History Theatre / ADollsHouse

The play is a scathing critique of nineteenth-century marriage, and it is ''[[ValuesResonance very]]'' [[ValuesResonance feminist in outlook for its time]], although Ibsen said this was never intentional and that his intended message was not so much about women's rights as about the more need for any individual (of either gender) to explore and define their own identity.

* WrongGenreSavvy: Nora spends most of the play thinking her situation will unfold like the plot of a typical Victorian domestic drama; the fact that Torvald doesn't follow the "script" as she hoped he would is what finally make her turn on him.

* InTheBlood: Subverted. At the climax of the play, Torvald (incorrectly) infers that Nora broke the law not out of a desire to help him but because she inherited her crooked father's moral weakness; she replies by suggesting that the worst hereditary problems in their society are passed on through flawed social ideals, not blood.

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Some critics think Ibsen was aiming for this, allowing audiences to make up their own minds as to who was ultimately "right." (Modern audiences [[MisaimedFandom tend to miss this]], since Nora's viewpoint [[ValuesDissonance is much closer to modern sensibilities than Torvald's]].)

* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Deconstructed: Nora deliberately plays up her whimsicalness for Torvald's amusement, but it turns out that a result of said whimsicalness, she and Torvald have never sat down and had a serious conversation about ''anything'', and thus their views on each other were severely distorted. Neither takes the discovery well.

The play is a scathing critique of nineteenth-century marriage, and it is ''[[ValuesResonance very]]'' [[ValuesResonance feminist in outlook for its time]], although some critics have interpreted it as being not so much about women's rights as about the more general need for the individual to explore and define their own identity.

* Anvilicious: After the truth comes out about how Torvald doesn't really love Nora for Nora, her personality does a complete 180 as she tells Torvald why she must leave him. After spending the entire play as a airheaded ditz, she suddenly becomes serious and well spoken. It is somewhat jarring, but considering the time the play came out in, [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped one can forgive this for the message which was pretty radical at the time]]

''A Doll's House'' (Norwegian: ''Et Dukkehejm'') is an 1879 play in three acts by Creator/HenrikIbsen.

* UnrequitedLove: [[spoiler: Dr. Ranke]]

** Also deconstructed. Not only paying up the last part of the debt was was more troublesome for Nora than the debt as a whole, but Krogstad turns out to be a complex person with his own motivations instead of a memre money-grubbing asshole.

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Some critics think Ibsen was aiming for this, allowing audiences to make up their own minds as to who was ultimately "right." (Modern audiences tend to miss this, since Nora's viewpoint is much closer to modern sensibilities than Torvald's.)
* CasualKink: Torvald seems to enjoy the thought of Nora, his wife, retaining her peasant girl role from the masquerade and being his secret lover. Quite racy for an upstanding bank manager at the time.

* LeavingYouToFindMyself: The play's conclusion, which might be the TropeCodifier. Nora's decision was quite controversial at the time, as it entailed not only leaving Torvald but abandoning her children - the actor playing Nora in the German production of the play forced Ibsen to write a new ending (which he detested) where Nora isn't shown leaving, because '''I'' would never leave ''my'' children!'

* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Nora, who plays up her whimsicalness for Torvald's amusement.
** May also be a {{Deconstruction}}. As a result of said whimsicalness, she and Torvald have never sat down and had a serious conversation about ''anything.''

* {{Reconstruction}}: The reunion scene between Linde and Krogstand makes it clear that their relationship is based on understanding. So traditional marriage can work when the couple respect each other.
* TrophyWife: It's possible to view Nora as this. One interpretation would be that Torvald doesn't really care about Nora at all and just wants a doll, in her words, to look good, entertain his friends, and fit the expectations of a model wife, but another would be that he genuinely loves Nora but is simply incapable of understanding her.

''A Doll's House'' (Norwegian: ''Et Dukkehejm'') is an 1879 play in three acts by HenrikIbsen.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Of the traditional marriage. As Nora puts it, "[Many woman] sacrificed [their honor for their husbands]" when Torvald protest that a man would never surrender his honor to even his wife.

* GoodLawyersGoodClients: Part of the reason that the Helmers have had so many financial problems is that Torvald, according to Nora, will only take the cases he feels are morally right. Could be considered a subversion, considering Torvald's [[HeteronormativeCrusader character]]

* GoodLawyersGoodClients: Part of the reason that the Helmers have had so many financial problems is that Torvald, according to Nora, will only take the cases he feels are morally right.

The play is a scathing critique of nineteenth-century marriage, and it is ''very'' feminist in outlook for its time, although some critics have interpreted it as being not so much about women's rights as about the more general need for the individual to explore and define their own identity.

* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Nora, who plays up her [[ZooeyDeschanel Deschanelesque]] whimsicalness for Torvald's amusement.

* WhyWouldAnyoneTakeHimBack: Averted. Torvald berates Nora viciously then just as abruptly decides to forgive her because she is like a child and knows no better. She allows him to hug her and tell her how much she loves her, leaves to get changed - and walks back in with a suitcase to announce that she's leaving him.

* Foreshadowing: Nora speaks to her trusted Nurse (who was Nora's childhood maternal figure) that "If anything were to happen, would you..."