in the final stages of the play ,when the secret is at last revealed, drama gives way to discussion. How effective do you consider this ending to be?

Ibsen manipulates the audience with several intimations of a happy ending: when Krogstad and Mrs. Linde’s love is revealed, when Krogstad promises that he will take back his letter, when he returns Helmer’s IOU, and when Nora and Torvald discuss the possibility of a “miracle of miracles.” But the outside door slams as the curtain comes down. It is not a happy ending but a sad one, particularly for Torvald. There is only a remote possibility of the redemption of the Helmers’ marriage. As for Nora, it is an open ending. It is an opening out of possibilities for Nora, a new journey which, as much as possible, she will take alone. I think the end of the play certainly leaves a lot of issues open for discussion. Is the end of the play, for instance, the glorious triumph of individualism, the moment at which Nora really becomes herself, or is it a foolish, idealistic decision which is the beginning of the end of Nora's happiness?