Henry Ibsen’s iconic play “A Doll’s House” follows the life of a Victorian age housewife as she discovers and navigates the restrictions of societal expectations. Known for its controversy as one of the first feminist dramas, the play asks important questions about relationships, social norms, and independence.
It’s a short read, but there is so much to unpack. Whether or not you are reading the play for enjoyment, I hope you find this analysis helpful!
Plot Summary
Act 1: The main character, Nora, comes home after Christmas shopping for her family and is visited by her friend, the widow Christine Linde, who is looking for work. She is also threatened by Krogstad, the man who secretly loaned her money years ago when she needed it to save her husband, who was ill at the time. Krogstad threatens Nora to reveal the loan as a way of blackmailing Nora’s husband, Torvald, who is also Krogstad’s employer. This is because Torvald is planning on firing Krogstad and hiring Christine in his place. Krogstad wants to keep his job in order to save his reputation, and by extension, the reputation of his sons.
Act 2: Dr. Rank, one of Nora’s closest friends, confesses to Nora that he is dying and that for the past few years he has loved Nora. Confused, she continues to treat him as a close friend only.
Meanwhile, Krogstad’s threat of exposure continues to terrify Nora because she fears passing on immoral ideas to her children and her home. She desperately confesses to Christine, who tells her to come clean to her husband; begs Torvald not to fire Krogstad, but he does so anyway in order to exert his power over her; and she begs Krogstad not to reveal her secret to Torvald, but having been fired, Krogstad writes a letter exposing Nora and delivers it to their home. In an effort to distract Torvald from the letter in the letterbox, Nora asks Torvald to correct her dance, which she is to perform at a dinner party later that evening.
Act 3: While the couple was at the dinner party, Christine sought out Krogstad to explain why she had left him so many years ago. She needed the money to support her family, and marriage was the only way for her to obtain it. She and Krogstad get together, and she tells Krogstad not to rescind the letter from Torvald and Nora’s home but rather write something else.
After coming home from the dinner party, Torvald reads the letter in the letter box condemning Nora. Enraged, he blames her for the shame he faces and yells that she has ruined his life. He then reads Krogstad’s second letter, with his apologies, and promptly switches to a mild, patronizing, and forgiving mood. He claims to have forgiven Nora and acts as though he had not been screaming at her moments ago. Nora leaves her home, for the first time, after explaining to Torvald that she no longer knew who she was and that she did not love him anymore. After being under Torvald’s control, Nora had lost her sense of self.
Symbols
The Macaroons
At the beginning of the play, Nora brings macaroons home after her day out shopping. She hides them and lies when Torvald asks if she has had any sweets. Torvald does not allow Nora to eat any sugar because he is afraid that it will ruin her teeth and her smile will not be pretty anymore.
Later, when Christine and Dr. Rank are in the living room with Nora, she shares the macaroons with them. In response to Dr. Rank asking where she had gotten them, Nora tells him that Christine brought them, and that she could not have known they were forbidden.
The macaroons represent Nora’s desire for independence from both Torvald’s strict rules and the expectations of society. In a world where she is expected to follow her husband’s every word and act as his pretty accessory, the macaroons are a strong symbol of her own rebellion against the roles prescribed to her. They start off the play’s theme of deceit to gain independence.
The Christmas Tree
Like her Christmas tree, because her relationship lacks authenticity, depth, and roots, Nora is slowly dying from the inside. Regardless of how prettily she dresses and how nicely the tree is decorated, it does not change the fact that it is slowly and invisibly withering away. This foreshadows the ending of the story, where Nora realizes that she has spent so much time altering herself and appealing to Torvald that she hasn’t noticed her own identity slipping away.
The Tarantella
Nora is meant to perform the flirty dance at the dinner party they are attending in the evening, but during the afternoon, Krogstad’s incriminating letter arrives, and she pretends that she has forgotten the entire dance to distract Torvald from opening the letter. Her dancing gets progressively wilder with Torvald attempting and failing to control her rash movements.
Later, she puts on her fancy costume and performs the dance at the dinner party perfectly.
The Tarantella represents the growing tension and realization Nora develops. She begins to realize the true power imbalance; she is incapable of communicating clearly, and she sees how Torvald tries to control her. Her marriage isn’t a partnership, and she’s treated like an object. Wanting more but not daring to ask, her awareness, combined with her feelings of dread toward the moment Torvald inevitably opens the letter cause Nora’s internal state to spiral.