DollHouse Notes on the Production
NORA THROUGH THE AGES
“Who, after seeing this play, has the courage to speak scornfully about run-away wives? Is there anyone who does not feel that it is this young and delightful woman’s duty, her inescapable duty, to leave this gentleman, this husband, who slowly sacrifices her on the altar of his egotism, and who fails to understand her value as a human being?”
–Social Demokraten1
“Is there a mother among thousands of mothers, a wife among thousands of wives who would act as Nora acts, who would leave husband and children and home so she herself first and foremost can become ‘a human being’?”
–Folkets Aviv1
These are two critics’ responses to the first performance of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House at the Royal Theatre of Copenhagen on December 21, 1879. These critics were not alone in their vehemence or their division. The original production of this play sent shockwaves through the Scandinavian audiences of the time. Reportedly, after every performance people left the theatre “pale with excitement, arguing, quarreling, challenging.”2
This was the debut of Nora Helmer, a character that inspired a storm of controversy that time has not, even to this day, quelled. Since the original production of A Doll’s House, critics, scholars and audiences have written volumes about Nora. She has been scorned by some as a hysterical woman, a compulsive liar, or a shameless flirt. Conversely, she has been heralded by others as a feminist heroine or a forward-thinking rebel. So, who is the real Nora Helmer? Why did Ibsen see fit to write her and why does she continue to appear on our stages in productions of the original A Doll’s House and in adaptations?
The character of Nora was based, in part, on Ibsen’s friend and writing colleague Laura Kieler. Kieler was a close friend of both Ibsen and his wife and historical evidence points to them both having been very fond of her. Several years into their marriage, Kieler’s husband developed tuberculosis and became gravely ill. His doctor recommended that he convalesce in a warmer climate. In an effort to ensure her husband’s recovery, Kieler borrowed money to finance a trip but, before long, the debt load overwhelmed her and she committed forgery in order to relieve the financial pressure. Eventually the forgery came to light and her husband, enraged, filed for divorce and for custody of their children. All of this took a great emotional toll on Kieler and she suffered a nervous breakdown after which she was committed to a mental hospital.2
In early drafts of A Doll’s House, which Ibsen began writing a year after Kieler’s institutionalization, the character of Nora was depicted as a benevolent wife at the mercy of her overbearing, hot-headed husband. In later drafts, however, Ibsen added greater dimension to the character imbuing her with less admirable traits, like a ready willingness to lie to cover up her financial indiscretion and participation in a flirtatious, extra-marital relationship with Dr. Rank.1 In adding these details, Ibsen created a complex, multi-dimensional character that has captivated audiences for over 125 years, leading to countless productions of A Doll’s House, multiple adaptations, and numerous rewritings not approved by the author.
Immediately after the first production of A Doll’s House in Copenhagen, new productions were mounted throughout Scandinavia and, soon thereafter, throughout the world. The first non-Scandinavian production of the play took place in Germany in 1880. The actress playing Nora in this production refused to play the ending as Ibsen had written it on the grounds that she would never leave her children as Nora did.2
Similarly scandalized by the play’s original ending, theatre companies throughout Germany informed Ibsen’s publisher that they would only produce the piece with an alternate ending. Ibsen was opposed to this but agreed to change the ending himself rather than allow anyone else to change it, although he considered any alteration at all to be a “barbarous outrage.” In Ibsen’s revised ending, the character of Nora decides that she simply cannot part with her children and agrees to stay with Torvald instead of leaving the marriage in order to become a better, self-realized person.3
Despite Ibsen’s wishes that no one but he be permitted to alter the ending of the play, this was the beginning of a trend among both theatre companies and individuals of altering the ending of A Doll’s House that lasted for many years. Not satisfied with Ibsen’s compromised ending, a new German version of the play was soon published adding a fourth act in which Nora appears carrying a new baby and pleading for Torvald’s forgiveness.2
The first United States production of the play in 1882, retitled The Child Wife, depicted a Torvald who, instead of having a fit of rage at learning of his wife’s forgery, commends and thanks her for the act. The two then reconcile and carry on with their marriage.2 In an 1886 London adaptation, Torvald responds to Nora’s forgery by taking the blame upon himself at which point Nora cries out that she is “No wife for a man like you. You are a thousand times too good for me!”2
Also in 1886, a version of the play was written and produced by Eleanor Marx, daughter of Karl. This version of the play satirized the responses of the critics who responded with hostility to the original. In this version, Ibsen’s intentions are highlighted while the critics’ objections are thoroughly mocked.4
Although most modern day productions of A Doll’s House retain Ibsen’s original ending, altered versions still abound. As late as the 1970’s, versions of the play with tamed endings were still being published even in reputable academic anthologies. 2
In addition to being re-imagined for the stage, A Doll’s House has been adapted to film many times both by American filmmakers (starring Claire Bloom and Jane Fonda as Nora) and filmmakers around the world including German experimentalist Rainer Warner Fassbinder and Persian filmmaker Dariush Mehrju’i.5 The play has also been adapted to television
and radio.
As these numerous re-makings and adaptations suggest, Nora Helmer is a character
that captures the attention of audiences, whether in the present day or the distant past. Whether you believe her to be a villain, a heroine, or something in between, she and her story will, without a doubt, command a response from you. Today, Nora’s decision to leave her marriage and children is not as scandalous as it was to 19th century audiences. But Nora’s struggle to become a self-realized person despite society’s constraints is as relevant today as it has ever been.
PRODUCTION HISTORY
Theresa Rebeck’s DollHouse was originally produced by Hartford Stage in Connecticut in February of 2001. A staged reading was produced by the Inside Out Theatre Company in Fort Lauderdale, FL in 2006.
REFERENCES
1 Ibsen.net. Web. http://www.ibsen.net.
2 Templeton, Joan. Ibsen’s Women. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Print.
3 Finney, Gail. “Ibsen and Feminism”. The Cambridge Companion to Ibsen. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994. Print.
4 Dukore, Bernard. “Karl Marx’s Youngest Daughter and A Doll’s House”. Theatre Journal.
42/3, 1990. Print.
5 Internet Movie Database. Web. http://www.imdb.com.
6 National Bureau of Economic Research. Web. http://www.nber.org.
7 Wright, Kai. “More Mortgage Madness”. The Nation. May 18, 2009. Print.
8 Moore, Geoffrey. “Recessions”. The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. Web. http://
www.econlib.org/library/Enc1/Recessions.htm
9 Rothbard, Murray. America’s Great Depression. Princeton, NJ: D. Van Nostrand Printing