Tina Reads All the Books

Author: Henrik Ibsen

Rating: 3/5 stars

Book Blurb: A Doll’s House (1879), is a masterpiece of theatrical craft which, for the first time portrayed the tragic hypocrisy of Victorian middle class marriage on the stage. The play ushered in a new social era and “exploded like a bomb into contemporary life”.

This was sad.

You can see how this play would have been scandalous in 1879. I went into this not knowing how it resolved. And the ending was depressing. This is essentially about a deteriorating marriage that was devoid of love and respect and so it fell apart. Nora, our main character, was treated like a second class citizen and child. Torvald, her husband, was deceived and lied to. The issues these fictional characters face exist today. The conversations felt timeless and the conversations too real.

What was startling though, is that this was based on a true story. The author knew both parties and was asked to help, because the husband in real life went to ‘extreme’ measures to deal with his wife. Instead, Ibsen turned it into a play. I mean with friends like that…

This Short Classics Project has led to some startling discoveries…

Onward!