A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen | Themes

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Course Hero Literature Instructor Russell Jaffe explains the themes in Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's House.

Download the free study guide and infographic for A Doll's House here: https://www.coursehero.com/lit/A-Doll...

The play’s feminist messages emerge through the story of Nora Helmer, a comfortably middle-class housewife who finds herself stifled by the repressive social mores of her social station.

Through conversations with a friend, it is revealed that she is struggling to repay a loan taken out earlier in her marriage to benevolent chauvinist Torvald.

Her lender, Krogstad, uses this knowledge in an attempt to extort her into convincing her husband to retain him as an employee at his bank. Torvald, however, fires him and he tells him that his wife has been lying about the source of the money.

Though Torvald ultimately forgives her, Nora rejects his paternalistic attitude and becomes one of the first stage heroines to leave her husband and strike out on her own—a remarkable decision for a woman of her era.

Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House was first performed in 1879 at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen. His emphasis on realism and social analysis made him the "father of modern drama." A Doll’s House is considered a touchstone in the development of realistic theatre and in 2001 was included in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register.

The play A Doll’s House contains many powerful symbols including birds, representing Nora’s flight to freedom and Torvald’s view of her; money, representing men’s control over women; and Tarantella, symbolizing Nora’s attempt to avoid revealing her secret. Important themes explored are sexism, the individual versus society, honesty, and self-awareness.

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