A Doll's House (Dover Thrift Editions: Plays)

I have this `weird` thing of preferring to read plays, rather than see them performed. Henrik Ibsen is one of my favorite writers and I enjoyed reading again one of his best plays (accordingly to me), `A Doll's House`. It's a play with a powerful message, presenting strong internal conflicts, but it's still a somewhat easy read. `A Doll's House` for me it's not just a book about women self-fulfillment in a male-dominated world; it's a book about the duality of relationships, about the duality of each individual (which can make big sacrifices and act selfish at the same time). I like the way Henrik Ibsen constructs the external and internal conflicts, stating somethings clear, letting some aspects just as hints to the reader. I prefer not to get too much into details of the book synopsis in reviews, but this is a good book in my opinion for people to enjoy reading plays. I read the book in the Kindle format, which didn't make it too troublesome to read. The lines of the play fit decently even on a smartphone display, although longer lines might be harder to follow.

Interpretation: A doll's house follows Nora, the protagonist and mother of three, through her struggle for realization of an identity that is her own. For eight years with her husband Helmer, and many more with her father, Nora has lived as a possession than a character. The title of the play embodies a social expectation that confines her to inferior roles devoid of true satisfaction, a superficial identity defined by her husband that deserves nothing more than a man's affection. The seemingly perfect marriage is broken by Krogstad the "shipwrecked" lawyer who threatens to reveal secrets associated with Nora that would harm Helmer's social standing. However, among guilt and panic, Nora finds peace by discovering herself. She realizes that true love comes from mutual respect, that a life of satisfaction must have room for independence. These revelations come at the cost of her marriage. From Helmer's point of view, Nora is selfish, deserting her family to satisfy her own fancies. Yet, to Nora, her decision is one of self-liberation, of finding the dignity of being human, and ultimate of saving her life. Thoughts: I was supposed to read this for my AP class, but we ran out of time. On whim I picked it up, having heard great reviews. This play is truly ahead of its time. I have a bit feminist so I have tremendous respect for the protagonist. Bravo to Ibsen for having portrayed such an important yet often muted matter with realism. I think I might have read it too quickly, will definitely read again.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this piece that I've always known of, but never read. The build up is slow, but in the end understandable. The final breakthrough is fantastic, but felt abrupt. Almost as if there were a missing Act. But still an amazing play.

This play was a high school reading assignment lo' those many years ago, and as with some other similar assignments, I've undertaken an initiative to re-read them, and consider how the book (as well as I) might have aged in the intervening decades. If fussy memory serves me correctly, I appreciated this play the first time around, and hopefully incorporated some of its messages into my thinking. Henrik Ibsen was the leading Norwegian playwright of the 19th century. This play was first produced in 1879. It is still one of the most popular, and performed plays in the world today. Certainly tame by today's "shock" standards, purportedly it did shock many in the audience when it was first produced, due to its scathing portrait of the staid bourgeois views of the role of women in society and marriage. In brief, not just subordinate, but rather a mere appendage to their father's, at first, beliefs and actions, which would later prepare them for the same role serving their husband. Scandinavia was, and often remains, in the forefront in terms of progressive social ideas and legislation. As one of my Swedish friends would quip: "Sweden is a moral superpower." The two principal characters are Torvald Helmer and his wife, Nora. There are several supporting characters, including Dr. Rank, a family doctor who is ill, Mrs. Linde an old school friend of Nora's, and Nils Krogstad, a bank employee, who is also much else. Money, and the lack thereof, is the catalyst for much of the action. Just when Torvald's promotion to bank manager seems to resolve the money issue, the "sins of the past" revisit the Helmer's with a vengence. Ibsen's portrait of Torvald is one of a man who is insufferably pompous, with very fixed ideas on propriety, and his wife's role as a helpless, not to bright, child. This is no marriage of "soul mates," as the expression has it, for marriages of more recent vintage. Torvald views Nora as a "doll," hence the title. He is also utterly selfish, viewing events only from his perspective, and not how they might have impacted his wife. The audience plays the part of the ancient Greek chorus, realizing how much Nora has actually done for Torvald, without his knowledge. I still remember this portrait from my high school read, and the vow not to turn out the same way. A few decades after this play was first produced, Virginia Woolf wrote her famous A Room of One's Own which had very similar themes. Ibsen though was the first, and the play's denouement, with Nora proclaiming to Torvald that she "needs a life of her own" and must determine who she really is, continues to resonate, almost a century and a half later. The play remains a 5-star read.

This is a classic story, very interesting and historical, but the cover seen on amazon is very different than the cover on the actual book I received. The book I received had an interesting looking girl on the cover, a live photo, super close up on her face. I can't read this book with its atrocious cover in public. What would people think? The cover doesn't make the book look interesting; thus, if people were to see me reading this in public they would not think that I am interesting. This is simply unacceptable.

