1. A Doll’s House
By: Henrik Ibsen

2. Henrik Ibsen Born: May 20, 1823 in Skien, Norway
Died: May 23, 1906 – complications from a series of
strokes
Jobs: poet, playwright, essayist
Sometimes wrote under the name: Brynjolf Bjarme
Considered the pioneer of modern drama
He broke away from romantic tradition of 19th Century Theatre
He wrote realistic portrayals of individuals

3. Theater use to be: exaggerated suspense & mistaken identity
Ibsen created events that resemble everyday life
Used realistic dialogue, commonplace events, symbolism
Explored: elusiveness of self-knowledge and restrictive
nature of traditional morality
Characters: strong individuals, have conflict with society
norms during 19th century in Norway
Considered the “Godfather of modern drama”.
“I prefer to ask; tis not my task to answer.”

4. Henrik Ibsen’s Life Childhood:
Family impoverished when he was 6; family business failed
His father became alcoholic and reckless with money
His mother leaves his father
Teenage Years:
Worked as an apprentice to an apothecary and considered studying medicine
Instead, he became a writer and worked in the theater
by his early 20’s, he was writing and directing plays
 Became the director of the Norwegian Theater in Bergen, Norway

5. Henrik Ibsen Scandal!
At 16, Ibsen had an affair with a housemaid, Else Sophie Birkedalen 
She was 26 years old when he was 16!
She became pregnant with his child and had a son, Hans Jacob Henriksen Birkedalen
Due to this scandal, Henrik Ibsen suffered social humiliation

6. Henrik Ibsen Married Life
Married Susannah Thoresen in June 1858
They had one son, Sigurd Ibsen, who was born December 1859
Susannah Ibsen
Sigurd Ibsen

7. Henrik Ibsen Life
1864: Henrik Ibsen left Norway for a 27 year exile in Italy.
1891: returned to Norway where he was celebrated as a national treasure
First Norwegian author to gain widespread acclaim outside of his country
Once commented: “Never have I seen my homeland so fully, so clearly, and at such close range, as I did in my absence when I was far away from it.”
1900: Ibsen suffers a series of strokes and dies in 1906

8. Henrik Ibsen’s Work: 3 Phases
Early dramas written in verse
Modeled after romantic historical tragedy and Norse sagas
Phase 2:
Prose dramas concerned with Social realism
* A Doll’s House*
Phase 3:
- dealt with conflict between art and life
- shifted his focus from individual in society to individual alone and isolated

9. Henrik Ibsen: Realism What is Realism?
Movement in the second half of the 19th century in theater
Began as a reaction to dramas performed in Europe
Realists create a show that is an everyday idea; the audience eavesdrops on the situation
Tends to depict the middle, lower, and lower-middle classes: work, family, language, dress, problems
Show both internal AND external conflict
Prefer an open ending which does not resolve the conflicts/questions on the play

10. A Doll’s House Written in 1879
Considered a masterpiece of Realist theater
Plot: concerns the collapse of a middle class marriage
Psychological tension is focus
Created new acting style- emotion controlled through small gestures and pauses
Critics of the play:
Considered Ibsen to be amoral and accused him of encouraging amoral behavior of women
Hated that Ibsen gave no solution to the problems faced in the play

11. A Doll’s House cont…
Events are told from several perspectives- some characters know facts before others do
Events are chronological
Characters reveal important information about previous events
Revelations build tension in the play
Role of Women: Ibsen’s female characters challenged the limits
of the male-dominated society

12. A Doll’s House Play Characters: Nora Helmer Torvald Helmer Dr. Rank
Mrs. Linde
Krogstad
Nurse
Helmer Children
Setting:
Norway, Helmer household

13. Themes in A Doll’s House
Women’s rights *Sexism *Morality
Marriage &Divorce * Honor
Appearance vs Reality
Betrayal
Deception
Search for one’s identity
Pride
Money & Materialism

14. Symbolism in A Doll’s House
Symbolism: object used to represent something else
There are many symbols in this play:
Christmas Tree
Nora’s nicknames
Nora’s dance, the Tarantella
Knitting/Mending clothes
Black Crosses
Macaroons

15. Interesting Facts
The first German production of the play in the 1880’s had an altered ending at the request of the producers.
Nora’s feminism was considered scandalous for audiences.
Ibsen’s hero is a middle-class housewife
The printed version of the play sold out before it was ever portrayed on the stage
Movie Trailer: A Doll's House