Rating: 
Summary: Powerful play with a lot of meaning about human rights
Review: I read this play first for pleasure and years later for a English composition II class several years ago and as I read some of the reviews before writing and posting this one I can see that a lot of reviewers that came before me didnt understand the play at all. This play took place over a hundred years ago. The choices for women then were limited plus Nora and Tovald lived In Norway whose laws are sgnificantly different from ours due to time and culture. Nora certainly had her faults but sometimes we are just found stuck in roles society gives us. And what would take more courage to remain in a bad role after a moment of self discovery is made or to walk out of that role and try to grow as a person and discover things about yourself on your own? Nora's choices were very limited. It was stated in the play that by walking away from the marriage she would also have to disclaim any rights to her children in Norway. She had no choice but to give up the rights to her children. Neither Nora nor Tovald knew who she was very well. Sometimes it is much better for the children if a marriage ends because it is bad and has no foundation. But Nora is a very strong and determined character. She forged a bank note to save her husbands life when no one else could. She saves and earns money to pay back the loan. But also she is trapped in the facade of her marriage with Tovald who neither respects her or knows who she really is. Lies beget lies and it is out of the lie of the marriage she is in that she is made to conceal what she did to save her husbands life and tell lies herself. Finally after her husband finds out and is so consumed with how it will look to others that he tells her that the marriage for now on will just be a cover for the benefit of the outside world but he can no longer trust her nor shall she be trusted with her children etc a self discovery moment occurs. Nora and Tovald didnt really know each other nor was the marriage real in any meaning of the word. But when something happens and he has a change of heart about Nora in the blink of an eye Nora realizes that the whole marriage was a lie and in a moment of strength and determination she decides to leave the situation to find something better and grow as a person. But here is the rub Tovald said that she can not be trusted after what she did was revealed to him and that she has lost his respect but this is just a circumstance we are made well aware of in the play . Tovald shows us that he never did trust or respect Nora in the first place so what she is rejecting is a fruadulent marriage. She refused to go on living in that lie any longer. And that decision takes more courage , strength and determination than anyone who has never been in that place will know. I say three cheers for Nora for finally waking up and doing what she had to do!
Rating:
Summary: *smashing* play
Review: Ibsen himself said that this play was about human rights, not womens rights, and i think that this is true. Nora was constantly belittled by Helmer and had never been given the chance to grow up. She had been treated like a doll in a dolls house, first by her father and then by her husband, who she had been passed on to. Although it seems trivial, even the mere fact that she was forbidden to eat macaroons is significant. People may well say that a womans first responsability is to her family, and children especially, i think that it is ultimately to herself. Nora closing the door at the end of the play is very significant - she is closing the door on that part of her life. Torvald realised what he had done in the end, but by that time it was far too late for anything to be changed. Although i studied this play in school, i really enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone who will listen. Nora managed to break out of the life she had been confined to, that many of the women of her time were confined to. (i studied this play for a-level and wrote, like 100 essays on it, can you tell?)
Rating: 
Summary: not my type
Review: isn't quite my type of story. i think the last act comes too quickly and nora's character isn't developed enough earlier in the play to warrant such a transformation. good idea, great at the time, i'm sure, but not as engaging now.
Rating: 
Summary: An intriguing 3-act play!
Review: Major playwrite, Norwegian Henrik Ibsen, was born in 1828 and wrote Doll House in 1879. It was performed in London 1889 and Paris 1894, Ibsen died in 1906.
The twisting and advancing plot revolves around several themes, illusion in marriage, conflict with society, feminism, wealth, betrayal, family, and intrigue.
The dramatic play is rich in symbolism, but the most profound is the title, A Doll House, which exemplifies the nature of the relationship that Nora and her husband Torvald have long since demonstrated; she is his little doll.
Torvald portrays the "man" in control of finances and the home; he conducts his life the way society dictates. Nora is the sweet submissive wife who plays along with her husband dominant role, just as was the relationship with her father. Torvald 's endearments of Nora are belittling, "little squirrel", little spendthrift, little lark."
But their illusional marriage takes a turn, Through a past incident for the love of her husband, Nora's secret is about to be divulged. Through that experience she no longer functions in submissive role and makes a grand stand. During this, Torvald is driven to a wimpering soul.
The story is in three acts and each act reveals different character attitudes and Nora's fight and progression. The interesting story culminates with a dramatic twist.....MzRizz
Rating:
Summary: This book was way before it's time - Ibsen was a genius!
