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Summary of "A Doll's House"

This is a play written in 1879 by the Norwegian poet and playwright Henrik Ibsen. It conveys the life of “the perfect couple” of the 19th century yet goes into more depth in revealing the troubles and sufferings sometimes found in this ideal lifestyle. When first released, the play was a scandal, shocking audiences, due solely to the fact that it was so correct and truthful. The portrayal of Nora’s character was scandalous, for it showed all the characteristics (naiveté and childlike haste) of the ideal middle-class housewife as ways of achieving power and independence; a very shocking aspect to men and women of the 19th century as it was normal for men to be in charge of the household and women to play the role of housewife and not cause any trouble. So shocking was the play, that it was condemned as a degenerate attack upon traditional family values.

Nora is the main character of the play, the main action and scandal takes place between her and her husband of eight years, Torvald Helmer, a lawyer who has just been promoted to manager in the bank where he works. The other characters that appear include Dr Rank, a good family friend who comes to the house at least once a day; Nils Krogstad, a lawyer who works in t

In this play, we see that Nora experiences an epiphany towards the end of the play. This epiphany is when she discovers that throughout the last eight years of her life, she has been blind to who is in control of the marriage. When she realizes that she has no power to make Torvald love her “You have never loved me. You have only thought it pleasant to be in love with me” (Act III), she realises she never had or is in control. This is the epiphany, where she leaves Torvald and the play ends.