A Doll’s House
Henrik Ibsen
Written by the father of the modern drama, A Doll’s House is a three-act play that centers on Nora, a young mother and housewife who is almost out from under the secret she’s been keeping from her husband since the beginning of their marriage. This play caused major controversy that rippled far outside Denmark’s Royal Theatre where it was first performed.
Major thematic elements: marriage, the traditional roles of men and women, and the impact of not being able to live as oneself.
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IB Literature and IB Language and Literature Connections
First Performance: Royal Theatre | Copenhagen, Denmark
Language: Norwegian, Danish
Era: 20th Century
Genre: Fiction
Author: Male
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Full text, basic summaries, and overviews
A Doll’s House - Full text
Project Gutenberg
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A Doll’s House - Full, free audio
LibriVox.org - Full Cast
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A Doll’s House - Full, free audio
LibriVox.org - One reader
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Spark Notes: A Doll’s House
Summary, characters, analysis, and more
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Cliff Notes: A Doll’s House
Summary, characters, analysis and more
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“A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen | Summary and Analysis”
Course Hero on YouTube
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About the author
“Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) and his play A Doll’s House (1879)”
Jessica Thompson | UNC History Department
Biography of Henrik Ibsen and commentary on A Doll’s House
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Life and Works
Thomas Van Laan | Rutgers University, Emeritus |
Ibsen Society of America
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“Playwrights on Ibsen”
National Theatre | YouTube | 5:22
from YouTube: “Richard Eyre, Simon Stephens, Stephen Unwin
and Patrick Marber comment on their experience of writing
new versions of Ibsen’s plays for contemporary audiences.”
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“Symbolism, Realism, and a Nordic Playwright Grudge Match:
Crash Course Theatre #33”
CrashCourse | YouTube | 13:08
Overview of Ibsen and the way he changed theatre. Includes
a closer look at A Doll’s House its immediate cultural impact.
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Articles and videos about A Doll’s House
“The Marrying Kind: A new production of ‘A Doll’s House’
Hilton Als | The New Yorker | March 2, 2014
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“Ibsen Play is Canceled in China After Audience Criticizes Government” by
Alex Marshall and Zoe Mou | New York Times | Sept. 13, 2018
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“Why A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen is more relevant than ever”
Susanna Rustin | The Guardian | August 10, 2013
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8 Reasons Why A Doll’s House Rocks
Seattle Shakespeare
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“The Work of Ibsen: Part 1”
National Theatre | YouTube | 5:20
Introduction to Ibsen’s four major plays. This video covers A Doll’s House and Ghosts, and includes photos from National Theatre’s productions of these plays.
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“The Work of Ibsen: Part 2”
National Theatre | YouTube | 4:55
Continuation of Part 1 (see above). This video explores Hedda Gabler and The Master Builder and includes photos from National Theatre’s productions of these plays.
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“Nora: a short film responding to Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House”
The Guardian | YouTube | 9:05
from the Guardian: “…writer Nick Payne and director Carrie Cracknell’s short film imagining what a modern-day Nora might look like, 130 years on from the original.”
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Lesson plans and other teaching resources
A Teacher’s Guide to the Signet Classics Edition of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House
Lara Reis Mayer | Signet Classics | Permabound
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A Doll’s House - Teacher Website
Mr. Hutton’s English Site
Introductory discussion questions, analytical summary, vocabulary, study guides and more.
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Digital Theatre+ Lesson Plan for Remote Learning
Drama/Theatre | A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen
Lesson Plan Length: 60 minutes
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Shopping List
Texts and other resources you may find helpful
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A Doll’s House and Other Plays
(Penguin Classics)Henrik Ibsen
Paperback on Amazon.com
Ibsen in Context
(Literature in Context)
Narve Fulsås, Tore Rem
Hardcover on Amazon.com
The Quintessence of Ibsenism
George Bernard Shaw
Paperback on Amazon.com
Four Major Plays: Doll’s House; Ghosts; Hedda Gabler; and The Master Builder (Oxford World’s Classics) Henrik Ibsen
Paperback on Amazon.com
A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen
Dover Thrift Edition
Paperback on Amazon.com
Henrik Ibsen
(Bloom’s Modern Critical Views)
Harold Bloom
Hardcover on Amazon.com
Henrik Ibsen and the Birth of Modernism: Art, Theater, Philosophy
Hardcover on Amazon.com
Readings on A Doll’s House
(Greenhaven Press Literary Companions to World Literature) Hayley R. Mitchell (Editor)
Paperback on Amazon.com
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