At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, when serious, fatal events took place in almost all countries, the genius of a writer by the name of Ibsen was born. “Doll House” - the work of this author, also known as “Nora”, reflected the spirit of that time: rebellious thoughts, doubts, moral dilemmas, attempts to preserve the human face even in the most difficult and controversial situations.
Many writers of the early 20th century reflected on similar problems, feeling the breath of change and impending fateful events. Ordinary people also went through a difficult period of metamorphoses and crumbling foundations, and they searched for answers in dramas, one of which is the work “The Doll House”. Henryk Ibsen is an old-school playwright, and his creations very organically and easily flow from paper to the stage and into the mouths of actors, so he gained great popularity as the author of plays staged around the world. In Russia at that time, his works were staged mainly at the Moscow Art Theater.
So, what kind of problems does Ibsen illuminate, whose “Doll House” is so psychological and tangible that every reader can find a particle of himself in the characters of the play? It is worth turning to the biography of the writer. The playwright was a real man in the most classical sense of the word: stern, restrained, honest, principled, able to sacrifice himself, if circumstances required. He considered the family and the institution of marriage in general to be an extremely important element for society, and it was the question of marital happiness that occupied the writer. And the first who was not afraid to cover rather personal and deep moments from the life of the husband and wife, which were previously considered private, was Henryk Ibsen.
“Doll House” is a chamber work with a small number of heroes. The antagonist is a woman named Nora, the wife and mother of children, accustomed to seeing the meaning of being in the family and maintaining the home. But such a life does not bother her, because she sincerely loves both her children and her husband, and everything would be fine if it were not for the gloomy secret. When Torvald, Nora’s husband, became ill, she had to borrow money from a man who was not too clean in her hand, who suddenly appeared and began to blackmail a woman. The moneylender wants to take a place in the bank where Thorvald works, and sends letters with threats, one of which is found by an husband who has not been previously aware. He is so shocked by the truth that has revealed to him that he accuses his wife of deceiving as if she is a real criminal - he is afraid for his career, he is afraid of scandal and does not try to spare the feelings of his wife. It comes to the point that Torvald threatens to rob his wife of the right to raise children. When the heat of passion reaches its climax, the moneylender suddenly abandons his claims, deciding that it requires too much from a frightened woman.
But if the play ended like that, it would not be Ibsen. The “Doll House” closes its shutters, behind which a real drama unfolds. Torvald is happy that the blackmailer no longer prevents him from leading his usual existence, and lives as if nothing had happened. But Nora could not forget her husband's behavior and forgive him. She understands that she built a castle in a lie, and now it crumbles before our eyes, because it turned out that self-sacrifice does not mean anything in comparison with the duty to be the “right” wife. A woman decides to leave home and pronounces fatal and shocking words for that time that she, first of all, is a person, and not her mother or spouse. So Henrik Ibsen proclaims the thesis of a new time that traditions need to move aside, that people should live differently, and women should be equal members of society.