Nora’s Misguided Decision

         It is often assumed that people can often make bad decisions when they are in a state of emotional trauma. The same could be thought of Nora in the second version of A Doll's House that we watched in class. I tend to believe that this version was the worse of the two because Nora made up her mind instantly. This tended to make it look like she had not thought it through and that she may have made a mistake.

         In this 1973 version of the story, directed by Patrick Garland, Nora is played by Claire Bloom, who does an excellent job of portraying the part, and Torvald is played by Anthony Hopkins. Nora is always playful, which makes her seem like a grand mother; but she is also slightly greedy since she is always asking Torvald for money. Torvald, on the other hand, is proud and arrogant and sees Nora more like a plaything than as his wife. It is Nora's character that I think requires to be closely looked at since it her actions are more like those actions of a child than a grown woman. After her meeting with Krogstad, depicted by Denholm Elliot, she begins to become more and more aware of the way of business is conducted. She seems to do everything in her power to protect herself, only to fail at the end. Then, she sees what kind of a man Torvald is, not willing to help her but to play Krogstad's game to protect himself. After Krogstad gives the evidence of the forgery to Torvald, Nora comes to the conclusion to leave him after he attacks her for getting him into trouble with Krogstad without giving her a chance to explain herself first.

         Her decision to go is almost instantaneous from the moment that Torvald finds out the truth to the time that he says that he has taken it all back. The fact that she does not even stop to think about what she was doing makes me believe that she may have been a little premature in her decision-making. She insists that she has not liked the way things have been, and that has been what has fueled her desire to leave. Even though she intends to grow, I do not think she realizes that things cannot always work out with everything falling into place. I think she would have been a lot happier staying with the family she had formed with Torvald. True, he was a bit pushy and demanding on Nora; however, he did make her happy; and they had a wonderful life with their children, which I think is important.

         From what I understand about what Nora has said, what she plans to look for, I think, can never be found completely. But, she has made her misguided decision; and now she has to live with it, while her family must live without her.

Matthew Engle

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