We might wonder how to relate many of the themes of A Doll's House to today. The central conflict of the play is that the husband sees his wife as a child, incapable of understanding the world or of existing without him, and she is in fact embroiled in very serious matters, the greatest of which was to save her husband's life without his knowing. She remarks early in the play that for her husband to know that she is doing something to save him would totally undo the order of their marriage - as it is, he is the protector and provider
(more like a father), while she plays the role of the playful, receptive child.

In the end, Nora realizes that she has compromised herself. She has never truly been herself to Torvald. She has denied her intelligence, primarily - she has allowed him to see her as much less than who she is. In doing so, she has attempted to gratify his wish to be the head of the household, but they have truly never operated as a team.

Reading this play today, after these roles (man as protector, provider, head, and woman as submissive, receptive, nurturing) have been disputed and reversed (the woman is now encouraged to play the role of superwoman, and the man not to get in her way) I think society entirely missed the point. A Doll's House is called the first feminist play, but I don't think feminist here carries the heavy connotations of the feminist movement. Ibsen is not asking that women become the protector-provider-head and men become submissive. What Nora in the play asks for is to be treated as an equal, to be treated as herself. She has been settling for being treated as less.

I think that the feminist movement began with this simple plea - that men and women be considered as equals. It is funny that it is so hard for the world to fathom equality - that as soon as balance is called for, we go ahead and tip the scales entirely in the favor of the initially underprivliged ones. This point of view is revealed plainly in the way we tell stories. In Disney movies, the princesses were once portrayed as helpless (Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty), requiring the aid of someone else. Realizing rightly that this type of portrayal of women failed to show the sexes as equal, creators of newer Disney productions show a change in the roles so that the woman now does all of the saving, and the man stands by helplessly to watch. Probably the most significant example of this is Disney's Enchanted.

The reason A Doll's House stands the test of time is that the message transcends the particular circumstances of the play. Whether it is a woman being treated like a child and a plaything in a man's world, or a man being treated as helpless and stupid while the woman rushes around saving the day, a fundamental truth is being denied: the fact that the sexes exist as helpers to each other, neither fully sufficient without the other. When the total giftedness of one sex is diminished, undervalued or ignored, you can be sure that the other sex suffers as well. This is shown so clearly in the relationship of Nora and Torvald. When Nora consents to being treated as a child, denying Torvald her real gifts, Torvald does not receive the benefit of her intelligence. He is allowed to be selfish, petty, and blind to his own faults, without anyone to challenge him beyond these limitations. Once she stands up to him, and demands to be treated his equal, he responds (albeit belatedly) with respect, and receives from her a new insight about himself which will give him the keys to becoming a better man.

It saddened me that the revelation in A Doll's House came almost too late. I like to think that the miracle of which Nora speaks at the end
("that communion between us shall be a marriage") is possible, once both Nora and Torvald have learned more seperately.