Tiara Trudelle
Critical Essay for Drama
Debra Anderson
All for Love
Nora from Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” and Arthur from “On Tidy Endings” are very similar in nature. They are from two different worlds, living two very different lives, yet it is their devotion to the ones they love that make them very much the same person. The love they have for their life partner’s led them down an unsuspecting path which would fill their lives with happiness and a lot of heartache. The decisions they make along the way were very different from each other, but behind them lay the same intentions; everything they did they did for the people they loved. With these decisions came consequences and this helped develop who they would become. Comparing these two characters we find conflict in their methods but justification in their reasoning and the paths they decided to follow.
Nora is a character living in the late 1800’s, in era when women were thought to be weak and incapable of survival without the guidance of man. She plays the part and adjusts her personality to please those around her and pretends to be defenseless in order to conform to society’s views on a women’s ability. Nora says to her husband, “There is no one has such good taste as you. And I do so want to look nice at the fancy-dress ball. Torvald, couldn’t you take me in hand and decide what I shall go as?” (Ibsen 458) She pretends to be weak, but behind this act of weakness lay deceit. She uses this to make her husband feel like he is in control when in reality, she is. She is the one that saved his life and she is the one that holds their fate in the balance.
Arthur’s character in “On Tidy Endings” is an outwardly strong and honest gay man. He is living in an era when little was known about AIDS, and society blamed homosexuality for the outbreak. The death of his lover from this disease brings conflict between him and his lover’s ex wife. He does not care what society thinks of him or his way of life. He defends his spouse’s memory when confronted with the family’s failure to acknowledge their relationship. Arthur says to Marion, “This death does not belong to you, and it’s mine! Bought and paid for outright. I suffered for it, I bled for it” (Fierstein 1102). He feels that he is justified in his boldness to tell her she is wrong because he was the one to take care of him. Arthur adds, “I kept him alive for two years longer than any doctor thought possible and when it was time I was the one to prepare him for death” (Fierstein 1113). He wants the acknowledgement for all he has sacrificed.
At first glance these two characters are very different. One is weak and one is strong. Nora is very concerned about outward appearances while Arthur has no care to make others more comfortable about his situation. But it is what lies behind their actions that make them similar. Their intentions are filled with only one person in mind and that is their only concern. Nora uses deceit while Arthur uses honesty, but both do this in defense of the people they love.
When Nora’s deceit is exposed to her husband and he betrays her love, Helmer tells her, “What a horrible awakening! She who was my joy and pride - a hypocrite, a liar - worse, worse - a criminal” (Ibsen 487). Nora finally sees what her love has cost her. It has cost her her own love for herself and not the man she has loved. It is not until he forgives her that she realizes she can not go back. She tells him, “I must stand quite alone, if I am to understand myself and everything about me. And that is why I am going to leave you now” (Ibsen 491). Nora finally sees that love has blinded her to the point of nothingness. She was empty and the love that she thought was there to keep her safe could never refill the harsh reality of her husband’s perception of her.
Arthur’s confrontation with his lover’s ex wife Marion brings into light all the feelings that he has kept to himself to spare his partner additional suffering. He knows if he lets the last three years of his life go unrecognized it would die along with the man he loved. Arthur states, “I paid in full for my place in his life and I will not share it with you. We are not the two widows of Collin Redding” and he adds, “You’ve got to let him go” (Fierstein 1113). With this sudden release of emotions he finally has given away the one thing that has been eating him alive, his desperation to be understood. It is in this release that he finally finds peace and can morn his lost love.
Though these two characters endings are both tragic, there is resolution in what they gain from finally standing up for themselves. Nora leaves her husband and children and finally discovers herself. Arthur loses the man he loves to a tragic death but finds the strength to go on in a friend that had been there all along. Nora discovers that her life has been a lie and she has never truly lived a moment of real happiness. And Arthur finds in death, a new life, and a future to look forward to.
These two unlikely characters found themselves in a situation they could not understand. Arthur states, “Sometimes you have no choice, believe me, if I could’ve gotten away from him I would’ve. But I was a prisoner of love” (Fierstein 1116) And this is why these two characters are very similar. Everything they did, they did for love. They carried within them the ability to sacrifice their own life and happiness for the ones they loved but in the end were justified in their ability to say, I’ve paid my dues; now it’s my turn.
Work Cited
Ibsen, Henrick. “A Doll’s House,” Literature the Human Experience: Reading and Writing. Shorter 8th ed. Ed. Richard Abarcian
and Martin Koltz. New York: St. Martin. 2004. 556-579.
Fierstein, Harvey. “On Tidy Endings,” Literature the Human Experience: Reading and Writing. Shorter 8th ed. Ed. Richard
Abarcian and Martin Koltz. New York: St. Martin. 2004. 556-579.