Review: The Norwegian author Henrik Ibsen wrote an insightful play about marriage and the role of women in Ibsens time (19th century Europe). I am sure that "A dolls house" must have been a shock to the European society when Ibsen first published this book. He criticised the system that demoted women to mere property and this must have been an outrageous statement in a society where women didn't even have the right to vote! The author himself said that this play was about human rights, not women's rights. While I believe this to be true, I still have no problems understanding why the female rights groups says that "A dolls house" is about women's rights. Whilst this play was written over a hundred years ago, many of the issues about women discussed in "A dolls house" are still applicable today. I think Nora is a *great* role model for a woman of the new millennium! If you, like me, had to read this as a part of your college literature requirements, give it another try! It is a wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: A Portrait of Marriage in Ibsen's A Doll's House
Review: The Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen subjects his writing to the intricacies of marriage time and time again. He seems to have an omniscient power and ability to observe the sacrament itself, along with the fictional characters whom he creates to engage in these marital affairs. Such is the case with his classic drama, A Doll's House. The play raises questions about female self-sacrifice in a male-dominated world. Nora is a "wife and child" to Torvald Helmer, and nothing more. She is his doll, a plaything on display to the world, of little intellectual value and even less utility in his life. Thus it is logical for Helmer to act so shockingly upon his discovery that Nora has managed financial affairs (typically a family responsibility reserved for the patriarch) without so much as his consent or knowledge. What, then, is the play saying about women by allowing Nora to act alone and independently, all the while allowing her to achieve little success in doing so? Such an apparent doubt by the playwright of the abilities of women is quickly redeemed by Nora's sudden mental fruition, as though she, in the course of a day or so, accomplishes the amount of growing up to which most persons devote years and years. She has developed the intuition and motivation to leave behind everything she has lived for during she and Helmer's eight years of marriage in exchange for an independent life and the much-sought virtue of independent thought. Nora suddenly wishes to be alone in the world, responsible for only her own well-being and success or failure. She is breaking free of her crutches (Helmer, her deceased father, the ill-obtained finances from Krogstad) and is now appetent to walk tall and proud. Through the marital madness of Helmer and Nora, Ibsen is questioning the roles of both husband and wife, and what happens when one person dominates such a relationship in a manner that is demeaning to the other, regardless of whether such degradation is carried out in a conscious, intended frame of mind. Ibsen is truly a master playwright, and his play A Doll's House is truly a masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Dated but still important
Review: There is no doubt that Henrik Ibsen's 'A Doll's House' is his masterpiece; one of the most famous plays ever. Notwithstanding it is very dated, and today's readers/audience may find it boring and hard to understand, because there is a very long interval since its first performance to the XXI century. Although women, unfortunately, still have much to fight for when it comes to rights, they are no longer like Nora, the play's protagonist. She is a complete doll, living to his husband's, Torvald, will. Due to his health problems, she has involved with not reliable people, and borrowed money. Years later, when he is safe and sound, she is still paying her debts --however, he doesn't know it. In order to keep her lie, Nora is involved by a snowball effect, where one lie leads to another one, until the moment when it becomes unbearable. While I much like the feminist thematic of the play, analyzing it as a literature work I think there are some flaws in the text. The most important character, Nora, is not very well developed. We can easily notice how repressed she is; and we do expect her to take charge in her life and do something, but when it happens, in the very end of the play, it seems to be so unrealistic that it is hard to believe she is a human being rather than a character of a play. Another thing about Nora is that she is extremely selfish. If on the one hand, she does things to help her husband recover, on the other, she's doing it because she's afraid of losing him, and being left helpless alone. Moreover, in the end, she simply quits her life --good for her!--, but she doesn't care about her children. How convenient it is to leave their three small kids, claiming she is not a good person and will harm them. She becomes a free person, and under no shadow of doubt, her children will grow up problematic people. Above all things, 'A Doll's House' is a play, and it doesn't deny its origins. The dialogues are very theatrical. The monologues pop up in almost every page, compromising the natural flow of the events. All in all, it is still a good play, and has its cultural and social importance. It portraits the hypocrisy of XIX Century European society, when women had no power at all, and were brought up to satisfy their huband's will. It has lost its freshness and power, but still stands up as one of the first work with a feminist thematic, and for that matter should be read and known.