The writing is quite deliberate and beautiful. This is another one of those feminist writings where the woman has an awakening, and realizes how hollow her past life and past self seems in comparison. Very lovely and moving. My favorite part is: Helmer: I would gladly work night and day for you, Nora—bear sorrow and want for your sake. But no man would sacrifice his honour for the one he loves. Nora: It is a thing hundreds of thousands of women have done.

The ending! Oh how the ending came to be was the most empowering piece of literature I have read in a while. In the beginning Nora was described to be a little dove, a Skylark (a small bird), a squirrel; all three animals are small, cute, and rather skitish, much like little Nora. She always "abided" to her husband's wishes and was often treated as a child but by the end she made a decision, that the most sacred duty to a woman, before her husband and her children is to herself because she too is a human being. I know not everyone will agree with this opinion but I believe her idea was sound. Before she can be a mother, she has to know who she is, what she believes in and be resolute in all her decisions. She knew she could not follow along to whatever her husband says and by the end, you feel sorry for her husband, Torvald.

An excellent book. I must confess that for much of the early part of the book, I was bemused and wondering what the fuss was all about. as the book progressed, the characters of the various protagonists came through very clearly, as did their inherent conflict with each other. This creeps up on you, almost secretly, and then you suddenly realised that you are faced with the character of a woman who finds herself, and that Ibsen has managed to describe the roles that women played in society of that time. An excellent book, with many subtle layers.

Ein Klassiker, den ich wieder lesen wollte, und worauf ich mich freue. Einfach genial, ein Meisterstück, vielen Dank. Es lebe Ibsen.

Supongo que hay que entender esta obra dentro de su época para valorar el cambio que supuso, y así considerarla interesante.

Henrik Ibsen's play 'A Doll's House' was written in 1879 and shocked theatre-goers of the era. It is a drama about a woman in what may have been a typical marriage of the time. I do not pretend to be a social historian, so that is a guess. Nora is told by her husband what she can eat (no sweets), what she can spend, what she can do with her time, and how she is to comport herself in matters of dress and behaviour. It is a stifling marriage in which Nora has no freedom of choice or ability to complain of the restraints placed upon her. Ibsen gives Nora a way out. She rejects the confines of her marriage in search of a life where she is able to make her own choices and to explore what she is capable of doing. It is a revolutionary outlook for a playright, especially one who is male and living in the late 19th century, and I can only imagine the outrage that this drama must have caused. I was absolutely impressed by the play. It's so forward-thinking, and so open to the ideas of individualism for everyone, and of personal freedom for women. I was severely irritated by the way in which Nora's husband, Torvald Helmer, addressed his wife: he spoke to her as if she were a child he was indulging: "Is that my little lark twittering out there?", and chastised her in the way one would an unruly child. With finely-scripted dialogue, Ibsen makes it plain to the reader or theatre-goer that there is no real relationship between Nora and Torvald; that she is the inferior in this marriage. Enlightened and enlightening; this play is so very worth reading by anyone interested in the earliest days of women's rights and the fight for individual freedoms. A Doll's House

Escrita no século XIX e tendo como cenário a Noruega durante a época do Natal, a peça teatral "A Doll's House", de Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906), apresenta o esfacelamento de um casamento, contrariando a moralidade da época. Curiosamente, ela não foi escrita em versos, mas em prosa, uma linguagem geralmente reservada para as comédias. Motivo de acaloradas discussões, a culpada de tamanho barulho é Nora, a protagonista, que abandonou o marido e os filhos para viver a própria vida. Essa decisão em apenas cem páginas ou três atos, revela o talento do dramaturgo cuja obra é considerada um "clássico da modernidade". Seu enredo foi inspirado num fato real: a escritora e amiga de Ibsen, Laura Kieler, envolveu-se numa situação semelhante. Por sinal, Ibsen confessou ter escrito dois desfechos e num deles, contratando sua preferência, Nora permanece casada. Seu objetivo foi tornar a peça menos controversa e mais lucrativa, autorizando a encenação ou publicação, caso fosse indispensável, pois preferia cometer essa violência do que deixá-la a cargo de um outro autor sem seu gabarito. Para finalizar, "A Doll's House" é considerada uma apologia feminista, ao abordar a submissão da mulher, tratada como uma boneca no ambiente doméstico, mas capaz de reagir a opressão e falta de liberdade, mesmo que isso acarrete a renúncia aos filhos. Sem dúvida, esse é um texto audacioso, inteligente e que merece atenção.

Finest hardcover!!