Quit hatin' on Torvald

So after finishing A Doll House, I promised myself that I would avoid blogging about it at all costs (didn't like it very much). However, after listening to today's discussion, I feel like I should put some ideas out there.  First of all, I really don't understand how people can throw the blame onto Torvald so easily.  In my opinion, Nora deserves just as much off the blame as Torvald.  Let's start from the beginning. So Nora takes out this massive loan to save her husband's life, forging her father's signature. In her mind, the means justify the end, and I can see that and don't have a problem with it.  What I do have a problem with, though, is how she tries to cover it up for 5-6 YEARS (Nora says Torvald became ill a few years after their marraige, which was 8 years ago. Couldn't find any exact dates). Does that not seem a little absurd to anyone? And she honestly thinks that she can keep it a secret and somehow produce all that money without Torvald knowing? She describes Torvald's realization of this crippling debt as "the wonderful." Does anybody else see something "wonderful" about it? Perhaps it is wonderful only to Nora, who can use it to almost blackmail her husband. Case in point- Mrs. Linde asks if Nora will ever tell Torvald, and she replies, "Yes-one day, maybe. Many, many years from now, when I'm no longer young and pretty...I mean when Torvald no longer feels about me the way he does now, when he no longer thinks it's fun when I dance for him and put on costumes and recite for him. Then it will be good to have something in reserve." (1176). Something in reserve, huh? I think this quote also shows how Nora is willingly portraying this "songbird" image. She has been acting this way for so long that Torvald has grown accustomed to it. And yet, at the end of the play, she leaves so suddenly- not even giving him the chance to change. How does she know that he won't change? If her behavior has been an illusion this whole time, how much does she really know about Torvald? I suppose a counter-argument to this could be that Nora was "forced" to comply with society's standards and act like a songbird/squirrel.  However, in the same sense, Torvald cannot be blamed for his interaction with Nora since he was only following society's standards for the time period.  Onto the topic of selfishness- Torvald is criticized as being selfish and I agree to a certain extent. After reading Krogstad's initial letter, one of his lines is "You have ruined all my happiness. My whole future" (1223).  Yes, this shows that Torvald is selfish, but I think that there's much more to it than that. Think about how utterly shocked Torvald is after reading this letter. Here's a man, always financially responsible, extremely self-conscious concerning his reputation with the public, who has just realized that not only is he in massive debt, but his wife has been covering it up and privately handling the affair for 5-6 YEARS.  For a man of the Victorian era, this sudden revelation would be simply unbearable. Isn't it possible that Torvald, overwhelmed by his emotions, would say things that he didn't really mean?  Perhaps he did mean what he said-just reflecting the society of the time. I'm not saying that Torvald is the protagonist. I'm just saying that he should be no lower than Nora.  The fact that she expected him to suddenly assume the immense debt after keeping him in the dark for so many years seems incomprehensible-unfair, to say the least.  A bit of honesty would be nice.