer through her reaction.
This play offers the suggestion to recognize complacency and escape it, regardless of what sacrifices must be made. This speaks to complacency not only in marriage, but to all aspects of life. Nora’s actions signify the desire to find true happiness instead of settling for lesser alternatives. Furthermore, the play speaks the idea that people should at least have the knowledge of what true happiness would be to them before they settle down and waste their life away. This recognition of potential happiness for Nora is recognized when Dr. Rank admits his love for her after years of knowing each other, only with limited time left to live. A Doll House implies that one should not waste his or her life away in ungrateful silence without expressing true emotions.
“Our home’s been nothing but a playpen./ I’ve been your doll-wife here, just as at home I was Papa’s/ doll-child. And in turn the children have been my dolls./ I thought it was fun when you played with me, just as they/ thought it fun when I played with them.” (614-618)
Torvald doesn’t recognize that there might be more to a marriage than fun. This might be because in his eyes, he has achieved everything that he ever wanted and there is no more that he desires; a wife who (used to) obey his every word, children, wealth, friends, etc. However, when viewing it this way, he becomes extremely naive. His wife decides to leave him, he never spends time with his children to the readers’ knowledge, and his best friend, Dr. Rank, confessed his love for Nora which draws some questions about the sincerity his friendship with Torvald. Ibsen provides a complete role reversal in terms of this naivety because Nora’s actions portray this sense at the commencement of the drama. Both characters seek different goals in their lives, even down to the point that one of them recognizes this and the other doesn’t.
It can be learned from the play that self education, as Nora calls it, is a necessity for true happiness. One must understand their own beliefs in life before making rash decisions and then finding themselves trapped in the resulting situation a number of years later. Although this play was written over a century ago, these lessons within A Doll House are still very much applicable to the current day.
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