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Izzy Bowen

Sarah Kiewitz

Intro to Literature

01 Dec 2019

Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House”

According to Richard Eyre, “James Joyce wrote admiringly of the way Henrik Ibsen

demonstrated an ‘extraordinary knowledge of women’ in his plays. ‘He appears to have sounded

them to unfathomable depths,’ he wrote” (Ibsen: The Man Who Knew the Soul of Women).

Ibsen’s views on women are portrayed through his play, A Doll’s House. His views are further

portrayed in the film because of the actors, the acting, clothing, and lighting. A Doll’s House also

impacted how people viewed women during this time. Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House impacted

the women’s movement because of the play, the film, and how it impacted people and society in

the 1800s.

Ibsen strongly believed that women should have freedom. During his life, he fell in love

with a lot of young, strong, independent women. During the 1800s, women did not have many

rights. Their place was in the home taking care of their husband and children. He shows his

views on women through his female characters. He creates strong minded female characters, and

his male characters are often weak minded and selfish. Contrary to people’s beliefs, Ibsen was

not a feminist. He considered himself a realist. He wrote about how he saw the world and his

beliefs about how it should be.

The play, A Doll’s House, shows Ibsen’s views on women because of the characters and

the plot. Ibsen creates strong independent women for his characters. Nora at first seems to be

immature and selfish, but it is revealed later in the story that she is a lot stronger and more
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mature than people believe she is. The readers find out later in the story that she has sacrificed

everything for her husband. She committed a crime to save her husband’s life. Because of her

husband’s pride, she had to lie to him about how she got the money and had to figure out a way

to pay back the money she borrowed. Another strong female character in A Doll’s House is Mrs.

Linde. Mrs. Linde was a childhood friend of Nora’s. She shows up to Nora’s house in the play

after not seeing each other for ten years. Mrs. Linde is a widow now. Her husband had left her

nothing when he passed because the business he ran failed shortly after his death. She was left

alone with no money. She had to find a way to take care of her mother and her younger brothers.

She worked a lot of odd jobs and office jobs and managed to take care of them. When her mom

passed and her brothers were old enough to take care of themselves, she did not feel relieved like

Nora had assumed, but she felt like she had no purpose anymore. She had nobody to care for or

share her life with. Nora and Mrs. Linde are examples of how Henrik Ibsen used his works to

portray his views.

The film, A Doll’s House, further shows Henrik Ibsen’s views about women because it is

more effective than the written play. The film is more effective than the written play is because

the audience can see the characters and what is happening. The audience can see the actor’s

reactions. The audience will be able to feel what they are going through because they can see

how they react. At the end of the play, when Torvald finds out about what Nora did to save his

life, the viewers can see how truly afraid she is. They can also see how sad she is when she

realizes the true nature of their relationship. The lighting in the film is another way that the film

is more effective than the written play. When the characters are happy there is bright lighting.

Towards the end, when Torvald and Nora are fighting, it is darker. The lighting helps set the

mood of the scene and makes the audience feel like they are really there. The film is more
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effective because the viewers in the audience are able to see the actor’s emotions, and the

lighting helps set the mood.

A Doll’s House had a big impact on the people and society during the time it was

published. This play violated the social norms of this time. Women were not allowed to vote or

have anything to do with the financial business. They had to stay home and take care of the home

and children. This play showed through Mrs. Linde, that women were able to work and support

and take care of their family. It also showed through Nora that women were strong enough to

sacrifice everything for their family and strong enough to leave. Even though Ibsen did not

encourage it, it served very helpful in the women’s movement during this time. Ibsen did not

encourage it because he was not a feminist; he was a realist.

In conclusion, because of his views, the play, the film, and the impact it had on the

people and society, A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen portrays his views on women and greatly

impacted society during the 1800s. This play and film along with others were used during the

women’s movement during the 1800s. If Henrik Ibsen and other authors had not written stories

like these, then women might not have the rights they do today.

Works Cited
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Eyre, Richard. “Ibsen: The Man Who Knew the Soul of Women.” The Telegraph, Telegraph

Media Group, 25 Nov. 2015, www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/playwrights/ibsen-the-man-

who-knew-the-soul-of-women/.

Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll’s House. Reprint in The Norton Introduction to Literature. Shorter 11th ed.

Kelly J. Mays, Ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2013 Print.