Ibsen’s famous play, probably the most popular nowadays shouldn’t really need much introduction as chances are that you are already aware of it if you are looking at this item. I should stress however that if you are more than just a general reader for instance a student, then this particular edition will not really be ideal for you, as there is no introduction, notes or analysis, something which you will probably need.
Set over a Christmas it emerges that Nora has been keeping a very large secret from her husband Torvald. But as events start to pan out she has to tell her friend Christine, what she has done. Fearing for her husband’s health Nora managed to get a loan, but how she got it wasn’t strictly honest. With the man she got the loan from likely to lose his job he has come to Nora with intent to blackmail. As the play unfurls we see how what at the beginning looks like a normal happy marriage isn’t really so. As layers are drawn back we see that there are some problems here.
Ibsen showed here how a marriage can start to fall apart and indeed this does read in some ways like a kitchen sink drama, something that really never started to come about until the 1950s. Ibsen showed his audience true life and with it glaring back at them this did cause quite some controversy throughout Europe. Starting over the issue of money and the need of it for the Helmer family to provide suitable convalescence for the man of the house, this then goes on to the effects caused by Nora managing to raise it in secrecy, and with the final denouement how this could affect the family name and honour. We read all this here and what course of action is taken by Nora at the end, and what really gets her goat about her marriage.
Due to the nitty gritty realism here this was so controversial in Germany, that even to be performed the ending had to be altered, thus taking away from the full impact of the whole play. This play has been hailed as a piece of pro- feminism, and yes it can be said that it is, but Ibsen never set out to create anything pro-feminist, instead he wrote and based this on a true event. This is always a pure pleasure to read and if you are into drama then this is a must have if you have not already got a copy, or if like me, ideal to download to your kindle so you have a copy to carry around with you.
Set over a Christmas it emerges that Nora has been keeping a very large secret from her husband Torvald. But as events start to pan out she has to tell her friend Christine, what she has done. Fearing for her husband’s health Nora managed to get a loan, but how she got it wasn’t strictly honest. With the man she got the loan from likely to lose his job he has come to Nora with intent to blackmail. As the play unfurls we see how what at the beginning looks like a normal happy marriage isn’t really so. As layers are drawn back we see that there are some problems here.
Ibsen showed here how a marriage can start to fall apart and indeed this does read in some ways like a kitchen sink drama, something that really never started to come about until the 1950s. Ibsen showed his audience true life and with it glaring back at them this did cause quite some controversy throughout Europe. Starting over the issue of money and the need of it for the Helmer family to provide suitable convalescence for the man of the house, this then goes on to the effects caused by Nora managing to raise it in secrecy, and with the final denouement how this could affect the family name and honour. We read all this here and what course of action is taken by Nora at the end, and what really gets her goat about her marriage.
Due to the nitty gritty realism here this was so controversial in Germany, that even to be performed the ending had to be altered, thus taking away from the full impact of the whole play. This play has been hailed as a piece of pro- feminism, and yes it can be said that it is, but Ibsen never set out to create anything pro-feminist, instead he wrote and based this on a true event. This is always a pure pleasure to read and if you are into drama then this is a must have if you have not already got a copy, or if like me, ideal to download to your kindle so you have a copy to carry around with you.
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