In what ways might A Doll's House created a sensation in the world of theatre when it was first performed?

I believe that A Doll’s House created a sensation in the world of theatre when it was first performed as it challenges the societal norms of the Victorian era it was written in, the ingrained orthodox that women are expected to fulfill their marriage and motherhood as a sacred, first and foremost duty.

The play does this by presenting a realist perspective of the 19^th century Norway’s household, in a small setting where the plot would be much more focused (audience can easily see the characters’ personality, their attitudes/behaviours) and allows the complications between the characters to occur, leading to the revelation where the audience can see the connection between the play and the problems with Victorian societal norms.

These problems are addressed by the difficulties that Nora, the female protagonist, encounters when struggling to find her independence from her husband. It criticizes how the woman lacks independence, who, if allowed a chance to work to fend for themselves, can actually help the husband to fend for the family. She lacks the finance to buy Christmas presents for her children, or to pay for a trip to Italy when Torvald is ill (his illness can only be cured by travelling South, where the weather is warmer). Hence, one can argue that Nora certainly cares for her husband and their children, however, another can argue that Nora is selfish, hypocritical and more concerned with public reputation than with actual morality by caring for her family through seemingly “deceitful” ways, such as perhaps, “overspending” her husband’s money and most significantly, take a loan her husband’s employee’s (Krogstad) and forges a bond using her father’s signature. It can be seen that Nora, representing the average woman, yearns for Freedom, which can be considered a theme in the play, who wants to gain freedom, financially, liberated from debt and be able to spend plies and piles of money to achieve material wealth. However, she has never achieved this due to the oppression of her father and her husband over her, men’s narrow perspective of a woman has been passed down from generations to generations; being called a “little…(sky lark, squirrel)” shows she’s being viewed by her husband merely as a pet that needs its owner and never of equal rank, as a woman that can be “toyed” with by a man reflects the disparaging reality in Victorian society.

Moreover, the audience at the time can be shocked by the scandalous portrayal of Dr Rank, who at first sight, seems to be a “patron”, or model male figure, suggested by his name and title, and his strict and austere appearance. But behind his façade, is a lascivious nature when he openly covets Nora and made a shocking revelation of his disease, a “tuberculosis of the spine”, a euphemism for syphilis, inherited from his father’s previous sexual exploits. By explicitly revealing such a disturbing truth is morally distasteful to the audience, however it reflects the situation of society, as Ibsen highlights the flaws of a seemingly “well-mannered” Victorian society, which actually has deteriorating moral values that demands greater gender equality between male and female.

A Doll’s House also creates a sensation by the style of realism that Ibsen chooses to adopt and hence, popularise, which again, challenges the conventions of playwright in the Victorian era of romanticism. The play is most interesting where it shows the constant changing of internal conflicts in each character (their Ups and Downs), Torvald, supposedly the figure of moral authority shows himself to be cowardly and selfish, Krogstad whom appears to be the antagonist becomes sympathized with and understood whilst Ms. Linde, thought to be kindly and in need reveals herself to be independent, self sufficient however also harsh to her friend Nora. Nora, interestingly is portrayed as a frivolous, spendthrift woman who runs away with her husband money, as Torvald and the audience sees it, is actually covering the truth behind her frivolity, who’s working hard behind the Christmas decorations and embroidery to earn money to pay back her loan from Krogstad. Through the portrayal of the characters’ ups and downs in A Doll’s House in contrast with conventional drama where the audience expects the characters to be so predictable, Ibsen defies and crosses cultural norms in real life and fiction.

The ending although is scandalous and shocking to the audience, however, is highly questionable in Nora’s seeking of her own independence and freedom. When she refuses to see her children for the last time, the audience may view this as her denial of her motherhood responsibility, however, through an in-depth understanding of her as a parent who values teaching good morals to her children, she is actually concerned that she may hand down to her children her immorality. The ending reinforces Ibsen’s argument that he is not a feminist but rather advocates human rights and gender equality. Ibsen’s upholding modern perspective about society ideas in a highly conservative, traditional era is what makes the modern audience reveres him, regarding him as “one of the world’s greatest dramatist”, or “the father of modern prose drama”.