A Doll's House

A Doll's House is a play written by Henrik Ibsen first published and performed in 1879. The main theme is about the destiny of a married woman and how her life collapses, in a society in which she has no opportunities to fulfill herself after being dominated by men.

We are located in a town in Norway around the year 1879. Nora Helmer is happily married to Torvald Helmer, a lawyer who has just been appointed manager of the bank, and they have three children. What Torvald does not know is that Nora once forged her dying father's signature to borrow the money that paid for the journey south that saved Torvald's life.

Nils Krogstad, the bank employee who lent her that money, is about to lose his post — he committed a forgery of his own years ago. He blackmails Nora with the promissory note to keep his job, but Torvald will not give in.

Kristine Linde, an old friend of Nora's and the woman Krogstad once loved, takes the post at the bank instead, and Krogstad carries out his threat. The letter he leaves brings the whole arrangement into the open.

The title refers to the house in which Nora has been kept as a doll — petted, indulged, and never taken seriously — and to the decision she reaches in the last act.