A Doll’s House: Viewing Assignment ECR
... she realizes there is more to life then being a “doll” of society, and acts in leaving her family. Even in its strong feministic statements, Ibsen refused to be called a feminist, preferring to be known as a humanist. He argued that society's rules came from the traditionally male way of thinking. In “A Doll's House,” Nora can't really see how it is wrong to forge a name in order to save a life, but Torvald would rather die than break the law or borrow money. This difference in thinking is what traps Nora. In the end, Nora's duty to know herself is more important than her female role. Nora’s transformation at the end of the play seems to be saying that your greatest duty is to understand yourself. At the beginning of the play, Nora doesn't realize she has a self. She's playing a role. The purpose of her life is to please Torvald or her father, and to raise her children. But by the end of the play, she discovers that her "most sacred duty" is to herself. She leaves to find out who she is and what she thinks. Nora, who is played by actress Claire Bloone in the movie version of “A Doll’s House,” is able to portray Nora as the obedient, simpleminded wife of the controlling husband that the play meant her to be. Claire Bloone’s actions during the beginning acts of the movie serve the necessary purpose of creating an opening for the change in character that must occur at the end of the play. She is able to affectively complete the turn around in character that occurs at the end of the play, although the straight forwardness in her speaking and in a...