A doll's house

the long version

The slamming of the front door at the end of Ibsen's electrifying play shatters the romantic masquerade of Nora and Torvald's marriage. In their stultifying and infantilised relationship, they have deceived themselves and each other into thinking they are happy. But Nora's concealment of a loan she had to take out for her husband's sake forces their frivolous conversation to an irrevocable crisis, until Nora claims her right to individual freedom. Ibsen's 1879 play shocked its first audiences with its radical insights into the social roles of husband and wife. His portrayal of his flawed heroine, Nora, remains one of the most striking dramatic depictions of late-nineteenth century woman. This version is translated by Michael Meyer, and was first performed in 1964 at the Playhouse, Oxford.