A Doll's House
Henrik Ibsen, A Doll's House
Praise be to Dover for their cheap reprints (paperback, of course) of classics old and modern. Bridging the divide is Ibsen's once-scandalous A Doll's House, the 19th century women's lib shocker. Nora supports hubby Torvald through a difficult financial scrape by taking a loan from Krogstad, the unscrupulous former lover of forgotten widow Christine. Her scheme backfires, but Christine gets back with Krogstad and convinces him to cancel Nora's debt. When hubby finds out, his righteous indignation leads Nora to realize she's just his doll; in a final scene exactly opposite Gone With the Wind, Torvald's left mumbling, "The most wonderful thing of all?--" as Nora flounces out the door.
[originally posted July 13, 2004]
posted by Jim Anderson @ 9:44 AM
2 Comments:
The essay is wonderfully planned and Nora has every right to walk out on Torvald for the way she has been treated.
We're reading it in my junior class right now; the basic themes are just as relevant today as when Ibsen first scandalized the middle class.
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