F U L L T I T L E · A Doll’s House
A U T H O R · Henrik Ibsen
T Y P E O F W O R K · Play
G E N R E · Realistic, modern prose drama
LANGUAGE
· Norwegian
T I M E A N D P L A C E W R I T T E N · 1 8 7 9 , Rome and Amalfi, Italy
D AT E O F FI R ST P UB LI C AT I ON · 1 8 7 9
T O N E · Serious, intense, somber
· Presumably around the late 1 8 7 0 s
S E T T IN G (T I ME )
SET T IN G (PL AC E)
PR OT AGON I ST
· Norway
· Nora Helmer
MAJOR CONFLICT
· Nora’s struggle with Krogstad, who threatens to tell her husband about her past crime, incites Nora’s
journey of self-discovery and provides much of the play’s dramatic suspense. Nora’s primary struggle, however, is against the
selfish, stifling, and oppressive attitudes of her husband, Torvald, and of the society that he represents.
RISING ACTION
· Nora’s first conversation with Mrs. Linde; Krogstad’s and blackmailing of Nora; Krogstad’s delivery of the
letter that later exposes Nora.
C L I MAX
· Torvald reads Krogstad’s letter and erupts angrily.
FALLING ACTION
· Nora’s realization that Torvald is devoted not to her but to the idea of her as someone who depends on
him; her decision to abandon him to find independence.
T H E ME S
· The sacrificial role of women; parental and filial obligations; the unreliability of appearances
M O T I F S · Nora’s definition of freedom; letters
S Y MB O L S
· The Christmas tree; New Year’s Day
F O R E S H A D O W I N G · Nora’s eating of macaroons against Torvald’s wishes foreshadows her later rebellion against Torvald.
Structure of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's house
Ibsen's play, A Doll House, is structured somewhat differently than dramas based upon the form of the Greek and Roman
plays, copied by many playwrights—including Shakespeare. Instead of having the standard five-act format used by earlier
dramatists, Ibsen placed the action of his plays into three acts.
Whereas the five-act play used each act for a specific purpose, Ibsen's acts combine these purposes. The five-act play was structured
as follows:
The five acts denote the structure of dramatic action; they are exposition, complication, climax, falling action, and catastrophe.
However, when Ibsen wrote A Doll's House, he fused exposition and complication together—introducing Nora and other major
characters and their personalities, interactions, etc.—and joined this exposition with the complication in the form of Krogstad,
Nora's illegal actions, and his threats to expose her—all in the first act. The climax occurs in the second act: this is when Krogstad
leaves the letter exposing Nora's actions in the mailbox, awaiting Torvald's return. In the third act, the falling action and "the
catastrophe" include the reconciliation of Kristine and Krogstad, Krogstad's change of heart, the impending death of Dr. Rank,
Torvald's awareness of what Nora has done (along with his relief in learning Krogstad will not pursue the matter), and Nora's
realization that she has been living a lie, and married—bearing children—to a man she does not know.