Customer Reviews
A Doll's House is a masterpiece - By: burnthouse, 08 Mar 2005 
I read this book not knowing what to expect (my partner is studying Enlish Lit' with the Open University & it is on her reading list).
I think it is a masterpiece, so much drama & suspense trapped inside such a small play, it is very clever & also leaves you feeling that you are a better person for having read it.
My partner paid £0.99 for this book, I would say this price does the book an injustice. A classic to rival 'The Medea'
A brilliant play on Marrige, Supression and Feminisme. - By: Lisabeth Vefall, 22 Jan 2003 Henrik Ibsenin one of the most famous Norwegian writers thoughout the world. And he is known for his plays where he gives a critical view upon the society.
In this play, everything happens around the main character Nora. She is innocent, naiv & has no education at all, just like most women of her social rank had at that time. Her husband, Torvald, is well knownin the city, & his wife is just a "doll". She isn't supposed to have opinions on anything, just smile & look prettyin this male dominated world.
When Torvald Helmer finds out that his wife has "stole" money from her father to be able to pay for a health insitution for him, he's shocked. Nora, not understand what she might have done wrong, was only trying to help her husband, & yet protect her dying father. She wakes up, starting feel independant, wanting to discover herself...
Ibsen was a master of showing different sides of the social levels, & giving a critic view on what he didn't like. He has done it yet again, focusing on the marriage of these two people. Supression & a male dominated world is central aspects, & also the growing feminisme.
The book is worth reading for anyone how loves to read. It is truly one of Ibsen's best plays!
Themes and images I enjoyed thinking about. - By: , 26 Jan 2001 When I completed reading, "A Doll's House", by Henrik Ibsen, I had thoroughly enjoyed, this particluar piece of literature & thought about how its themes & images, relate to my own personal experiences. Not only does the play have its motives for the past, but it also serves as a revealing a moral message for modern day society.
Whilst reading the text, Ibsen allows me to mentally picture, "A Doll's House", by so many walls & "doors", which confined the chararcters to becoming alienated within their own environment.
From beginning to end, the text focuses on how Nora becomes isolated by her husband's dominance, which is portrayed through his patronizing behaviour. He calls her, "little spendrift", "little squirrel" & manipulates his, "doll wife" when he articulates her moves, for practicing the "Tarrantella". Overall, Nora becomes the, "songbird" trapped within a cage.
Krogstad is symbolic for bringing the threat of the outside world, into Nora's idealized home, through his blackmailing behaviour. It is frightening to know the damage it causes to ruin a beautiful relationship, which is based on a lie, that metophorically contaminates & poisons individuals within an enclosed home.I found that the atmosphere was so stifiling for the characters,I felt symapthetic towards them.
Ibsen's moral message entails,in order for women to feel independent, they need to get to know themselves, so they are able to experience, develop knowledge & deal with the outside world alone. This is what Ibsen wanted to portray to a Nineteenth Century audience.Ibsen's play relates to everyday experiences, such as, "debt", causing a home to, "never be a place of freedom & beauty". This piece of literature is so powerful, that I believe it is one of Ibsen's most striking master pieces, I have ever read that deals with conventions & norms of women livingin a Victorian masculine society.
An interesting and insightful text which I enjoyed studying - By: J. Knightsmith, 22 Oct 2000 
As a part of my A level studies I have concentrated on this text. I have found it most interesting & insightful if a little hard to comprehend at first. This edition is very good for the price but is by no means upto the standard of other texts which boast analysis & also the alternative ending. I have yet to find a good sudy guide to this text so it is perhaps worth investingin a more facilitative original text if your intention is for study.
Be inspired to read Ibsen's plays!! - By: , 22 Oct 2000 This is a great version of the play. The notes & charcter information is really useful & I would reccommend this version to anyone studying A Doll's House. The translation is good & easier to follow than some other versions. It is also useful if you are studying the Victorian period because Ibsen had great insight into his society. It has inspired me to read more of Ibsen's plays.
