A Doll House

(Et dukkehjem)

Henrik Ibsen (1879).

Three-act psychological and social drama. Nora Helmer is pampered by her complacent husband Torvald, who treats her as an adorable but scatterbrained child. She is actually leading a life bordering on desperation. Seven years previously she had forged her father's name in order to obtain a secret loan to finance a trip necessary for Torvald's health, since his pride precluded borrowing money. Nora is now pressured by her unscrupulous creditor, Krogstad, an employee in the bank where her husband has become manager. Krogstad is about to be dismissed by the unsuspecting Torvald, and Nora is in imminent danger of being exposed.

When her desperate efforts to forestall the crisis fail, Krogstad sends Torvald a letter revealing Nora's forgery. Torvald turns on her viciously, calling her immoral, hypocritical, and unfit to be the mother of his children. His blind, convention-bound reaction to her selfless gesture opens Nora's eyes to her own intolerable position as his wife. Although he later forgives her, to his astonishment, she walks out on him, their children, and the artificial doll house in which she has been living, determined to seek a life in which her value as a human being can be realised.