About the work
Henrik Ibsen's „Et dukkehjem" („A Doll's House") was premiered in Copenhagen in 1879 and is one of the most important works of modern drama. With Nora's famous final door-slam, Ibsen pushed open the door to the woman question and to modernity — the play caused scandals all over Europe.
Plot
Christiania (Oslo) at Christmas time. Nora Helmer is in an apparently happy bourgeois marriage with her husband Torvald, who has just been promoted to bank manager. But Nora has a secret: years ago, when Torvald was dangerously ill, she secretly borrowed money for a trip to Italy — from Krogstad, a former bank clerk — and signed the loan under her already dead father's name. Krogstad, dismissed by Torvald, now threatens exposure. Nora desperately tries to persuade Torvald to rehire Krogstad. Krogstad finally drops an incriminating letter into the mailbox. Torvald reads it and reacts with rage, abuse, the wish to keep Nora formally for appearances but bar her from the children. Then comes a second letter: Krogstad returns the IOU. Torvald exults: „I am saved!" In that moment Nora sees through her life — she has never been an independent person, only a „doll" for her father and husband. She leaves husband and children, slamming the door behind her.
Cultural significance
Nora's door-slam is „the shot heard round the world" — perhaps the most famous final exit in theatre history. „A Doll's House" became a manifesto of the women's movement and the model for modern drama of debate. Notably, Ibsen, under pressure from German theatres, wrote an alternative „mild" ending in which Nora stays — he himself called it „barbaric". Today on stages worldwide; stagings by Ingmar Bergman, Thomas Ostermeier and Yael Farber are reference productions.