Analysis of A Doll House

             Henrik Ibsen, "The Father of Modern Drama-, was born on March 20, 1828, in Skien, Norway. He died on May 23, 1905, in Christiana, Norway. Ibsen's father was a prosperous businessman who lost everything, including the family's social status. This experience greatly influenced Ibsen's work; it forced him to quit school and left him with a low opinion of society.
             In 1850, Ibsen applied to medical school, but failed his exams. Instead, he was appointed "stage poet- of a local theater. After writing four plays, the theater sent him on a study tour of Denmark and Germany in 1852. Ibsen traveled Europe from 1864 to 1891, writing his most important plays while abroad. It was during this time that he wrote A Doll House in 1879, which would eventually earn him the title of "father of modern drama,"" (Cassady 257).
             A Doll House, by Henrik Ibsen was published on December 4, 1879, and was first performed in Copenhagen on December 21, 1879. Ibsen's work was considered a publishing event and the play's initial printing of 8,000 copies quickly sold out. The play was so controversial that Ibsen was forced to write a second ending that he called "a barbaric outrage" to be used only when necessary. The controversy centered on Nora's decision to abandon her children, and in the second ending she decides that the children need her more than she needs her freedom. Ibsen believed that women were best suited to be mothers and wives, but at the same time, he had an eye for injustice and Helmer's demeaning treatment of Nora was a common problem. .
             Although feminists would later embrace him, Ibsen was no champion of women's rights; he only dealt with the problem of women's rights as a facet of the realism within his play. His intention was not to solve this issue but to illuminate it. Although Ibsen's depiction of Nora realistically illustrates the issues facing women. Ibsen is known as the "father of modern drama," (Cassady 257) because he elevated theater from entertainment by exposing social problems.