Guided Reading (S2) The Academic MindEra Center

A Doll’s House – Plot & Themes

Henrik Ibsen :

As one of the founders of Modernism in theatre, Ibsen is usually mentioned as ―the father of Realismǁ
and therefore the second most influential playwright of all times – after Shakespeare. Within the late 19th
century, the playwright Ibsen completely rewrote the principles of drama with a realism that we still see in
theatres today. He transformed the stage faraway from what it had become – a plaything and distraction for
the bored – and introduced a replacement-order of ethical analysis.

Ibsen brought his audience into regular people’s homes, where the bourgeois and uppermiddle-class
people kept their carefully guarded secrets. He then placed the conflicts that arose from challenging
assumptions and confrontations against a realistic middle-class background and developed them with piercing
dialogue and meticulous attention to detail. For this, he has earned his place in history.

A Doll’s House is perhaps the most played throughout the planet. The play culminates within the
character of Nora leaving her husband Torvald and her three children – something which was unprecedented
in 1879 when it had been first performed. It is still considered one of the foremost famous gender political
moments in world literature. The role of Nora even holds an iconic status: Unesco’s Memory of the planet
register calls Nora ―a symbol throughout the planet, for ladies fighting for liberation and equality”.

PLOT

Act I

Nora Helmer enters her lovely living room laden with packages and a Christmas tree, humming a
happy tune and sneaking a macaroon. Her husband, Torvald, greets her with questions about her spending,
calling Nora his “little fritter bird,” “squirrel,” spendthrift,” and “sweet tooth.” Nora reminds him that they
have no worries since Torvald has just been offered a bank managerial position, but her husband opts for
caution. When Torvald asks what she wants for Christmas, Nora asks for money.

Two visitors enter the house: Dr. Rank accompanies Torvald to his study, and Mrs. Linde, an old friend
who has been out of touch, joins Nora. The two women share confidences, and Nora reveals that she has
hidden more than macaroons from her husband. Due to Torvald’s serious illness several years prior, Nora
explains, she had to pay for a year of recovery in Italy. While she told Torvald that her father had left them
the money, Nora actually forged her father’s signature and borrowed the money from a lawyer named
Krogstad. Justifying her dishonesty by saving Torvald’s health and pride, Nora explains that she has been
secretly working to pay off the loan, and she is almost free of her debt. Krogstad enters next, hoping to salvage
his position at the bank by speaking to Torvald. After Krogstad leaves, Nora is able to talk Torvald into giving
Mrs. Linde a position at the bank. Torvald, Dr. Rank, and Mrs. Linde leave, and Nora visits with her three
children.

Krogstad then returns with a threat: Nora must get Torvald to keep Krogstad’s position at the bank, or
Krogstad will reveal Nora’s deception and forgery. Upon Torvald’s return, Nora questions him about
Krogstad’s past, and Torvald explains that Krogstad lost his own reputation due to forgery. Declaring that
such a lie “infects a home,” Helmer returns to his study, leaving Nora anxious but determined.

Act II

The curtain rises on the same room the next day, which is Christmas. Nora paces frantically, anxious
that Krogstad will return to reveal her forgery to Torvald. The nanny enters with a box of costumes and props
for the next evening’s festivities, and Nora questions her about children who grow up without mothers. Mrs.
Linde enters, and as she helps Nora repair her costume, Nora confides in her friend once again. She then asks
Mrs. Linde to finish sewing the dress while she speaks to Torvald. Promising to “sing for you and dance” if
only Torvald would give in, Nora asks her husband to keep Krogstad at the bank. Reminding her that rumors
would spread about his wife’s influence, Torvald denies Nora’s request. When she says his concerns about
propriety are “petty,” Torvald becomes incensed and sends Krogstad’s termination letter to his home.

Krogstad, having received his termination, returns to threaten Nora again, and the two admit that
though they have both considered suicide, neither can brave it. Krogstad leaves, but his letter revealing all is
clearly heard entering the mail slot. Nora keeps Torvald from reading the letter by begging his help with the
tarantella dance she will perform at the fancy dress party at the Sternborg’s. Dancing frenetically as though
her “life depends on it,” Nora keeps Torvald occupied, re-teaching her the dance. But tomorrow night, she
promises him, “you’ll be free then.”