Rating:
Summary: Dated but still important
Review: There is no doubt that Henrik Ibsen's 'A Doll's House' is his masterpiece; one of the most famous plays ever. Notwithstanding it is very dated, and today's readers/audience may find it boring and hard to understand, because there is a very long interval since its first performance to the XXI century. Although women, unfortunately, still have much to fight for when it comes to rights, they are no longer like Nora, the play's protagonist. She is a complete doll, living to his husband's, Torvald, will. Due to his health problems, she has involved with not reliable people, and borrowed money. Years later, when he is safe and sound, she is still paying her debts --however, he doesn't know it. In order to keep her lie, Nora is involved by a snowball effect, where one lie leads to another one, until the moment when it becomes unbearable. While I much like the feminist thematic of the play, analyzing it as a literature work I think there are some flaws in the text. The most important character, Nora, is not very well developed. We can easily notice how repressed she is; and we do expect her to take charge in her life and do something, but when it happens, in the very end of the play, it seems to be so unrealistic that it is hard to believe she is a human being rather than a character of a play. Another thing about Nora is that she is extremely selfish. If on the one hand, she does things to help her husband recover, on the other, she's doing it because she's afraid of losing him, and being left helpless alone. Moreover, in the end, she simply quits her life --good for her!--, but she doesn't care about her children. How convenient it is to leave their three small kids, claiming she is not a good person and will harm them. She becomes a free person, and under no shadow of doubt, her children will grow up problematic people. Above all things, 'A Doll's House' is a play, and it doesn't deny its origins. The dialogues are very theatrical. The monologues pop up in almost every page, compromising the natural flow of the events. All in all, it is still a good play, and has its cultural and social importance. It portraits the hypocrisy of XIX Century European society, when women had no power at all, and were brought up to satisfy their huband's will. It has lost its freshness and power, but still stands up as one of the first work with a feminist thematic, and for that matter should be read and known.
Rating:
Summary: What is happiness?
Review: This book is hailed for giving females a voice. Although it does speak for women, it really speaks for society as a whole. Just what is happiness? Living in a comfortable house with not a care in the world? Or, defining who you truly are by working hard at whatever you're good at? The story will seem slow at first. There's just character development/background and an introduction to the "troubling" dilemna of Nora in the early parts of the story. The perfect pacing builds up so much until the big devastating end, where the characters make huge life changing revelations. I started questioning what happiness was after reading what the characters went through. Are people so caught up at trying to maintain the ideal image of the "good" life that they forget to find out what they truly want? Real good book, I read the whole thing in one sitting.
Rating:
Summary: The start of Realism
Review: When Ibsen's "A Doll's House" came out, it would be a start of a new revolution in the theatre. Science and Society was changing so the theatre had to change too. Instead of seeing Kings and Historical figures on the stage, we would see the common person and their role in society and their environment. Everything(Dialouge, props, acting etc.) would be all Real and be as if the audience were looking through a keyhole in these peoples lives and the people unaware of the audience. Audiences now would see a "slice of life." Ibsen's "A Doll's House" along with Strindberg's "Miss Julie" would establish the Realism movement and inspire the future of playwrights such as Chekhov, Shaw, Wilde, O'Neill etc... "A Doll's House" is a play about the role of women in Ibsen's time. Nora who struggles to bring happiness to her family. When her husband Torvald is sick, Nora borrows money from a co-worker(Krogstad) at her husband's bank to pay for a trip to heal her husband. The play takes place after this trip and we see that Torvald is restored to full health. Torvald treats Nora just like a doll and nothing more. We find out that Nora secretly is saving up to pay back the money she borrowed by buying cheaper clothes or not eating. An old friend named Mrs.Linde comes to Helmer's house in search for a job and Nora persuades her husband to let Mrs.Linde have a job at his bank. Meanwhile Krogstad comes to visit and hears this. He is very afraid that his position is at risk and thinks Torvald will fire him. He tells Nora that if she doesn't convince her husband to keep his job, he'll tell her husband of her borrowing money. This sets up the conflict and the way Nora deals with it, is not the traditional way a character like hers might in previous plays. If you have not read the play and don't want the ending spoiled don't read on. After Torvald finds out, instead of Torvald being thankful for his wife for trying to save her husband for a dreadful illness, he is furious and says he will be humiliated and torn by Society when they find out what his wife did. We the audience/reader think that it is all over for Nora, that Torvald will leave her and she will be a cast out. Instead in Act 3, in a moment of epiphany Nora's whole life goes past her. She realizes that her whole life she has just been a doll in a doll house passed down from her father to Torvald. She tells Torvald how hard she has tried to be a good wife and build a family but it won't work. She decides to leave Torvald. This action went against all the traditional values at the time and sparked a revolution. Ibsen showed the world a reality, society didn't want to see. Nora leaving Torvald was unheard of at the time and that is why "A Doll's House" is so important. Ibsen's "A Doll's House" aside from starting Realism, is just a well written piece. Anyone who loves literature or theater must read it. Ibsen from "A Doll's House" would question the role of people in Society and question authority like no other playwright before him had.
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