Separate Spheres

I loved A Doll's House. Really, really loved. Probably because deep down I am a feminist (shhhh!). However, there are parts that I don't necessarily agree with. Mostly I think it had to do with characters. For one, I was confused about Ms. Linde. Why does she return? I understand her husband died, but does that mean she needs to come back for a visit? Surely she needs a job, but by the looks of it, she and Nora are not very close friends anymore. In their first exchange, Nora acts with little sensitivity (probably due to her sheltered life). First it is talk of Ms. Linde's dead husband, and then Nora launches into a display of her glamorous lifestyle. Very tactless indeed. Why does Ms. Linde expect something from Nora? And isn't this Victorian times, why is Ms. Linde, a woman, able to take Krogstad's job? What happened to separate spheres? Does that just go out the window once your husband dies?

This is sort of feeding into something I had felt from the beginning of the play. I seriously thought this could have taken place in the 1920's. Or 40's and 50's. So upon reading the background information, 1879 seemed crazy old to me. When I envisioned her costume and the tarantella, I pictured a flapper girl prancing around in a barely there metallic get-up (this was before we learned the tarantella is death, which I should have known). And even after I read the play, I thought about how it could have been a Revolutionary Road type, and I can imagine Elizabeth Taylor playing Nora (okay, maybe she is a little too crazy to play Nora). But then again, I love how the play could transcend time. Unlike, you know, a Jane Austen novel. Nora probably looks something like this --->

Now on to the controversial: I fully support Nora's decision to leave her life. Do I think it was necessarily right for her? Probably not. I don't know where she could go, and I do think she would end up in the same situation with a different man. She knows how to work men, and that, I think is too vital for her to give up. You know why Rank is there; she needs a backup at all times--I'm not sure she is capable of living on her own. The death of Rank signifies the death of her old life. Whether or not she really changes, well...

Do I think she should leave her children? Yes. They are her little dolls too. It is worth noting that the time frame of this play is Christmas. The first action is the Porter coming to the door with a Christmas tree. What could be more significant than that? Christmas is the holiday that you are spoiled to death--when you trip on toy fire engines and spinning tops--and yes, when you play with your new doll house. It is also interesting what Nora says to the maid, "Be sure to hide the Christmas tree, Helene. The children mustn't see it before tonight when we've trimmed it." It is very telling of the play as a whole. She does not want to expose her children to the real world, and she herself holds unrealistic views of life. Everything needs to be manufactured and perfect.

Towards the end of Act 1, Nora is seen playing with her children but not really communicating with them. It is right after this that her problem arises, and her world comes crashing down. At the beginning of Act 2 the Christmas tree is "in the corner by the piano, stripped shabby-looking, with burnt-down candles." Of course the Christmas tree has born its gifts, but instead of the picture of a glowing mother, it is the picture of emptiness. This symbolism is very subtle, and I really love how it fits into the play. After all, the first thing I picture when I think of A Doll's House is that one Christmas morning I unwrapped my first American Girl Doll.