Nora’s Transformation: Doll-wife to Woman

Nora’s Transformation: Doll-wife to Woman


Norwegian Playwright Henrik Ibsen wrote A Dollhouse in 1879. It was a time when women had no legal rights and could not borrow money without a co signature from a man. Isben’s plays are challenging and sometimes shocking, ranging from subjects such as sexual perversity, the right to commit suicide, and homosexuality. A Dollhouse represents Nora confronting personal, marital, and economic problems.
Ibsen’s inspiration for A Dollhouse was the events in Laura Peterson Kielers life, a Norwegian journalist he was very fond of. Laura borrowed money to finance a trip to Italy to save her husbands life. She worked hard to pay off the loan and when her work proved to be fruitless, she forged a check. When her husband found out, he demanded a legal separation and placed her in an insane asylum.
Nora holds the same situation as Isben’s protégé. Nora herself has committed forgery. Nora’s husband Torvald was dea...