A Doll's House, written in 1879 by Henrik Ibsen, filmed twice in 1973 by Joseph Losey and Patrick Garland respectively, is by far the best book I have read in a while. I am definitely going to keep this in my personal library. One of the reasons why I enjoy this story so much is that it is a triumphant story of a woman. Another reason is that it is a story that can be related to almost any time period. It crosses over centuries. Women today are still doing what Nora did. or they need to.
I liked this book and its filmed versions because Nora (Jane Fonda/Claire Bloom) has had a revelation and wants to change her life for herself. Nora has been treated like a child all of her life, even in marriage. She has never been allowed to think for herself. She states herself that, when she was younger, her father had given her his thoughts on things and that carried over into marriage. The two men in her life would not allow her to think. Nora is tired of being the victim. This book is remarkable because of Nora's rebellion in a time period when it was not acceptable or heard of…a woman leaving her husband and children.
Society has created a stereotype that women have to be mothers and wives. In the book and films Torvald (David Warner/Anthony Hopkins) that being a wife and a mother are her duties before anything else. Not all women want to be mothers and wives, believe it or not. Even in today's society women still face this problem. Women who do not take care of their children or who do not get custody of them during a divorce, are seen as unfit, with something wrong with them.
I do not believe that to be true. I think that women today, along with Nora, leave their children because they love them. Nora does not want her children to turn out as she did. If she stays and raises them, they will turn out like her, puppet, or dolls. She fears that she will raise them the same way she had been raised
because she does not know any other way. Nora wants to break the cycle because she knows what it feels like to live in the world as a doll.
Nora also leaves for herself. People may think that to be selfish, but I believe that is the best love someone can give him or herself. It is all capable people's right to learn who they are and what they want. That is what Nora wants out of life, but she is just going about finding that out in a more difficult situation. Nora and the many other women who have done what she has done have amazing courage, and that is why so many others in society look down upon them. The detractors both admire that bravery and are bitter because of it.
Discovering who you are and what you want in life is a wonderful revelation; and all capable women should strive to do that, not shy away from the struggle or detest those who are brave enough to attempt that struggle.