As the title would suggest, this story shows a pretty pink surface of a shrouded interior. It would appear that inside the pristine doll's house exists a brooding secret, perhaps the purpose of the facade.
Nora from the getgo appears disillusioned with something, but it's not readily apparent what. Her attitude towards others, her ignorance, her blind devotion to Torvald (not as a lover, but as a provider) builds a house a cards that begins to shake when demons from her past, and not coincidentally from the one action in her life where she did not ask anyone's permission, and begins to peel away the pretty exterior and reveal the slum that is Nora's marriage to Torvald. Nora knows that even though her actions may very well have saved Torvald's life, if Krogsdad were to reveal the truth of the matter, Torvald would certainly be furious. Torvald takes pleasure in being the stronger one of the relationship, the provider, the father figure, not a partner. He feels he should be the one to pity others, not to be pitied. Nora understands this deep within herself, but has hidden these feelings away for the benefits of her marriage (monetary and socially.)
Thusly the story becomes more about the facade of Nora's marriage than the events surrounding her. Eventually she seems to forget about her reputation and the unscrupulous characters surrounding her, and for the first time at the very end of the story she confronts Torvald honestly and without consideration for anyone's but her own feelings. It is only then that she really understands why she had covered up her emotions, and in a shocking move, walks out on Torvald.
Because the story is about relationships, it's not too surprising that Christina and Krogsdad end up together, a poor widow looking for a family to care after, and a older man with a family to support looking to get away from his previously dubius practices. The match almost presents itself, although the way it comes about is odd. Another odd relationship is between Nora and the Doctor. This is true love, and can be seen from a mile away. Unlike the superficial relationship between Nora and Torvald, the Doctor and Nora flirt, have real emotions for eachother, but only when the Doctor reveals his true love does she realize that it can never be. He blows it by ruining their good friendship when she needs a friend the most, not a lover.
The complicated nature of the story is intertwined into the complicated nature of relationships, while there are only a handful of central characters, each one has a special need or quality to desire of fufill.
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Colin--Although I don't quite get why you think that Nora is disillusioned in the early part of the play, but I do agree that the play brings Nora to think about her own feelings rather than those of others, and that that leads to the crisis.
And I like what you say about the play looking at the nature of relationships in a way that's larger than the Helmer's marriage.
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