A Doll’s House AO5 Critics and Productions and AO3 Context
Ibsen and Norway
“A woman cannot be herself in a contemporary society. It is an exclusive male society
with laws drafted by men” (Quote by Ibsen)
In Hedda Gabler, another Ibsen play, the main character Hedda kills herself to ‘escape’ her
life. This can be compared to Nora leaving her home.
A Doll’s House is set in an upper class Norwegian home. Due to industrialisation in
Norway around this time, more money was being produced.
19th Century Critics and Productions
“Oh yes there are thousands of such doll homes” (Social Demokraten newspaper)
In the 1880 German production, the actress playing Nora refused to perform the last
scene as she “would never leave her children”. Ibsen was forced to make a ‘happier’ and
more socially acceptable ending where Nora is about to leave then sees her children
sleeping and falls to her knees as the curtain closes and stays.
A review in Die Gegenwart said that Nora leaving her children was “illogical and immoral”
Modern Productions
2012: Young Vic Productions
The stage rotates to illustrate an actual doll’s house
2000: Shared Experience Productions
The first scene is Nora entering the stage from an actual doll’s house.
1981: Ingmar Bergman
When she leaves her daughter watches and holds a doll. (the cycle Nora left has already
passed down to her children)
Modern Critics:
Nora is an icon of women’s liberation (Goodman)
Ibsen’s Nora is not just a woman arguing for female liberation…. she embodies the
comedy as well as the tragedy of modern life (Haugen)
Ibsen’s knowledge of humanity is nowhere more obvious than in his portrayal of women
(Joyce)
Though [Helmer’s] real preoccupation is with reputation, not morality, he seems blind to
this distinction. (Grey)
It's a mistake to see Mrs Linde as a fully formed 'new woman,' free of ties and content
with a room of her own. She has experienced a great deal of pain and upset. (Unwin)
(A New Woman was an emerging social concept in Norway where a woman can study,
socialise and work alongside and equal to men. )
Ibsen and Norway
“A woman cannot be herself in a contemporary society. It is an exclusive male society
with laws drafted by men” (Quote by Ibsen)
In Hedda Gabler, another Ibsen play, the main character Hedda kills herself to ‘escape’ her
life. This can be compared to Nora leaving her home.
A Doll’s House is set in an upper class Norwegian home. Due to industrialisation in
Norway around this time, more money was being produced.
19th Century Critics and Productions
“Oh yes there are thousands of such doll homes” (Social Demokraten newspaper)
In the 1880 German production, the actress playing Nora refused to perform the last
scene as she “would never leave her children”. Ibsen was forced to make a ‘happier’ and
more socially acceptable ending where Nora is about to leave then sees her children
sleeping and falls to her knees as the curtain closes and stays.
A review in Die Gegenwart said that Nora leaving her children was “illogical and immoral”
Modern Productions
2012: Young Vic Productions
The stage rotates to illustrate an actual doll’s house
2000: Shared Experience Productions
The first scene is Nora entering the stage from an actual doll’s house.
1981: Ingmar Bergman
When she leaves her daughter watches and holds a doll. (the cycle Nora left has already
passed down to her children)
Modern Critics:
Nora is an icon of women’s liberation (Goodman)
Ibsen’s Nora is not just a woman arguing for female liberation…. she embodies the
comedy as well as the tragedy of modern life (Haugen)
Ibsen’s knowledge of humanity is nowhere more obvious than in his portrayal of women
(Joyce)
Though [Helmer’s] real preoccupation is with reputation, not morality, he seems blind to
this distinction. (Grey)
It's a mistake to see Mrs Linde as a fully formed 'new woman,' free of ties and content
with a room of her own. She has experienced a great deal of pain and upset. (Unwin)
(A New Woman was an emerging social concept in Norway where a woman can study,
socialise and work alongside and equal to men. )
