Why A Doll’s House Is Still A Relevant Theatrical Production 144 Years Later

Since premiering in Copenhagen Denmark in 1879, A Doll’s House by Henrik Isben has been an international sensation. The three-act play has been inspiring films, TV adaptations and more.

Recently, the play was revived on Broadway by playwright Amy Herzog who updated the script for modern audiences. Both Herzog and director Jamie Lloyd made the bold move of not treating it like a period piece. No props, no corsets, just the actors and some chairs. 

The play ran from March 9 to June 10, and was a critical and commercial success.

But what is it about A Doll’s House that continues to amaze us?

For starters, the plot is one many can and still relate to. Protagonist Nora Helmer struggles with her identity as she realizes she has been pretending to be someone she is not in order to fit the roles society designed for her. Perfect daughter, perfect wife, perfect mother—never the perfect Nora. And who even is Nora? Is she more than a doll expected to maintain a perfect dollhouse for others?

In this awakening, Nora is faced with barriers. Though she craves freedom and the ability to find herself, she is restricted to her house. She has a husband and children making her duty bound to the dollhouse she grows to resent. Her contemplation of leaving to this day sparks outrage. In fact, Ibsen was not allowed to end the play with Nora leaving because of moral outrage.

Nora is restricted by her time period in the sense that she could not control her own money. In act one, it was revealed that she took a secret loan to pay for her husband’s life-saving medical treatment. She kept it a secret because it was illegal for women to take loans but also to not damage her husband’s ego. Her husband Torvald controls the household money and by extension Nora. 

She starts the play living to please him and maintain a beautiful house, only to slowly discover that it leaves her empty. Torvald is distant and patronizing, only caring about maintaining the appearance of a perfect family. They both realize the only thing keeping them together is the fear of having a failed marriage.

Herzog updates the dialogue but it never questions the central themes of the play. Are we free in a society that has pre-established expectations? How much will we sacrifice for reputation and money? And is it possible to escape the dollhouse?