Set the Woman Free

There comes a time in a woman’s life where she realizes that it is time to break away from the chains of her duties that society has laid out for her and pursue what she wants in her life. It comes as a shock to her husband, family, and other members of society. However, the woman does not care and feels that she must break away or else be content in a life of misery for the rest of her days. Nora sets out to achieve this in the final scene of the play, A Doll’s House, by leaving her husband, Torvald, to find out about herself and her life. This scene calls for an audience of the world to see. I am up for the challenge. I love writing anyway. This should just be exercise for my creativity and me.

First off, I make the scene a modern one. I am always interested in seeing old plays being brought to the time era of the twenty-first century. It makes the play more interesting that way. Modernizing plays works so well for Shakespeare. Why not try it out for Ibsen? The mood for the last scene would be somber and serious. It had to be; that’s how Ibsen had it when he first wrote that scene. Light and comedic just would not work. I would put Nora in a dress in the beginning of the scene and when she comes out to talk to Torvald; I would have her where jeans and a t-shirt. The transformation in clothes should symbolize her independence from her husband, kids, and duty to society. Also, I would make Nora a young woman and her husband an older man just to keep the play interesting until the very end. I think having Nora younger than her husband adds to the tone of breaking free from the duties of society. On the other hand, a mid-aged woman breaking free from her husband who is the same age works as well.

The set would be a typical American home. This would go with Ibsen’s theme that normal suffer too. By making the Helmer’s an upper middle class family, I have proved that even the slightly rich and normal have problems. The lights would be bright at first, but then they would switch back and forth in a subtle way from bright to deaf until the very end. After the door shuts, the lights will completely turn off into pitch black. The sounds would be standard and maybe add a song of celebrating independence after the lights go out at the end. Nothing before that time though; it should all be silent until then. Too much music can kill the whole mood. Everything has to be just right in order to produce a strong lasting effect.

Traditional or modern, Ibsen has delivered us a play that will live with us until past the end of time. He has pushed modern drama into a place between reality and fantasy. Now, the younger artists have to go to great lengths to keep up with him.