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Bloom’s Nora also seems to use affection and the femininity expected of the character. She embraces Torvald when asking him for money and almost collapses in this arms later in the film to try and prevent him from looking at the letters which calls to the idea of her performing and playing a role in order to protect her role and social status which is very interesting.

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Later on Hopkin’s Torvald after delivering the line ‘Well as much as you can [save] amounts to nothing’ he grabs and strokes her nose as if he were playing with a child’s. It is also true to Ibsen’s idea of Torvald and how he would’ve originally been played as during the respective act one of the play when stage directions state that Torvald ‘(goes up to her and takes her by the ear)’. Nora is someone who was passed down from one father to another man who acts in the same way so it makes sense to see why Bloom’s Nora acts in a way which upholds and plays upon this idea.

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Hopkin's Torvald touches and plays with Nora's nose after discussing her 'frivolous' spending

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The first scene of the film, and the way the couple interact with each other for the majority throughout is almost painfully uncomfortable to watch due to its strong resemblance to the relationship between parent and child as opposed to that of a husband and wife. Hopkin’s Torvald is hands Bloom’s Nora money slowly, as if he gains deep satisfaction as he watches her excitedly grab it in a way that mimics a child receiving money from a grandfather whilst making little squeals like the squirrel he describes her as.

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Unlike in other productions, there is no need for a glaring age gap to make the viewer uncomfortable and highlight the parent/child dynamic of their relationship- Garland allows the content script to do that in its own right and Bloom’s childlike and efflorescent performance certainly deepens this.

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Claire Bloom and Antony Hopkins on the set of A Doll's House 1973

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 Claire Bloom is Nora and was 42 years old at the time of filming .Antony Hopkins is Helmer Torvald and was 36 years old at the time. One thing to notice about this casting is that both are similar in age and this translates well on screen. Visually they are a perfectly appropriate and palatable couple.

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. With this context, it is hard not to think that Garfield, like Ibsen was, was concerned with the role of women in society and their emancipation and that the ideas and messages that can be found within the play’s core are still relevant and telling years post the play’s release.

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Women marching for rights in the 1970s

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A production of A Doll’s House that I wish to discuss would be Patrick Garland’s 1973 film that shares the same title and a fairly accurate translation English. Though the film was made 93 years after A Doll’s House was first performed in 1879, it came at a time where women couldn’t open bank accounts in their own name and therefore often did not have the right to control their own money and spending. The right to do so was granted in 1975 so I cannot help but find it extremely interesting that Garland chose to make a film version of a play concerned with the roles of women with the main plot line being driven by a woman’s act of forging a man’s signature to borrow money she wouldn’t have been able to access otherwise.

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I am a student of the University of Hull blogging as part of my assessment for the module Drama, Conflict and Identity. All views expressed here are my own and do not represent the university.