A Doll House: Going back to the title thing . . .

Like Vanessa, I’d also never read A Doll’s House, or even had much discussion about it in previous classes. The main thing that stuck out to me, was the reversal of roles that seemed to occur between Nora and Torvald at the end of the play. As soon as Torvald discovers that all the trouble Nora has caused will be avoided after all, he transitions so quickly back into the caring head-of-house that he was before. The switch is so fast, and he is obviously extremely relieved, but it seems to me that its indicative of selfish, childish behavior. As long as his reputation is no longer in jeopardy, he behaves lovingly towards her. I believe that Nora is right in feeling betrayed that Torvald wouldn’t perform a sacrifice for her as she did, or believes herself to have done. Added to that, he becomes this blubbering fool when Nora tells him that she’s leaving. Don’t get me wrong, I went into this liking Torvald, and I didn’t dislike him at the end, either. But I think this is another example of how the title – I’m using it here as A Doll House rather than with the possessive – can be applied to the story: Torvald is now the child, and his doll is being taken away from him.