Is the Ending Happy (Hint: Yes)

A major conflict of interest in our class lately has been a topic relating to “Doll’s House.”  After hearing what my classmates had to say about this, I decided to ask this question to myself: does the play have a happy ending?  The truth is, I can see why someone could argue either way but I do believe that it is a happy end to an extent.  Yes, the kids are now left with no mother and Torvald is left without a wife, but in the context of the play I believe this is better than the alternative version where Nora stays.

Many people are arguing that the children will now be incomplete without their mother, but if you think about what would happen if she stayed, the same argument could be said.  Nora is said to have been “poisoning” her children through her influence.  She still does not trust herself to not poison these kids so she would most likely avoid them anyway in order to keep them as pure as possible.

Another hot topic of this discussion is that Torvald is now left without a wife, too.  This argument should not even be said since they are completely ridiculous.  Not once did I notice Torvald treating Nora as a wife in the slightest way possible.  She was suppressed and used as a simple play-thing or a doll; this brings on the other point that dolls are replaceable.  Yes, Torvald will be upset for a little while, but soon enough Nora will be replaced with another woman who does not mind being suppressed and almost pushed around.  Torvald had lost his wife long before Nora had left and he knew this; he suggested a “brother and sister relationship” for the two of the just to keep her in the house.  His wife was already gone in spirit, all that was left was for her to physically leave.

I believe this play is happy for one main point: Nora needs to find herself.  She could not have taught the children and been a good wife to her husband without finding herself first.  She acted like a child because of this since she did not yet know who she was and where she fit in life.  If she does not know her own identity, then how can she be expected to help her children find who they are?  It only makes sense for Nora to face reality head-on and dive into the world of the unknown in order to come to the surface as a found woman who knows, understands and trusts her place in society.  She is not leaving in order to hurt the family she has developed for eight years, she is leaving in order to save the family from hurting any more than they already are.  Nora believes she is doing the right thing, no matter what her society or our society believes.  This play is about finding individuality through society and doing this by defying social norms.