A Doll’s House: A Story of a Wife Who Left Her Husband

Norwegian playwright and poet Henrik Ibsen (1828 – 1906) is one of the greatest names in world literature. He is considered the father of modern drama, his contribution to world drama is immense.

Henrik Ibsen wrote 26 plays and published one poetry collection. Some of his works include plays like The Pillars of Society (1877), A Doll’s House (1879), Ghosts (1881), An Enemy of the People (1882), The Wild Duck (1884), and Rosmersholm (1886), The Lady from the Sea (1888), Hedda Gabler (1890), The Master Builder (1892), Little Eyolf (1894), John Gabriel Borkman (1896), and When We Dead Awaken (1899).

A Doll’s House By Henrik Ibsen

A Doll’s House tells a story of Nora and her husband Helmer, and the circumstances leading to Nora’s leaving her husband and children to discover her true self.

Nora and Helmer have been married for nine years, and she has a secret which she has not shared with her husband. She borrowed money from Krogstad, a clerk in a local bank by forging her father’s signature when Helmer was seriously ill. Now Krogstad, who is losing his job, threatens Nora to influence her husband and save his job.

Nora believes that on knowing her secret Helmer will take the blame himself and rescue her. Contrarily, Helmer, after knowing her secret, scolds her for her crime of forging signature.

Later Krogstad withdraws his threat, but Nora discovers the true character of her husband. All her life she had just been a doll, a plaything for her husband. Upon discovering the truth of her relationship, Nora abandons her husband and children.

The story opens with a cheerful note, a good relationship between the couple, but ends with a tragedy.

Social Impact of A Doll’s House

The play created a great sensation when it was first produced in Copenhagen in 1879. Nora’s action of leaving her husband and children started heated discussions.

Today, a woman leaving children and husband is not unknown thing, but in the time when A Doll’s House was produced, people could not imagine such thing to occur. The audiences were accustomed to the happy endings, what were known as ‘well-made plays,’ and could not accept the fact that a woman could abandon her husband and children.

One distinguished actress of the time refused to play the role of Nora, and Ibsen was forced to rewrite the ending where Nora stays with her husband and children. However, the ending was restored in the later performances.

Literary Merit of A Doll’s House

Henrik Ibsen called A Doll’s House a modern tragedy. Before A Doll’s House, no play had been widely discussed by the people outside the theatre world. However, the play broke the social barrier. Marriage was no more a divine institution, divorce became accepted amongst incompatible partners.

According to Ibsen, “the play was intended to show an individual’s liberation from the shackles and restrains of society.”

A Doll’s House shows a woman’s emancipation from the propriety rights which a husband claims to have over his wife.

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