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iholcomb4790 's review for:
A Doll's House
by Henrik Ibsen
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Funny enough, I’d never heard of Henrik Ibsen prior to a few weeks ago when a friend mentioned wanting to read his plays. Fast forward to last week, I was about to start another book, only to read a footnote in the introduction that more or less said, “read A Doll’s House to understand this better,” which brought me here.
There are few characters, but quite a bit happening. Nora is fascinating as a woman trapped in the role society has thrust upon her, Torvald as the clueless husband who is confronted by his privilege in the end (though I don’t think it drills in hard in that respect), and then there’s Doctor Rank, Christine Linde, and Nils Krogstad. I think, considering the time this play first premiered, it was very progressive for its time in questioning what role society has for women, as well as begging for diversity of thought (Nora’s comments that the law doesn’t make sense if it doesn’t allow her to protect her loved ones feels a rather damning remark on the subject. That said, I need more time to reflect on Doctor Rank. He’s one character I’m struggling to understand what he brings to the play. Besides that, the ending feels a bit too direct in terms of exposition coming across at the cost of feeling less like a play and more like a lecture. Still would like to read more of Ibsen’s work, though.
There are few characters, but quite a bit happening. Nora is fascinating as a woman trapped in the role society has thrust upon her, Torvald as the clueless husband who is confronted by his privilege in the end (though I don’t think it drills in hard in that respect), and then there’s Doctor Rank, Christine Linde, and Nils Krogstad. I think, considering the time this play first premiered, it was very progressive for its time in questioning what role society has for women, as well as begging for diversity of thought (Nora’s comments that the law doesn’t make sense if it doesn’t allow her to protect her loved ones feels a rather damning remark on the subject. That said, I need more time to reflect on Doctor Rank. He’s one character I’m struggling to understand what he brings to the play. Besides that, the ending feels a bit too direct in terms of exposition coming across at the cost of feeling less like a play and more like a lecture. Still would like to read more of Ibsen’s work, though.