What happens after Nora leaves home

Henrik Ibsen's ''A Doll's House'' (1879) Source: Henrik Ibsen's 1879 play ''A Doll's House'' follows the individual awakening of Nora Helmer, wife to a bank employee named Torvald Helmer. When a scandal breaks out that threatens the livelihood of the Helmers, Torvald accuses Nora of ruining his life, contrary to his earlier promise to take on everything himself as the man of the family. After learning the scandal would be resolved secretly, Torvald is overjoyed and forgives Nora. However, Nora, who has seen Torvald's true selfish character, decides to leave. She tells Torvald that like her father, he had never known her—even she doesn't know who she really is herself. She states that she felt like a 'puppet' under Torvald's control and she needs some time to live alone to understand herself. The play ends as Nora leaves Torvald, with the door slamming on her exit from the house. Scholar Joan Templeton praised the ending, noting it 'constitutes nineteenth-century feminism's universally agreed-upon base for women's emancipation". At first, he affirms that it is reassuring to live in ignorance and sometimes it is essential to do so, noting that 'People who dream are fortunate. If there isn't a way out, it is important not to wake them'. To Lu Xun, to make people aware of a desperate reality only means more suffering for themselves, as there is nothing for them to do other than 'to witness their own rotting corpses'. However, he also admits that a dreamer awakened can no longer return to his dream calmly. As Nora becomes aware of her husband's manipulation, her awakening is inevitable and so is her departure. Lu Xun then proposes that in order for Nora to avoid her destined failure, she will have to need money. He argues that a liberated mind can go nowhere without the support of material possessions. He concludes from this that for people to be able to live freely, as Nora wants to do, all members of society must be given economic rights: 'First, there must be a fair division of property between men and women in the family; second, there must be an equal division of power between men and women in society at large.' Therefore, Lu Xun contends that the way to obtain political and economic freedom is revolution--'to fight for them' with extreme audacity and tenacity. However, he believes the pursuit for economic rights will be met with more hindrance than the advocation of political rights, as material needs are more basic for human survival than the distribution of power. A way to avoid fighting could be for economic equality to be achieved in peace within the family, as parents equally distribute family property to their offsprings to live as they will. Nevertheless, he admits this is 'rather a distant dream'. He points out that people who were oppressed as children or inferiors often nevertheless go on to oppress others themselves once they become parents or superiors, and he recommends that everyone should keep track of their experiences in order to maintain an objective attitude. Next, Lu Xun argues that individual economic freedom 'for a few women' would not eliminate the broader systematic hierarchy of subjugation between classes. A person with means of sustenance is still affected by those with more wealth and power than her/him. Therefore, Lu Xun argues that such economic freedom is only an 'intermediate goal' leading to a more overall solution. However, Lu Xun notes that 'it's too difficult to change China'. He attacks the inaction of the Chinese masses, saying that they have been no more than 'spectators at a play'. In consideration of this, Lu Xun urges his listeners to fight carefully and enduringly, rather than resorting to the brief sacrifice which will soon be forgotten. Nevertheless, he still has hope for China's future. With a mixed undertone, Lu Xun predicts a revolution will come eventually, but how and when he cannot tell. == Background ==

Historical Background Four years before Lu Xun gave his speech, the May Fourth Movement — one of the most significant social movements in China — took place in Beijing. On 4 May 1919, students gathered to protest against the signing of the Treaty of Versailles and imperial Japan's 'Twenty-One Demands', which quickly culminated into the rise of public awareness of China's national identity. The May Fourth Movement represents 'the beginning of China's modern revolutionary era, and a new stage after the Republican Revolution of 1911'. For this reason, Chinese intellectuals looked to the West for new models of ideas. Under the inspiration of Ibsen's original work, women walk out literature became increasingly prevalent among Chinese literatures from the 1910s onward. Among medias of books, magazines, plays, and newspapers, references and acknowledgements to Nora and the concept of female emancipation gradually increased over decades since the play first came to China. The genre shared the theme of women's liberation but mostly based its settings on the Chinese society and contain a relative amount of originality. The women walk out literature after 1949 were influenced by Left-Wing ideologies and revolutionary thoughts. Much like how the awakening of Nora was used to criticize the old society and customs, Nora Compulsion and women walk out literature were part of a social movement that created a vision of a new society with greater equality. == Debate on Ibsen's Nora ==

Hu Shi's Nora Accompanying the New Youth special issue was an essay written by editor Hu Shi, leading intellectual of the May Fourth Movement. The essay was entitled 'Ibsenism' ('易卜生主义', Yipushengzhuyi), where he analyzed the motifs of Ibsen's works. Inspired by ''A Doll's House, Hu wrote a play named The Greatest Event in Life (1919),'' deemed by some as the Chinese iteration of 'the Nora-problem', with the same emphasis on individual autonomy over familial oppression. Therefore, the play was tailored to be more adhering to the Chinese society and contain an educational element within. In Lu Xun's opinion, Nora's departure is a show of fascination in the patriarchal eyes of the Chinese society, an actual spectacle the 'thrill-seeking masses' will eventually grow weary of. and over the decades, his works had been influenced by Ibsenism and the ideologies of the May Fourth Movement while also containing an element of tragedy unique to the Chinese social context. Specifically, the character Chen Bailu in Sunrise has been described by critics as a fulfillment of Lu Xun's two options for Nora: prostitution or a humiliating return. Chen Bailu chooses prostitution, which provides her with the economic stability to refuse a return. Limitation of Lu Xun's interpretation However, some have pointed out what they consider to be limitations of Lu Xun's critique. Several scholars argue that Nora is able to survive without her husband's support. Before she leaves the house, her independent character has already formed during the events of the play. Moreover, some note that a role model already exists in the play: Nora's old friend Mrs. Linde, whose self-reliance proves a life of independence is possible in the contemporary social climate. Additionally, Chien Ying-Ying contends against Lu Xun's favour for external change over internal awakening, arguing that 'without internal change, even if they have money, Chinese women would still be puppets and dolls, both at home and in society at large.' It has also been contended that Lu Xun's interpretation inappropriately marginalizes women's issues in contemporary China and diverts from a feminist interpretation of Nora. According to these critiques, Lu Xun considers women's fate as subordinate to the fate of contemporary China and his criticisms on gender oppression are, like those of Hu Shi and many other May Fourth male writers, framed within the nationalistic presumption that women need to find their own agenda in order for China to advance. Therefore, both Lu Xun and Hu Shi's interpretations are claimed to suffer from a gendered nationalistic appropriation, making their Nora results of 'sympathetic male intuition'. These critics conclude that the lack of female intellectual opinions in the Nora debates calls for further consideration for gendered biases. == Nora's influence on Lu Xun's literary practice ==

In 1925, Lu Xun wrote a short story, "Regret for the Past", which follows a young couple's disillusionment of reality after they rebel against their own families. "Regret for the Past" is considered as a direct literary successor of Lu Xun's perspective on Nora. Instead of focusing on unequal marital relationship like Ibsen did, Lu Xun addresses the evil of Chinese feudal family system and emphasizes on the importance of economic independence. The story has been criticised along some of the same lines as Lu Xun's Nora critique, as it has been accused of having a male-centered narrative. According to Stephen Chan, the heroine Zijun in "Regret for the Past" is the empty 'other' that exists only to be objectified for the male self's (her husband Juanshen's) reflection, as 'no authentic discourse for the other is represented'. == See also ==