A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen

Today, I am reviewing A Doll's House, a play written in 1879 by Henrik Ibsen. It was the December book in my World Lit high school book group. Since it is a play, and not too long of one, we thought it would be fun to read it aloud together. It took us a little longer than we had anticipated, a little over three hours all told. I read the part of Mrs. Linde for the majority of the play. This post contains spoilers, so don't read if you care about that.

I'm going to write this post in a much more relaxed manner than usual, mainly because I didn't read it like a normal book. It was a different reading experience that normal, and I think it deserves a more chatty type of review.

I found this play an interested read considering the time in which it was written. The play focuses on a woman named Nora Helmer, who was, at some point in the past, forced to borrow money to pay for the treatment of her husband's illness. He does not know about the loan, and would be furious if he knew. As the play begins, her loan situation is falling apart, along with her marriage.

Nora is an interesting character in that she manages to be at once both a "doll" and a relatively independent woman. By the end, she seems to know what she wants, or at least needs, and she is willing to to what it takes to get there. In her husband's eyes, however, she is an airheaded homemaker.

This play breaks away from several social norms of the time, especially in the end, when Norma leaves her husband. The ending, in which Norma leaves Torvald and their children because she needs to grow as a person, and she finds her life with him too stifling. What I find particularly interesting about the ending is not so much the events themselves, but more the light in which they were presented.

The tone of the writing suggests that Norma is in the right, and that her husband is wrong to try to make her stay, which, for the late 1800's, is quite a statement. Not just that, but Torvald is represented as being hypocritical and the true "Doll" in the house. This is not at all what I would expect from a play from that time, and I found it quite interesting.

For a play, I think it read quite easily. It did a good job of showing character and plot development through dialogue, which is certainly important for a play. Each of the main characters, Norma, Torvald, Mrs. Linde, Krogstad, and even Dr. Rank all were quite human and well written.

I recommend this play to those who enjoy a well written play, and are interested in the history of play writing or woman's rights. It provides a unique perspective on this topic.

Have you read this book? If you have, I would love to hear what you thought about it!