Examining a Doll’s House

Henrik Ibsen was born on March 20, 1828 to Knud and Marichen Ibsen. He and his four younger siblings grew up in Skien, a small costal Norwegian town. Henrik expressed interest in the arts at an early age because his mother played the piano, painted and attended theatrical productions. He spent much of his time reading, painting as well as practicing and performing magic tricks. When Henrik was eight years old, the Ibsen family plunged into poverty when his father’s business faced economic difficulties. Ibsen dropped his school studies at the age of fifteen and became an apprentice in an apothecary in Grimstad, Norway. He wrote his first play, Catilina, during the year 1849. A year later, Ibsen moved to Christiania and befriended Ole Schulerud whom paid for the publication of Catilina. The play failed to gain attention; however, Henrik’s theatrical career continued to grow. Ole Bull, a violinist and theatre manager, offered him both writing and managing positions for the Norwegian Theatre in Bergen. His work in the theatre led him to complete his second play Love’s Comedy, a satirical play about marriage.

Ibsen’s theatrical plays moved the theatre away from romanticism into naturalism. His literary material focused on bringing attention to everyday situations by showing insights into the human condition. This caused Ibsen to leave Italy after publishing Brand in 1865. This five-act tragedy depicted a clergyman losing his family and life due to his devotion to faith. This play made him famous in Scandinavia despite losing prestige in Italy. Ibsen still managed to challenge the higher orders with his works such as The Pillars of Society (1868), Ghosts (1881), An Enemy of the People (1882), Hedda Gabler (1890), and A Doll’s House (1...

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...ause they are intrigued as to what will become of Nora’s and the Helmer family. Furthermore, this play demonstrates the existing problems which still occur within relationships; thus, leaving the audience to decide how to fix them. The audience must decide whether or not a man is capable of loving a woman to the point he will offer up his honor for her sake, as well as, is a woman more of a man than a man when it comes to self-sacrifice? Ibsen did not romanticize his characters or plot, rather he addressed a current issue of the time without promoting a solution. Therefore, Ibsen left an open-ended question for his audience to solve. Some drove him into exile because the topic of women’s rights vs. men’s rights was taboo. However, this topic still manages to capture the attention of the modern audience who realize the problems are yet to find a perfected solution.