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A Doll's House (Dover Thrift Editions)
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Customer Reviews
Rating:  - somaia n. A Doll's House
A Doll's House is an outstanding play that brings up many topics into question, topics such as gender roles, love in marriage, and self fulfillment vs. family duties and responsibility. I think that Nora's and Torvald's characters are excellently drawn out to show the extremes of what could go wrong in a seemingly normal and happy home in 19th century Europe. Gender roles, even though they have changed drastically over the century, have roots from the beginning of time that stick throughout the years. Roots such as that women are more likely to stay at home and men are more likely to be the ones to work; even though these days women and men are legally and socially equal. Nora's actions in the play were courageous and good intentioned, even though they went against her husband's wishes. I really liked how she was created to be so naive that she did not realize that she had no life of her own, but despite that naivete, she still understood that something was missing. Torvald, on the other hand, knew perfectly well that Nora was not living life as people should, but out of his selfishness, he let things be as they were; he enjoyed life that way. What I liked most about this play was Nora's decision to live and to learn and be her own person, even though that meant huge sacrifice on her part and that of her family's. Was she selfish in doing what she did? That question is hard to answer. Should one live for themselves or is that right gone once they have children? Usually, I would say that a mother's duty to her children comes before anything, even her own needs; but what made Nora's situation so difficult was that she was a child herself, she never had the choice to live her life, once she had the chance it's good that she took advantage of it. The play was definetely worth the time spent reading it.
Rating: - A pleasant surprise!
This was quite an entertaining play! Very nice - I like it! In all seriousness, it's a fascinating story that revolves around the ideas of gender roles and the negativity that is associated with creating such distinctions in society. `Tis a well constructed (translated) piece, despite originating in Norway.
The characters within speak frequently and frankly, constantly interacting with one another. The simplicity with which this play is written is used to convey a broad message about how society is harsh towards those who do not live up to their associated gender roles. For example, Krogstad is seen by the other characters as a scroungy rogue, minus the charm, associated with being a divorced father of two.
While it may not be the sort of drama that can draw a sleazy crowd with a brief tagline or an action packed trailer, it entices it audience with realistically portrayed characters in a convincing setting with an invigorating premise. Oh, and it speaks for universal human efficacy.
Rating: - Functional edition of _A Doll's House_
First, the content -- Ibsen's play is as powerful and -- perhaps surprisingly -- as relevant as ever in today's supposedly more gender-equalized culture. Nora Helmer's predicament as a woman who faces the seemingly impossible choice between self-development and family is treated in a masterful way by Ibsen, who in the process manages to work in connections between bourgeois domestic culture, money, and spirituality.
But this edition is very functional -- no notes and a brief intro only. I have to say that I was a bit shocked because the new copy I ordered looked like it had been pulled out from the bottom of some old craters because it even had the faint impression of a sole on it!
Rating: - Read it Aloud.
Ibsen's best known play about the strictures imposed on women by society. It may be from a hundred years ago, but the plight of Nora and her world is a cautionary tale about life now.
Nora is simple and yet there is a complexity about her. Her naiveté is both her charm and her undoing. Torvald, her husband, is prominent and she is to be showy--a living doll. Nora is to be a mirror that reflects her husband beautifully.
The plot concerns financial woes in the marriage--and secrets kept and broken--in these, the story is not unlike most stressful marriages.
We can speculate about what Nora could or should have done but the die is cast.
This play is good for helping younger readers understand that assumptions about roles in marriage are still there, and have to be understood and discussed in order to help a marriage thrive.
If you have a place where you can read this aloud, try it. Plays were meant to be spoken. The translation is superb.
Rating: - Amazing!!
Wow. No matter how many times I read this play, it just keeps moving me. It always has something new in it, something brilliant and thought provoking. It's so crazy to my mind that this play was written in 1879 by a man. I mean, this is a serious slap in the face to a lot of the marriage conventions of that time period. I realize that to someone raised in today's culture, it's really nothing but we live in a completely different world. The Victorians took marriage very seriously. It was so shocking that the lead actress in Germany refused to play the part of Nora, unless Ibsen changed the ending
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