A Doll's House Study Guide
A Doll's House: Act Summaries
A Doll's House: Themes
A Doll's House: Characters
A Doll's House: Analysis
A Doll's House: Critical Essays
A Doll's House: Multiple-Choice Quizzes
A Doll's House: Questions & Answers
A Doll's House: Introduction
A Doll's House: Biography of Henrik Ibsen
Introduction to A Doll's House
First performed in December 1879 at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll’s House was met with both incredible success and immediate criticism for its views on marriage and family, which were highly controversial at the time. The play follows Nora Helmer, a middle-class Norwegian housewife, as she confronts the consequences of an illegal loan she has taken out in order to save the life of her husband, Torvald. However, as she navigates strict gender roles and dismantles the illusions that plague her marriage, she realizes that she is no longer content to be anyone’s “doll wife.” Whereas critics claimed A Doll's House threatened to dismantle traditional values, fans found its realistic, complex depictions of individuals and families relatable, inspiring, and refreshing. Under pressure from his agent, who worried that German audiences would find the ending of the play too controversial, Ibsen was forced to pen an alternate ending that aligned more closely with the conventional morality of the time. Ibsen himself referred to this alternate ending as a "barabric outrage," and today, nearly all stage and film adaptations use his original ending.
A Brief Biography of Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906) is, without a doubt, the father of realist theater. The Norwegian playwright is considered the starting point for modern drama, particularly realism, which dominated the twentieth century. Rejecting the spectacular, sentimental, and over-the-top plays that marked the nineteenth-century stage, Ibsen turned his eye toward societal issues that marked the waning years of the Victorian era. Whether questioning the confines of marriage in A Doll’s House and Hedda Gabler or the hypocrisy of politics in An Enemy of the People, Ibsen subverted social norms and their controlling institutions. Although many of his plays were criticized for their content at the time, Ibsen’s works helped lay the foundation for even more radical explorations in the following century.
Frequently Asked Questions about A Doll's House
A Doll's House
What is ironic about Krogstad's crime?
Krogstad's crime is ironic because it is, essentially, the same crime that Nora Helmer commits. Nora has committed a forgery, signing a contract with her father's name (as a woman at the time was...
A Doll's House
What was Nora's secret?
In the play, Nora is portrayed as a submissive housewife who is primarily concerned with pleasing her controlling, insensitive husband, Torvald Helmer. Torvald views and treats Nora like a doll and...
A Doll's House
Why did Nora borrow money?
In A Doll's House, Nora Helmer carries the heavy burden of a devastating secret, which is revealed to her domineering husband toward the end of the play. In act 1, Nora is visited by her former...
A Doll's House
What literary devices are used in A Doll's House?
Henrik Ibsen uses numerous literary devices in A Doll’s House. These include two types of comparisons, metaphor and simile. Throughout the play, he frequently employs dramatic irony. With this...
A Doll's House
What is the style of A Doll's House?
Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's House is written in the style called realism. Realism became popular in the nineteenth century, as a response to Romanticism. Romantic literature often tended to...
A Doll's House
What does the dress symbolize in A Doll's House?
More than anything else, Nora's fancy dress symbolizes her subordination to her husband, Torvald. This rather fetching Neapolitan fisher-girl's dress isn't something that Nora wears for herself but...
A Doll's House
What does money symbolize in A Doll's House?
Generally speaking, money in A Doll's House symbolizes power. He who has money—and in this society, wealth is invariably in the hands of men—also has power. Specifically, though, money symbolizes...
A Doll's House
Is A Doll's House relevant today?
There is much about the world and the way women are treated that has thankfully changed since Henrik Ibsen wrote A Doll's House in 1879. For starters, women can, in most countries, get legitimate...
A Doll's House
What does the lamp symbolize in A Doll's House?
In A Doll’s House, the lamp represents both false security and the illumination of truth. In the play, Ibsen introduces the lamp as a prop that characters use as protection and as a device to...
A Doll's House
Why does Nora leave her husband in A Doll's House?
Nora leaves her husband because of the massive fight that occurs when he learns the truth about an illegal loan she had taken out years earlier. Nora's husband, Torvald Helmer, is absolutely livid...
A Doll's House
What is "the most wonderful thing" in A Doll's House?
In A Doll's House, Torvald speaks the last line of the play as Nora leaves him. Ibsen's stage direction says that "a hope flashes across his mind." Torvald asks, "The most wonderful thing of all—?"...
A Doll's House
What is the main conflict in A Doll's House?
Although there are a couple of conflicts going on in this great play, one main conflict is between Nora and her husband, Torvald. Near the beginning of their marriage, Nora had taken out an illegal...
A Doll's House
Is the ending of A Doll's House happy or unhappy?
Even if one accepts that Nora has made the right decision in walking out on her husband and children at the end of A Doll's House, it still wouldn't be appropriate to describe the famous closing of...
A Doll's House
Does Nora kill herself in A Doll's House?
Nora does not kill herself in A Doll's House, although she does at one point consider suicide. Rather, at the end of the play, having realized that her husband does not truly value her and that her...
A Doll's House
What is the irony in A Doll's House?
The irony in A Doll's House lies in the fact that, after having worked and made sacrifices for the sake of her husband's health, image, and believed happiness, Nora learns her husband is unwilling...
A Doll's House
Who is Dr. Rank in A Doll's House?
Dr. Rank is a friend of the Helmers and visits them regularly. He pays particular attention to Nora, treating her with chivalrous courtesy and paying her frequent compliments. Nora seems to realize...
A Doll's House
Why was A Doll's House banned?
A Doll's House was banned because of its intense social criticism of the inequalities that often existed within marriage and the way women were treated by men during the Victorian era. A Doll's...
A Doll's House
What is the plot of A Doll's House?
Overall, the plot of A Doll's House unfolds as the consequences of Nora Helmer having illegally borrowed money years earlier come to light. Nora took out a loan to pay for a trip to Italy that had...
A Doll's House
What does the title A Doll's House mean?
The title of Henrik Ibsen's celebrated play A Doll's House alludes to the way the domineering, insensitive Torvald Helmer treats his wife, Nora, who feels like she is playing the role of a doll in...
A Doll's House
What is the main theme of A Doll's House?
There are many very important themes in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House, but arguably the most important theme of all is the subordination of women. At the time when Ibsen wrote the play, women in...