Michael Meyer, in his biography Henrik Ibsen, says that the play is not so much about women’s
rights as it is about “the need of every individual to find out the kind of
person he or she really is, and to strive to become that person.” This is so
true in life. For a person to be happy they have to be true to themselves and
be content before they can possibly love and care for others. Nora in “The Doll
House” was so unhappy because she never knew who she really was. Her father and then her husband always controlled
her. Nora has never been able to
be herself, she has never been able to voice her opinions or even have a say of
what goes on. Either her father or
her husband has made her decisions for her. She doesn’t even have the control
of her children, a nursemaid cares for them. In the play you see Nora “act out”
because of this. She is a “spendthrift” whenever she has money. She probably
thinks this will make her happy.
She even goes behind her husband’s back to borrow money and work to pay
it back. This is the only pleasure she really has. In the end she realizes who her husband really is and knows
she must leave to find herself.
Even though this was the norm of treatment of women in that era, in today’s
society a person can be very unhappy if they do not know who they really are or
what they really want. People tend
to substitute materialist items and have different behavior to try to find
happiness.
"I am going to see who is right, me or the world."
- Nora "The Doll House"
"I am going to see who is right, me or the world."
- Nora "The Doll House"
