Before you read A Doll’s House

Learn some history about the play, as well as the reason some British words are used.

From reality to drama

The inspiration of A Doll’s House came from the trials of Laura Petersen Kieler, whom Ibsen met in 1871 (Ibsen called her his “skylark.”

When Laura’s husband, a teacher, became ill with tuberculosis, she secretly arranged a loan to pay for the trip (a friend guaranteed it because women couldn’t borrow money).

The friend could not pay off the loan, so Laura tried to write a novel to make money. Ibsen said the novel was not good, so Laura burned it.

The result of the forgery

When her husband discovered what Laura had done, he demanded a separation from her and called her an “unfit mother.”

Laura suffered a nervous breakdown and was institutionalized.

After a month in an asylum, Laura begged her husband to forgive her and take her back, which he did.

In Rome, Ibsen heard of her plight and wrote the play.

Notes Ibsen jotted down

while writing the play

“There are two kinds of moral laws, two kinds of conscience, one for men and one, quite different, for women. They don’t understand each other, but in practical life, woman is judged by masculine law, as though she weren’t a woman but a man.”Remember this when you meet Nora.

Money terms are British

There were twenty (20) shillings per pound. The shilling was subdivided into 12 pennies. The penny was further subdivided into two

halfpennies or four farthings (quarter pennies).

2 farthings = 1 halfpenny2 halfpence = 1 penny (1d)6 pence = 1 sixpence (a 'tanner') (6d)12 pence = 1 shilling (a bob) (1s)2 shillings and 6 pence = 1 half crown (2s 6d)5 shillings = 1 crown (5s)

How much was money worth? One pound in 1880 would be worth 75

pounds today ($150 U.S. dollars) A crown would be $37.50 today A shilling would then be $7.50 today A penny would be almost 63 cents. So, if Nora borrowed 250 pounds, what would

that be worth today in U.S. dollars?

Torvald Helmer is a barrister. What is that? A barrister is a kind of lawyer. The other type of lawyer is mainly

a solicitor. Solicitors have more direct contact with the clients, whereas barristers often only become involved in a case once representation before a court is needed by the client. Barristers are also engaged by solicitors to provide specialist advice on points of law. Barristers are rarely instructed by clients directly. Instead, the client's solicitors will instruct a barrister on behalf of the client when appropriate.

The historical difference between the two professions is that solicitors are attorneys, which means they can act in the place of their client for legal purposes (as in signing contracts), and may conduct litigation by making applications to the court. A barrister is not an attorney and is usually forbidden, either by law or professional rules or both, from conducting litigation.