Norah represents women who accept society's bias against until it intrudes on their independence. These women may look docile and accommodating, however, when they choose to react, they do not bow down to apologies and mere promises. Their only goal is to reinvent themselves before entering again into normal life.
There was a post on Facebook the other day advising women who cannot submit not to try marriage. The author of the post expressed outrightly that marriage was a subordination institution and those who thought that equality existed in such institutions were just dreaming. I paraphrase of course.
This post got me thinking and using my photographic mind a wandered through the successful marriages I had seen and the not-so-successful ones trying to authenticate this hypothesis. Although I tried to justify this statement, most of my study subjects were in the fifties and sixties or even older. At this age, many of these so-called successful marriages were built on the tenets of the husband as the head of the house and the wife a submissive companion. It is within this paradigm that Norah was married. Having been raised by an overprotective father, Norah marries Torvald Helmer and as it were, continues to enjoy the bliss and ignorance of a childhood she enjoyed under the wing of her father.
Helmer spoils Norah by taking care of her every need and making sure that Norah remains the ever bubbly housewife. The provisions of Helmer cage Norah into a doll's house in which she plays and eats her macaroons and sings and waltzes with her husband without any substantial contribution to the family. Her role is to play the good wife and the perfect hostess. She is also supposed to live up to her husband's moral standing without any blemish.
However, Norah has a secret. The secret may destroy Helmer's good moral standing in society. The only person who knows about Norah's secret is Krogstad- a man Norah's owes a lot of money. As fate will have it, Helmer is promoted to a managerial position in a bank where Krogstad is an employee. Being a man of integrity, Helmer plans to fire Krogstad because of his disagreeable behaviour. Krogstad, desperate to keep his job, threatens to reveal Norah's secret.
Norah knows her husband's stand on the issues of morality and forgery- a crime Norah committed is the highest form of insolence that Helmer cannot stand. Remember, Helmer works in a bank where forgery could lead to the loss of a lot of money. Fighting to keep his good name, Helmer cannot work with people like Krogstad. But oblivious to him, Norah is as guilty as Krogstad.
When Helmer learns of Norah's deceit, he is inconsolable. He sees defeat and indebted to Krogstad. He feels betrayed despite Norah's assurance that everything will be okay once she delinks herself with him. Meanwhile, Krogstad recants his stand against Norah. When Helmer learns that Norah has been set free. He is elated, but Norah comes to an epiphany. She realizes that she has never had an opinion over anything except agreeing with the men in her life. First with her father and then with her husband. Therefore, she makes a decision to leave matrimony in order to become a woman of voice.
In doing so, Norah is opening vistas of independence in her life. She had thought that living under the protective wings of her father and husband made her whole and happy. However, having risked going to jail for the sake of her husband, and the only thanks she gets is a pat on the shoulder like a pet, makes her rethink a lot about her life. She needs freedom of opinion.
Norah's choice is impeccable in that it provides her with a chance to grow as a recognised member of the society. This is what is accepted of women who are caged by fatherly figure husbands. However, It has never been grounds for separation.Moreso, women who claim to want independence do not seek that independence especially in countries like Kenya where male dominance is the norm.
In this regard, many women end up confusing solicitation and prostitution among other lascivious choices as living a free life. However, according to Norah, being free is being able to speak your voice and make a choice agreeable to your needs. It is finding a political voice to engage men and a financial choice to take loans without the guiding hand of a male counterpart. It is never being afraid to say no to what you consider as a foolish idea. And that is the freedom that makes Norah single again.
There was a post on Facebook the other day advising women who cannot submit not to try marriage. The author of the post expressed outrightly that marriage was a subordination institution and those who thought that equality existed in such institutions were just dreaming. I paraphrase of course.
This post got me thinking and using my photographic mind a wandered through the successful marriages I had seen and the not-so-successful ones trying to authenticate this hypothesis. Although I tried to justify this statement, most of my study subjects were in the fifties and sixties or even older. At this age, many of these so-called successful marriages were built on the tenets of the husband as the head of the house and the wife a submissive companion. It is within this paradigm that Norah was married. Having been raised by an overprotective father, Norah marries Torvald Helmer and as it were, continues to enjoy the bliss and ignorance of a childhood she enjoyed under the wing of her father.
Helmer spoils Norah by taking care of her every need and making sure that Norah remains the ever bubbly housewife. The provisions of Helmer cage Norah into a doll's house in which she plays and eats her macaroons and sings and waltzes with her husband without any substantial contribution to the family. Her role is to play the good wife and the perfect hostess. She is also supposed to live up to her husband's moral standing without any blemish.
However, Norah has a secret. The secret may destroy Helmer's good moral standing in society. The only person who knows about Norah's secret is Krogstad- a man Norah's owes a lot of money. As fate will have it, Helmer is promoted to a managerial position in a bank where Krogstad is an employee. Being a man of integrity, Helmer plans to fire Krogstad because of his disagreeable behaviour. Krogstad, desperate to keep his job, threatens to reveal Norah's secret.
Norah knows her husband's stand on the issues of morality and forgery- a crime Norah committed is the highest form of insolence that Helmer cannot stand. Remember, Helmer works in a bank where forgery could lead to the loss of a lot of money. Fighting to keep his good name, Helmer cannot work with people like Krogstad. But oblivious to him, Norah is as guilty as Krogstad.
When Helmer learns of Norah's deceit, he is inconsolable. He sees defeat and indebted to Krogstad. He feels betrayed despite Norah's assurance that everything will be okay once she delinks herself with him. Meanwhile, Krogstad recants his stand against Norah. When Helmer learns that Norah has been set free. He is elated, but Norah comes to an epiphany. She realizes that she has never had an opinion over anything except agreeing with the men in her life. First with her father and then with her husband. Therefore, she makes a decision to leave matrimony in order to become a woman of voice.
In doing so, Norah is opening vistas of independence in her life. She had thought that living under the protective wings of her father and husband made her whole and happy. However, having risked going to jail for the sake of her husband, and the only thanks she gets is a pat on the shoulder like a pet, makes her rethink a lot about her life. She needs freedom of opinion.
Norah's choice is impeccable in that it provides her with a chance to grow as a recognised member of the society. This is what is accepted of women who are caged by fatherly figure husbands. However, It has never been grounds for separation.Moreso, women who claim to want independence do not seek that independence especially in countries like Kenya where male dominance is the norm.
In this regard, many women end up confusing solicitation and prostitution among other lascivious choices as living a free life. However, according to Norah, being free is being able to speak your voice and make a choice agreeable to your needs. It is finding a political voice to engage men and a financial choice to take loans without the guiding hand of a male counterpart. It is never being afraid to say no to what you consider as a foolish idea. And that is the freedom that makes Norah single again.
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