Nora's character

In "A Doll's House", Nora, the protagonist of the play, completely changes her character from naive and immature, to someone who wants to no longer live a lie and roam freely without having to keep something hidden from the world. But why does her character suddenly change?

In the first act, we see Nora trying to prove to Ms. Linden that she is not as innocent as she may seem to be. She describes to Ms. Linden how big her deepest secret is and how terrible it would be if anyone were to find out. Ms. Linden, as well as the reader, learns that Nora had forged her father’s signature right before his death. At this point, the reader may wonder why Nora is telling Ms. Linden such secrets. Earlier in the play, it was mentioned that Nora had not spoken to Ms. Linden for many years. So why would Nora tell Ms. Linden her biggest and only secret? Naivety could be a possible answer.

Was forging her father’s signature really a base action? The answer is no. However, in some ways. she seems proud of what she had done. She was so proud that she had to tell someone about it, and Ms Linden happened to be that person. Any one with common sense would know that secrets of this magnitude should never be heard by others. And not only she tell someone who is basically a stranger, she gloats about it, as if forging her father’s signature someone makes her a more reputable woman. At the time the play was written, a good reputation was all a man ever really needed in life in order to succeed, while women fulfilled their duties at home as a wife and as a mother. It seems Nora wants to be more than that. We get hints of this when she tells Ms. Linden her secret and at the end of the play when she says she wants to be more than just a wife and a mother. She also says she did not see “the miracle” that she had been waiting for. She believed that once her husband had learned everything that he would not get mad at her and that e would take the blame for everything; it obviously did not happen. At this point in the story, she realizes that for her entire marriage she had been lying and keeping a secret from her husband. Once Helmer found out, Nora was somewhat relieved that she no longer had to hide anything. Nora’s character seems to change near the end of the play right before she and Helmer begin to talk. It could have possibly changed because she had finally had understood the situation she was in.