The Effects Of Criticism In A Doll's House

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Many literary heroines of the 19th century have sought their end rather than submit to the societal pressures of their time. Ibsen’s deviation from accepted endings like suicide and submission to male superiority sparked controversy throughout Europe, which forced alternate endings to be added onto his work. In Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, despite censorship and audience resistance, the original ending written by Ibsen is undoubtedly the best ending. Due to pressure in Germany to allow the play to be acted, Ibsen was forced to write an alternative ending in which Nora decides to stay with her family. During the argument when Torvald mentions the children, “…to desert your home, your husband, and your children” Nora breaks down and decides to stay …show more content…

The problem with suicide is that it can be depicted as the greatest form of courage and the ultimate weakness. As a strength, suicide is Nora’s last bid for complete control of her life by removing herself from society completely. As a weakness, suicide leaves Nora vulnerable for being a scapegoat for the shame brought upon her family. Suicide also paints Torvald as the victim, Nora was an unfit wife and mother who abandoned her family through death. The abandonment of her children through death leaves no chance for Nora to be able to reconnect with them like she would be able to if she were to strike out on her own looking for her independence. Nora’s children would have psychological problems that would leave them emotionally damaged and leave them with enormous guilt. Suicide presents the same problem the ending in which Nora stays with her family does, reinforcing the role of women as being repressed and controlled by a patriarchal society. This alternate ending does not highlight the message Ibsen was trying to portray like Ibsen’s original

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