A Dolls House

¶ … Doll House

Noted Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen composed his resound opus, "A Doll's House." Ibsen's "A Doll's House" is a dense and intriguing work that continues to vigorously engage readers and audiences after more than a century after his composition. Ibsen composed this play while in Italy, during the last quarter of the 19th century. He composed this play during and slightly before several significant global changes including industrialization and the emergence of American feminism during the Progressive Era of American history. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Ibsen channels these changes and harnesses them into a creative and well-crafted meditation upon many social and class aspects of society. While the paper will reference narrative aspects and literary devices within the text, the paper will analyze aspects of this "problem play" such as setting, character development, and symbolism to penetrate the depths of meaning present in "A Doll's House."

The primary setting of "A Doll's House" is the home of Nora and Torvald Helmer, two primary characters of the play. Nora Helmer is the protagonist of "A Doll's House." They live in an unidentified town or city sometime during the last quarter of the 19th century in Norway. The Helmer house is the dollhouse in the play. An actual dollhouse is an exercise in imagination. An ideal dollhouse is pristine; there are many rooms with many details. Yet all dollhouses are not real; they are playthings. They come alive with the interaction of a real person who uses the dollhouse as an expression of desires and fantasies of which the user(s) may be only unconsciously aware. Dollhouses are both superficial as they are toys that are fake representations of actual homes for real people, and dollhouses are real -- they are as infused with as much reality as the user(s) projects while engaged in play. Ibsen is aware of these aspects and plays with the concept of an ideal, pristine dollhouse in several ways such as the title, in the protagonist, Nora, and the narrative situation that plays out over the course of three acts. Nora and Torvald pretend to enjoy their roles in the lifestyle afforded by their class, status, and wealth. Their whole life and household is a superficial representation, a dollhouse, for the lifestyle and existence of their class.

As with any great narrative, the main characters of "A Doll's House" are compelling and traverse dramatic character arcs. At the play's commencement, Nora is a dependent wife and mother. By the play's end, she is an independent and defiant woman. Her rebellion begins very small by eating macaroons against the wishes of Torvald. Her rebellion grows as she takes out a loan without her husband's permission. She makes an independent decision to send her children off with the nanny so as to protect her children from corruption from their parents. When the play begins, Torvald and even perhaps the audience or reader, perceives Nora as superficial, naive, and silly. Over the course of three acts, she reveals herself as intelligent, self-reliant, and decisive. While Nora's character rises to the occasion, Torvald's character spirals downward. In the beginning of the play, he pretends to be the powerful patriarch and head of household, secure, in command, and superior to his wife. Over the course of the play, Torvald exposes himself and degenerates into a weak, selfish, and insecure coward. He does not understand his wife and he cannot control her. He is unable to control himself or his life as well.