A Summary and Analysis of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House | a doll's house分析
ByDrOliverTearle(LoughboroughUniversity)ADoll’sHouseisoneofthemostimportantplaysinallmoderndrama.WrittenbytheNorwegianplaywrightHenrikIbsenin1879,theplayiswell-knownforitsshockingending,whichattractedbothcriticismandadmirationfromaudienceswhenitpremiered.BeforeweofferananalysisofADoll’sHouse,itmightbeworthrecappingthe‘story’oftheplay,whichhaditsrootsinreal-lifeeventsinvolvingafriendofIbsen’s.ADoll’sHouse:summaryTheplayopensonChristmasEve.NoraHelmerhasreturnedhomefromdoingtheChristmasshopping...
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
A Doll’s House is one of the most important plays in all modern drama. Written by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen in 1879, the play is well-known for its shocking ending, which attracted both criticism and admiration from audiences when it premiered.
Before we offer an analysis of A Doll’s House, it might be worth recapping the ‘story’ of the play, which had its roots in real-life events involving a friend of Ibsen’s.
A Doll’s House: summary
The play opens on Christmas Eve. Nora Helmer has returned home from doing the Christmas shopping. Her husband, a bank manager named Torvald, asks her how much she has spent. Nora confides to her friend Mrs Linde that, shortly after she and Torvald married, he fell ill and she secretly borrowed some money to pay for his treatment. Mrs Linde is looking for work from Nora’s husband.
She is still paying that money back (by setting aside a little from her ho...