The final act of Ibsen’s play takes place after the party, and it culminates in Nora and Torvald’s argument which leads to Nora’s decision to leave. Originally, Nora planned to take her own life in order to spare Torvald the task of dealing with her actions. However, Torvald stops her before she proceed with her plan, and the two have a nasty row. This confrontation reveals Nora’s place in the Helmer family, and she realizes that Torvald does not love her in the way she desires. Moreover, Nora also realizes that she is not as equipped to be a good wife and mother as she perhaps originally believed. Torvald’s harsh words to her cause her to consider the effects of these ideas:
TORVALD: No fine speeches, please. Your father had always plenty of those ready, too. What good would it be to me if you were out of the way, as you say? Not the slightest. He can make the affair known everywhere; and if he does, I may be falsely suspected of having been a party to your criminal action. Very likely people will I was behind it all- that it was I who prompted you! And I have to thank you for all this- you whom I have cherished during the whole of our married life. Do you understand now what it is you have done for me? (A Doll’s House, Act III, Scene I). It is at this point that Nora discovers that while Torvald may indeed love her, his concern has always been for his own wellbeing first and foremost. He does not acknowledge how difficult it must have been for Nora to care for him, or to make the decision to borrow money in order to save his life. Instead, Torvald is focused on the potential damage that could be done to his reputation. Not much time passes before another letter comes for Nora, and Torvald insists on reading it out loud. The letter is from Krogstad, and he has decided to retract his threat and forgive the debt. By all accounts, the Helmers are free of any obligation to him and their crisis is over. Torvald immediately gushes his affection to Nora, claiming that he forgives her, and that they can move on as a family. Moreover, Torvald retracts his initial claims that Nora was not fit to be a mother to their kids, and proceeds to tell her that he will shelter and protect her. Despite this, Nora is unwavering in her thoughts and decision. By the end of this conversation, Nora realizes that she is not content with herself as an individual. She believes that she must leave their house and her children in order to find herself and figure out what she wants out of life. In a sense, she agrees with Torvald’s earlier, angry words. She does not consider herself to be a suitable wife and mother for her family, and she wants to change this. Nora wants to be educated and perhaps …show more content…
Furthermore, their performances feature elements that are stereotypically more in line with their opposite gender. For example, from the beginning of the confrontation to the end of the film, Anthony Hopkin’s Torvald is unreasonable, emotional, and does not think before he speaks, yells, pleads, or cries with Nora. For once, it is him denied the necessary tools in order to understand the situation. However, unlike Nora, he does not have a history with this experience and is unable to change the situation to benefit …show more content…
Judith Butler discusses aspects of this power dynamic usually present between men and women in her book. Particularly, Butler analyzes the effect sexuality can have in influencing power: The pro-sexuality movement within feminist theory and practice has effectively argued that sexuality is always constructed within the terms of discourse and power, where power is partially understood in terms of heterosexual and phallic cultural conventions
[...] If sexuality is culturally constructed within existing power relations, then the postulation of a normative sexuality that is ‘before’, ‘outside’, or ‘beyond’ power is a cultural impossibility and a politically impracticable dream, one that postpones the concrete and contemporary task of rethinking subversive possibilities for sexuality and identity within the terms of power itself (Butler
TORVALD: No fine speeches, please. Your father had always plenty of those ready, too. What good would it be to me if you were out of the way, as you say? Not the slightest. He can make the affair known everywhere; and if he does, I may be falsely suspected of having been a party to your criminal action. Very likely people will I was behind it all- that it was I who prompted you! And I have to thank you for all this- you whom I have cherished during the whole of our married life. Do you understand now what it is you have done for me? (A Doll’s House, Act III, Scene I). It is at this point that Nora discovers that while Torvald may indeed love her, his concern has always been for his own wellbeing first and foremost. He does not acknowledge how difficult it must have been for Nora to care for him, or to make the decision to borrow money in order to save his life. Instead, Torvald is focused on the potential damage that could be done to his reputation. Not much time passes before another letter comes for Nora, and Torvald insists on reading it out loud. The letter is from Krogstad, and he has decided to retract his threat and forgive the debt. By all accounts, the Helmers are free of any obligation to him and their crisis is over. Torvald immediately gushes his affection to Nora, claiming that he forgives her, and that they can move on as a family. Moreover, Torvald retracts his initial claims that Nora was not fit to be a mother to their kids, and proceeds to tell her that he will shelter and protect her. Despite this, Nora is unwavering in her thoughts and decision. By the end of this conversation, Nora realizes that she is not content with herself as an individual. She believes that she must leave their house and her children in order to find herself and figure out what she wants out of life. In a sense, she agrees with Torvald’s earlier, angry words. She does not consider herself to be a suitable wife and mother for her family, and she wants to change this. Nora wants to be educated and perhaps …show more content…
Furthermore, their performances feature elements that are stereotypically more in line with their opposite gender. For example, from the beginning of the confrontation to the end of the film, Anthony Hopkin’s Torvald is unreasonable, emotional, and does not think before he speaks, yells, pleads, or cries with Nora. For once, it is him denied the necessary tools in order to understand the situation. However, unlike Nora, he does not have a history with this experience and is unable to change the situation to benefit …show more content…
Judith Butler discusses aspects of this power dynamic usually present between men and women in her book. Particularly, Butler analyzes the effect sexuality can have in influencing power: The pro-sexuality movement within feminist theory and practice has effectively argued that sexuality is always constructed within the terms of discourse and power, where power is partially understood in terms of heterosexual and phallic cultural conventions
[...] If sexuality is culturally constructed within existing power relations, then the postulation of a normative sexuality that is ‘before’, ‘outside’, or ‘beyond’ power is a cultural impossibility and a politically impracticable dream, one that postpones the concrete and contemporary task of rethinking subversive possibilities for sexuality and identity within the terms of power itself (Butler