Do you think that most women would want to leave everything behind? Well, I would hope not, but it happens. There are some women that marry and have a wonderful life, but still something is missing. In these cases the women leave the good life they had behind. Why would someone do this or act that way? I personally think that more women should try to stay and make their marriages work out instead of bolting.
A Doll's House, written by Henrik Ibsen in 1879 and filmed twice in 1973 by Joseph Losey and Patrick Garland respectively, explains this perfectly. One of the main characters Nora (Jane Fonda/Claire Bloom), who is the wife of Torvald Helmer (David Warner/Anthony Hopkins), has everything that she could possibly dream of having, or so we are led to believe. She is a stay-at-home mom with wonderful children and a nanny. Her husband supports her and the children with no problem since he has long since recovered from an illness. However, Nora has worked in secret to raise money to pay off the loan she had borrowed, while forging her dead father's signature, when her husband was ill to take him to Italy to recover. When her husband found out, he was angry; but in the end he forgave her; and things should have been fine. Unfortunately, Nora was so hurt and upset by his childishly selfish reaction, that she too quickly decided that she must leave Torvald and her children because she thought that he had treated her like a doll, only something to play with to amuse himself.
As you can see this play, plus its two movie versions, illustrates what some women go through. Most of the time their husbands are not willing to accept the fact that they need help from their wives. Eventually this can drive a woman away, and this is what happened with Nora. Still it is hard for me to grasp leaving behind children and a husband who loves her. I personally believe that, if a man loves and wants to care for someone fully, it is ok as long as no one suffers. I do not see any problem with stay-at-home moms. So, in the case of Nora and Torvald, I think that she should not have left him because I really believe that he loved her for who she truly was and was willing to try to treat her more like an adult than he had before.