Changing times

Ibsen’s A Doll’s House is considered to be one of the finest plays written on the subject of women’s rights, having the distinction of being the most performed play internationally. It is perhaps so because it’s as close as one could get to the truth of hypocrisy in accepted gender roles in a marriage notwithstanding the writer’s claim that the play is a description of humanity and self-discovery.The New Delhi players’ adaptation of Ibsen’s play, presented last weekend, revolves around the characters of Nora and Torvald Helmer.

Nora and Torvald Helmer believe that they are happily married and are on the brink of a blissful new phase of life. Torvald has been promoted to the position of a bank manager with their financial future set. But Nora has a secret debt, incurred with good intentions and a forged signature, which rears its head as the threat of blackmail appears alongside her husband’s new power. 

Over three acts the illusion of the bourgeois contentment unravels with the play culminating  in a spectacular scene where Nora’s lie is exposed and Torvald first blames, then forgives her – and is finally abandoned as Nora recognizes the truth of her situation. She accuses her husband, and her father of having used her as a doll, and declares herself unfit to be a wife or mother until she learns to be herself. 

The play is as relevant today as it was in 1879. In the century and more since, the play and the role of Nora have taken on iconic status.