Act III

The act opens, once again, in the Helmer’s living room, where Mrs. Linde awaits the Helmers’ return
from the party upstairs. As Mrs. Linde waits, Krogstad arrives at her request. She finally shows herself to him,
and he realizes that she is an old love of his who left him. Mrs. Linde asks Krogstad to give them a second
chance at a relationship. Krogstad agrees, promising to retrieve his letter of revelation, but Mrs. Linde
convinces him to let the truth come to light for the good of both Nora and Torvald.

The Helmers arrive from the party, and Mrs. Linde leaves. Helmer tells Nora that he has often wished
for some danger to befall her so that he can rescue her, and Nora seizes this opportunity to encourage Torvald
to read Krogstad’s letter. Torvald reads it and immediately chastises Nora, claiming she has wrecked his
happiness and ruined his future. Torvald explains that Nora can stay in the house, but is unfit to raise the
children. “From now on,” Torvald claims, “happiness doesn’t matter; all that matters is . . . the appearance.”

When a letter arrives including Nora’s cancelled debt, Torvald is happy again. But Nora is forever
changed by her husband’s reaction, and after removing her costume, she sits down with Torvald to share the
first serious conversation of their eight-year marriage. Declaring she has been “greatly wronged” by both her
father and her husband, Nora compares her existence in their homes to a doll in a doll house. When Torvald
declares his wife cannot leave because her husband and children are her “most sacred duties,” Nora responds
with “I have other duties that are just as sacred. . . .my duties to myself.” Nora is determined to remain strangers
unless “something really glorious” could happen – the ability to live together in a true marriage. Nora departs,
and the audience is left with the sound of a door slamming shut.

Analysis of Major Themes

Marriage

The main message of A Doll's House seems to be that a true (ie. good) marriage is a joining of equals.
The play centers on the dissolution of a marriage that doesn't meet these standards. At first the Helmers seem
happy, but over the course of the play, the imbalance between them becomes more and more apparent. By the
end, the marriage breaks apart due to a complete lack of understanding. Together in wedlock, Nora and
Torvald are incapable of realizing who they are as individuals.

Women and Femininity vs. Men and Masculinity

Nora of A Doll's House has often been painted as one of modern drama's first feminist heroines. Over
the course of the play, she breaks away from the domination of her overbearing husband, Torvald.
Throughout the drama there is constant talk of women, their traditional roles, and the price they pay when
they break with tradition. The men of A Doll's House are in many ways just as trapped by traditional gender
roles as the women (Torvald Helmer being the chief example). The men must be the providers. They must
bear the burden of supporting the entire household. They must be the infallible kings of their respective
castles. By the end of the play, these traditional ideas are truly put to the test.

Wealth and Money

Early on in A Doll's House, the characters spend a good deal of time talking about their finances. Some
are on the upswing, with the promise of free-flowing cash in the future. Others are struggling to make ends
meet. Either way, each character's financial status seems to be a defining feature.

Vocabulary

➢ Bewildered: puzzled, confused

➢ Calculating: shrewd or cunning
➢ Contraband: unlawful or forbidden goods
➢ Disreputable: not considered to be respectable in character or appearance
➢ Evasions: attempts to avoid duties or questions
➢ Excruciating: the former basic monetary unit of Spain (replaced by the euro)
➢ Frivolous: silly and light-minded; not sensible
➢ Grafter: someone who takes advantage of his or her position to gain money or property
dishonestly
➢ Hypocrite: a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles,
etc., that he or she does not actually possess, especially a person whose actions go
against stated beliefs
➢ Impulsive: sudden and unthinking
➢ Indiscreet: unwise or not careful
➢ Intolerable: unbearable; painful; cruel
➢ Proclaiming: announcing publicly and loudly
➢ Prodigal: person who spends money wastefully
➢ Properties: whatever is considered fitting, suitable, or proper; rules of conduct or
expression
➢ Retribution: punishment; revenge
➢ Spendthrift: person who spends money carelessly
➢ Squandering: spending money wastefully
➢ Subordinate: inferior; ranking under or below
➢ Tactless: without skill in dealing with people