Dismantling 'A Doll’s House': the lasting impact of Henrik Ibsen in 20th century theatre | The Bubble

Isabelle Bylett in Culture & Arts Drama on 2 November, 2024.

The influence of the 19th-century Norwegian playwright, Henrik Ibsen, cannot be overstated. Referred to as ‘the father of realism’, and as Carissa Villagomez argues ‘a founder of modernism in theatrical works’, his works serve as social commentary on the latter half of the 19th-century, exposing the gritty and uncomfortable details that his society sought to suppress. Indeed, Ghosts (1881) uses a metaphor of venereal disease to discuss both generational inheritance and wider societal sins – Ibsen refused to shy away from topics that perhaps we still, in modern times, find disconcerting. Perhaps, his most influential and certainly most preformed play however is his 1879 play, A Doll’s House; a domestic drama centred around the marriage of Nora and Torvald Helmer.

This is a play that exposes the hypocrisy and disturbing nature of the centuries idealised ‘baby-wife’. Nora Helmer plays the role of the naïve and weak flatterer, appeasing her husband’s fragile masculine ego. While seemingly content to play this role, she recognises the stifling environment she embodies, and how she is neither truly aware of the nature of her marriage, or her husband. Her husband impersonates a paternal patriarch, yet she soon realises that he knows as little about the world as she does. Her recognition that her life is a lie, and her husband truly is a ‘stranger’ to her is a deeply emotional and revelatory moment. Arguably, a distinctly feminist play, Nora decides that her status as a human being must triumph her vocation as a wife and mother – ‘I believe that I am first and foremost a human being’ – something that cannot occur if she chooses to remain in the Helmer family home.

It is the end of the play that must remain in the mind of audiences – the departure of Nora from the family home. The last noise heard – the slamming of a shutting door as she leaves the domestic space – is more impactful considering the danger than Nora is entering into for her search for liberty. Indeed, the contemporary outrage and response to the play highlights the loss of reputation and security that Nora would have encountered. In the 1880 production of the play in Germany, famed actress Hedwig Neimann-Raabbe refused to act the role of Nora in the ending, declaring ‘I would never leave my children’. Unable to reconcile herself to the idea of a mother’s abandonment of her child – something clearly modern critics and readers still struggle with today – Ibsen was forced to rewrite the ending. Here, Torvald forces her into the nursery, and therefore he pushes her back into the feminine role he has approved – that of the baby-wife. While, Nora’s abandonment of her children has continued to lead into discussions of morality and women’s duty to their family, what is interesting is the general dislike of the adapted ending and the recurrent motif of the slamming door in 20th century works.

Here, I choose to look more specifically as two popular and enduring works of early and mid 20th century drama – George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion (1912) and Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun (1959). The two plays are different both thematically and geographically, Pygmalion featuring the transformation of a Covent-Garden ‘guttersnipe’ into a ‘duchess’, and Hansberry’s work discussing the life and challenges endured by the Youngers, a Black family situated in Chicago. Yet, both plays are clearly influenced by Ibsen. Perhaps most obviously, Nora’s door slam echoes through both texts. Eliza Doolittle, the working-class heroine of Pygmalion ‘sweeps out’ of the home of Torvald’s equivalent, the dominating and cruel Higgins. She refuses a life of subordination, and her departure too signals her development from naivety to maturity. While she may have undergone a physical transformation, she also has learnt to assert her own independence and recognises her desire for a life outside the one that Higgins presents to her. The psychological complexity and the keen awareness of the barriers which attempt to contain her; aligns her with Nora in some ways, though perhaps she is more enlightened about the dangers of the world at the end of the play.

A Raisin in the Sun, too, presents a departure from the domestic home and aspirations to transcend societal barriers and limitations. The Younger family choose to follow the generational dreams and move into a more spacious home in Clybourne Park. Walter Younger hopes to raise his family out of poverty and the movement to a house with a garden creates ideas of fostering growth and family potential. However, the threat of danger, much like Nora’s departure into a world which will reject her, is apparent. The neighbourhood they choose to move to is predominately white, and while the end of the play is hopeful, the future is still uncertain and dangerous considering the racist backdrop of 1950s America. Both Hansberry and Ibsen suggest that social change will not come without risk, however the endings of both create feeling of anxiety for individuals who choose to fight against the hegemonic system. It is necessary, but terrifying.

Therefore, Ibsen’s innovative narrative and appeal for realism, cast a long shadow across the theatre of the 20th century. His presentation of a character who longs for and chooses self-actualisation, over adherence to stifling societal and moral values facilitated characters such as Eliza Doolittle and the Younger family. A Doll’s House remains a cultural touchstone in feminist and modernist theatre, which I hope will continue to be endured in future years.

Image: Maxwell Hamilton on Flixr