Unexpected Ending in Ibsen's 'A Doll's House'
The ending of Ibsen's play 'A Doll's House' is highly unexpected. The ending shows Nora and Helmer arguing about what Nora has done and Helmer's reaction to it, which then leads to Nora walking out leaving Helmer and their children to go and 'educate' herself about the world because up until that point she considered herself a play thing or a doll for her father and then for her husband. Helmer believes however that once the letter comes that exonerates the couple from any legal wrongdoing and blame that things can go back to normal, but they will never go back to the way they were. Nora realizes even if it could go back to normal it wouldn't be worth going back to as she wasn't truly happy in the old time and it took this time for er to come to this conclusion.
Helmer tries to convince her to stay and she says it would take 'The miracle of miracles" to keep her there and Helmer is hopeful that he can provide such a miracle. But of course he can't the damage has been done and Nora leaves, absolutely shocking the audience as they were expecting Helmer to rescue her and embrace her while the curtains drop providing them with the happy ending they were expecting.
Why is this an unexpected ending? This is an unexpected ending considering the time this play was written. This would have been a radical idea for the 1870's Victorian era Norwegian audiences at the time as they had a conservative view of religion and family life, the consensus at the time was that a wife/woman's role in the house was to first obey and listen to their father so they could learn to be a good wife for their husband, who would often even be much older than her. Her next role once she was a wife would be to serve her husband, be by his side & do whatever he said and also raise their children while the her husband works. Christine Linde is the exception to this however, she admits that at first she played this role of the traditional Victorian era woman so she could take care of her younger brothers but once her husband died and left her nothing she had to make her own way in the world. This is Nora's inspiration for her next actions. A horrible thought for many in the audiences at the time who would have shared the view of the Victorian era woman as a homemaker not as an independent person with their own life. So shocking in fact that the ending of the play was re-written so that people at the time could see the 'happy' ending that wouldn't shock them.
How does the ending of Ibsen's 'A Doll's House' compare to the other comparative texts?
Why is this an unexpected ending? This is an unexpected ending considering the time this play was written. This would have been a radical idea for the 1870's Victorian era Norwegian audiences at the time as they had a conservative view of religion and family life, the consensus at the time was that a wife/woman's role in the house was to first obey and listen to their father so they could learn to be a good wife for their husband, who would often even be much older than her. Her next role once she was a wife would be to serve her husband, be by his side & do whatever he said and also raise their children while the her husband works. Christine Linde is the exception to this however, she admits that at first she played this role of the traditional Victorian era woman so she could take care of her younger brothers but once her husband died and left her nothing she had to make her own way in the world. This is Nora's inspiration for her next actions. A horrible thought for many in the audiences at the time who would have shared the view of the Victorian era woman as a homemaker not as an independent person with their own life. So shocking in fact that the ending of the play was re-written so that people at the time could see the 'happy' ending that wouldn't shock them.
How does the ending of Ibsen's 'A Doll's House' compare to the other comparative texts?
Unexpected ending in King Lear
The ending to king Lear in y opinion is the most unexpected ending of the three comparative texts in my opinion as we see the deaths of Lear's three daughters Cordelia, Goneril and Regan as well as the deaths of Edmund and Lear himself. The deaths of Edumnd, Regan and Goneril may have been slightly more expected than the deaths of the others as they were already competing for the throne and it was hinted that they may turn on eachother when the time came.
The deaths of Lear and Cordelia however, are very unexpected as there is a hope that they will overcome the evil sisters and once again regain the power that they once had and good would be restored after the hideous crimes and atrocities that had been committed thus far.
How does the ending of 'king Lear' compare to the other comparative texts? The ending of 'King Lear' is similar to the end of 'A Dolls House' by Ibsen in respect that both are highly unexpected endings, (many characters die unexpectedly in 'King Lear' and Nora laves in 'A Doll's House'). The endings of 'Rear Window' and 'King Lear' are similar as they both have violent endings, ( Many characters die in 'King Lear' and Thorvald breaks into Jeff's apartment and tries to kill him)
How is the ending of 'King Lear' different to the endings of the other texts? Both 'King Lear' and 'Rear Window' have violent endings the ending to Hitchcocks 'Rear Window' however, 'King Lear' leaves any issues unresolved, we don't know who will come to power or if the conflict is over now that the king and his daughters are dead. This is different to 'Rear window' where all issues and questions are resolved at the end; we know Thorvald killed his wife and then buried her around the city and he gets caught and presumably he gets his punishment for this, Jeff is injured in the fall but is otherwise unharmed. So from this we can say the emotion we are left in after these pieces are polar opposites, we are sad about the ending of 'King Lear' but we are glad that everything has a fair ending in 'Rear Window' and we aren't left with any questions about what happens next.
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