Play Analysis

A Doll’s House

A doll’s house was originally written in Norwegian by Henrik Ibsen. It was first performed on

December 21, 1879 at the Royal Theatre in Denmark. It is considered as modern drama; a type

of drama that refers to plays written in the 19th and 20th century and is often focused on

disconnection. The setting of this drama is a middle-class household in a city in Norway.

The major characters of the play are:

Nora Helmer: a typical 19th century housewife, mother of three

Torvald Helmer: Nora’s husband who patronizes his wife

Dr. Rank: a rich family friend who is secretly inlove with Nora

Kristine Linde: Nora’s friend, Krogstad’s previous lover

Nils Krogstad: an employee at Torvald’s bank, a supposed scoundrel

Theme

The play portrays the sacrificial role of women as seen in the various decisions of the female

characters like Mrs. Linde, who married a wealthy man to support her family instead of marrying

her true love.

The play also talks about parental obligations wherein some of the major characters firmly

believe that parents are responsible for the morality and immorality of their children for they are

greatly involved in the character building of their offspring.

This belief is quoted by Torvald (Nora’s husband) saying: “Nearly all young criminals had lying

mothers”. Torvald also disallows Nora to take care of their children upon learning of her secret.

(borrowing a large amount of money from Krogstad)

Symbols

The Christmas Tree

The role of Nora as being “decorative” resonates with the Christmas tree as adding charm to the

Torvald’s household. Nora is viewed by her husband not as his equal/partner but rather, as a doll

to be admired. He treats Nora like a child in a way that is both kind and condescending.

Nora

The protagonist herself is a symbol. She symbolizes a doll (hence the title) because her husband

is in control of her life and would not let her do anything without his consent

Dramatic Techniques

Irony

Torvald sees her wife as a child who cannot do anything except being a “plain housewife” where

in fact she is a busy woman who works hard to pay a loan that was used to save Torvald’s life.
Torvald also condemns Nora for keeping the loan a secret when she only hid it to not burden his

husband.

Conflict

The playwright incorporated external and internal conflicts to keep the audience engaged.

External conflicts are portrayed between Nora and Torvald (Torvald refusing Nora to take care

of their children) or Nora and Krogstad (the latter blackmailing Nora to tell her secret to her

husband).

The internal conflicts allow the audience to understand personal motives as shown in Nora’s

struggle whether to tell or not to tell her husband about her borrowing a large amount of money.

Foreshadowing

The protagonist’s (Nora) dialogues/actions often drops clues about her future decisions in subtle

suggestions. At the start of the play, she eats macaroons (which Torvald dislikes), this

foreshadows her rebellion towards her husband at the end of the play.

In the beginning of Act Two, Nora converses with a Nurse about the Helmer children:

Nurse: “You see, they are so accustomed to have their mamma with them.”

Nora: “Yes, but, nurse, I shall not be able to be so much with them now as I was before.”

This dialogue suggests Nora abandoning her children at the end of the play.
 Drama

&

Poetry

Submitted By: Solmiano, Danica Mariane H.

AB English III-I