Humanism A Doll’s House

A Doll’s House is one of the best plays written by the renowned playwright Henrik Ibsen. It gained popularity for the various themes, the exceptional character development and dramatic rendition by various, actors and directors. Henrik Ibsen construed the play with such artful articulation that his work gained a lot of recognition for its underlying feminism that spurred several revolutionary thinkers.

Humanity In A Doll’s House

After the release of A Doll’s House, a whirlpool of feminist and humanist debate was initiated. Through his play, he explored the idea that women were indeed, in one way or another not just plagued but also suppressed and inhibited when it came to the 19th century. Through the play Ibsen proves that even when it came to a domestic circle, it was true that women were deprived of their individual freedom. Though marriage was considered a woman’s final step to completion and happiness, even a domestic set up had prerequisites that demanded women to think, act and behave in a certain way. Through the characters of Nora and Mrs. Linde, Ibsen explored how women while being in a relative constrained society do not and cannot lose traits of their own personalities.


Nora is shown as a talented individual who is seen to deliberately show a need to rely on her husband even though she seems perfectly capable of taking care, not just of herself but also her family in times of a financial crisis. She is shown to possess a rather critical mind that allows her to analyze and asses every situation in a crude manner. She establishes a strong sense of justice, flexibility, hypocrisy, bigotry. Through this play and through Nora’s character, Ibsen explores not just feminism but also humanism. He showed the audience the importance of treating all individuals with equal respect to their identities and freedom to be who they are without confining them to social or domestic spheres. Ibsen believed that the severity of injustice women faced on a daily basis had to be dealt with at a higher level and in a manner that it left a long lasting impact with tangible solutions.

Therefore, the play is considered a subtle call to action demanding a sense of justice and humanity towards all men and women despite the class they belong to. It is true that the humanity was more direct for women as the 19th century is known to limit women both inside and outside the house.


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