Scott Woods

Cause and Effect

At some point in most peoples lives they feel as though their entire life has been
of little significance. I know all too well the feelings that accompany such thoughts,
feelings of sadness, unimportance, and perhaps even regret (yes, even I have felt the
sorrow that follows the realization that your entire life has been of little impact).
Fortunately, however, it is easily possible to overcome such negative thinking, and
perhaps even move on to a greater purpose in life. This is evident in Henrik Ibsens
play A Dolls House. In this play, the protagonist, Nora, finds herself in a situation
similar to which Ive described previously. After coming to realize the true nature of her
own life, Nora decides to leave her family forever in the pursuit of living a real life.
Numerous factors led to this final action; however, the three most relevant reasons are
as follows: Noras dishonesty and deception, certain complications involving money, and
most importantly the way in which Nora and Helmer (her husband) lived their lives
together.
First, of course, there was the matter of Noras dishonesty with Helmer. It began
as a result of Helmer coming down with a particularly dreadful illness, which required
him to travel down to Italy. In order to quickly acquire the necessary funds, Nora
deceives not only Helmer, but Krogstad as well, an attorney working under Helmer.
Krogstad loans her the money on the false premise that her father had signed for her to
do so, and she then told Helmer that her father had simply given her the money. This
was just the first instance of Noras deceitful nature. She continues to lie about certain
things and not tell the whole truth throughout the story. It is rather obvious to see how
such behavior could lead to a fallout between Nora and Helmer in due time.

Scott Woods

The second cause of Nora abandoning her home stems from the first. As
previously mentioned, Nora borrowed a large sum of money from Krogstad (illegally) in
order to save her husband. Not only did this display her dishonesty, but it got her into a
rather tight money situation. She had to take on as much side work as possible to pay
off her large debt with Krogstad. This only leads to more dishonesty and more problems
for Nora. It causes another complication when Krogstad uses this debt to blackmail
Nora when he discovers that his career is in danger. This addition to Noras extensive
list of problems only serves to further separate Nora and Helmer.
The final reason which drove Nora to leave her home came only in the final
moments of the play. This was the very moment that Nora realized that her entire life
was fake. She compares her life to that of a doll, as the title suggests, existing only to
act and entertain. She alerts Helmer of her grand realization by stating that they are
having their first real conversation. In said conversation, Nora explains to Helmer how
her life truly meant nothing, and that she felt she was not even actually happy. All other
causes only served to help Nora come to this final conclusion. After this information
comes to light it is painfully obvious to see why Nora would ultimately decide to leave
her own home and family forever.
Through lies, money problems, and several more minor factors, Nora finally
came to an ultimate enlightenment, and this caused her to leave her family. In a
broader sense, what does Noras story say about anyone who believes that their life
means nothing? We can gather from Nora that its absolutely possible to continue life
towards a brighter, more meaningful future. Even if the causes leading up to this were
decidedly her fault, anyone can change his/her life for the better.

Scott Woods