Monetary Infatuation

         Henrik Ibsen wrote his book A Doll's House in 1879. In 1973, Joseph Losey directed a movie based on Ibsen's book. In the movie the character Nora was played by Jane Fonda. She is the main female character in the filmed play. Nora has had the issues with money all throughout the plot. She let forgery ruin her life because she had forged her dead father's signature in order to get a loan that would fund a trip for her and Torvald (David Warner) to take to Italy in order for him to get over his sickness. Throughout the filmed play Nora's whole life is centered on her struggle of being caught in her web of lies by her distinguished husband. Her values change as the story progresses. At first, it appears that Nora values money and the status that it brings, but eventually Nora realizes that the only way she will be able to live with what she has done is to tell the truth and be able to be happy with herself and she leaves her family behind to begin a new life on her own.

         We see that Nora's entire focus is on money from the very beginning of the play. For example, Torvald asks her what she wants for Christmas, she tells him, "You could give me money, Torvald." Torvald is often disturbed by her carefree attitude about money. He wants to make her happy, but he is not able to give her money off of his money tree, which is nonexistent. He of course does not know about the loan at first. To him and the audience, it appears that she is just throwing her money away hopelessly.

         As the filmed play moves on, it is obvious why Nora cannot seem to manage money very well. She is trying to pay back the loan to Krogstad played by Edward Fox, without her husband finding out about it. Unfortunately, Nora's secret is revealed to Torvald by Krogstad. This results in a huge argument between the couple. Nora finally figures out that valuing money for the wrong reasons has not made her happy. While we do not know what happens to Nora after she decides to leave the security of her husband, we have an idea that she will end up working hard just to survive. She will learn the true value of money, and she will learn how much good and bad it can do for a person.

Rhiannon Mitchell

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