I did not realize how good my life really is until after viewing A Doll's House directed by Patrick Garland in 1973. This is for the most part, exactly like the play, A Doll's House, written in 1879 by Henrik Ibsen. I was also given the opportunity to view another version of a film made from this play directed by Joseph Losey in 1973. This version had a few differences, and was a little longer in length, but made me have the same reaction as the other. A Doll's House is a perfect example of how being a woman today has many benefits then being a woman in the past.
In the story of A Doll's House, Ibsen paints a picture, accurately reproduced on screen, of the true realities women of all economic classes were faced with on an everyday basis. Nora (Jane Fonda/Claire Bloom) is economically advantaged in comparison to the other females within this play. However, she leads a difficult life because, according to society, Torvald (David Warner/Anthony Hopkins) is in control of her life. Females in this day and age were not allowed to think for themselves or do anything without permission of the other gender, usually their husbands. Nora goes behind her Torvald's back in taking out a loan, while forging her dead father's signature, to save his life. Nora must hide this loan from her husband because she knows that he would never accept the idea that his wife (or any other woman) had helped safe his life. To make this process even harder, she has to work in secret to pay off her loan because it is illegal for a woman to obtain a loan without her husband's permission.
I cannot imagine having to keep a secret from my husband, especially one that had saved his life. She had not taken out the loan for some ridiculous reason, like going shopping. It was for a good cause. This book made me realize how I am glad that I do not live in past history when the husband was the caretaker and the wife was basically the maid. I am so glad that I am a woman in this day and age.