Review for A Doll's House

Summary from Amazon.com: Norwegian-born Henrik Ibsen’s classic play about the struggle between independence and security still resonates with readers and audience members today. Often hailed as an early feminist work, the story of Nora and Torvald rises above simple gender issues to ask the bigger question: "To what extent have we sacrificed our selves for the sake of social customs and to protect what we think is love?" Nora’s struggle and ultimate realizations about her life invite all of us to examine our own lives and find the many ways we have made ourselves dolls and playthings in the hands of forces we believe to be beyond our control.

Review:
I would have to say this is one of my favorite plays by Mr. Ibsen. I saw it as a movie about two years ago. I thought I would read the play when an online group of mine called Banned Books decided to read it for this month's read. One of the questions was why was it banned at the time. Well when reading the play the wife leaving her husband and finding herself was considered scandalous in the Victorian Era. Here is an example: I have been performing tricks for you, Torvald. That's how I've survived. You wanted it like that. You and Papa have done me a great wrong. It's because of you I've made nothing of my life(Nora, Act 3)


Nora was a well developed character who felt trapped all her life under the thumb of men. She was told how to act and how to talk. Finally, she realized she was tired of it. She wanted to do something for herself.

If you ever wanted to know read about the start of woman's liberation start this is the play for you and also see my review on The Awakening by Katie Chopin. Both are very good.

I rate this a 5/5