A Doll’s House 1973

Set in 19th century Norway, Ibsen’s A Doll’s House follows the married life of banker Torvald Helmer and his wife Nora Helmer. A young middle-class couple with three small children, their seemingly respectable marriage is revealed to be a broken and bloodless matter.

The Helmers live in an unequal partnership, dominated by Torvald. Although he professes to love her, Nora for him is often dismissed as careless and childlike, a doll in his eyes. He prides himself on being the family’s breadwinner and protector, yet he remains oblivious to the secret Nora keeps: she saved him when he was gravely ill by borrowing money in his name without his knowledge. She told him the money came from inheritance, but it was a private loan from Nils Krogstad, one of his coworkers. Nora has been repaying the loan in small installments.

Torvald, it turns out, already holds the boorish Krogstad in contempt for various reasons. When Torvald is appointed bank director, one of his first acts is to fire his coworker. The desperate Krogstad attempts to blackmail Nora — she must persuade Torvald to keep him on the job, or he will reveal the secret loan. Its existence would be embarrassing enough, but Krogstad threatens to reveal the most shocking news of all: Nora forged her father’s signature on the contract.

The story includes important subplots regarding the unexpected tenderness of Krogstad toward Nora’s friend Kristine Linde, his old flame, and the quixotic love interest toward Nora of the elderly Dr. Rank. However, the essential conflict comes when Torvald receives a letter describing the loan. Indignantly, he pours scorn on his wife for her morals, intellect, and financial sense; he cuts short her explanations and declares that she will be allowed no hand in raising their children.

His fury seems infinite until a second letter arrives, containing Nora’s contract, complete with a forged signature and surrendered without explanation. Torvald holds the incriminating evidence in his hand, utterly relieved, and begins to make weak apologies for his outburst. In the meantime, Nora has had a transformational realization about her love and marriage. She stands up to Torvald, explains her new vision, and then—against all customs of the day—walks out on him forever.