A Doll's House (Norwegian: Et dukkehjem; also translated as A Doll House) is a three-act play in prose by Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having been published earlier that month. The play is significant for its critical attitude toward 19th century marriage norms. It aroused great controversy at the time, as it concludes with the protagonist, Nora, leaving her husband and children because she wants to discover herself. Ibsen was inspired by the belief that a woman cannot be herself in modern society, since it is an exclusively male society, with laws made by men and with prosecutors and judges who assess feminine conduct from a masculine standpoint. Its ideas can also be seen as having a wider application: Michael Meyer argued that the play's theme is not women's rights, but rather the need of every individual to find out the kind of person he or she really is and to strive to become that person. In a speech given to the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights in 1898, Ibsen insisted that he must disclaim the honor of having consciously worked for the women's rights movement, since he wrote without any conscious thought of making propaganda, his task having been the description of humanity.

Taken from the highly acclaimed Oxford Ibsen, this collection of Ibsen's plays includes A Doll's House, Ghosts, Hedda Gabler, and The Master Builder.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Four of Ibsen's most important plays in superb modern translations, part of the new Penguin Ibsen series.
With her assertion that she is first and foremost a human being, rather than a wife, mother or fragile doll, Nora Helmer sent shockwaves throughout Europe when she appeared in Henrik Ibsen's greatest and most famous play, A Doll's House. Ibsen's follow-up, Ghosts, was no less radical, with its unrelenting investigation into religious hypocrisy, family secrets, and sexual double-dealing. These two masterpieces are accompanied here by The Pillars of Society and An Enemy of the People, both exploring the tensions and dark compromises at the heart of society.

Henrik Ibsen (1828 - 1906) was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as the father of prose drama and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre. Many critics consider him the greatest playwright since Shakespeare. Contained here is one of his greatest works.

Nora Helmer is a dutiful young wife and mother of three children whose attempt to secure her family's future may ultimately lead to its destruction. Ibsen's play explores female identity and independence in a male dominated society.

The Helmer family consists of Torvald and Nora, as well as three children: Ivar, Bobby and Emmy. From the outside, they appear to live a happy and idyllic life. Yet, a secret from Nora's past threatens to destroy everything she loves. One of Torvald's employees blackmails Nora, hoping she can influence her husband in the workplace. When she doesn't succeed, Torvald is informed of her misdeeds. This leads to a life-changing confrontation that forces Nora to reevaluate her marriage and desire for a family.

A Doll's House a one of Ibsen's most forward-thinking plays. It was deemed scandalous for its depiction of a wife who prioritizes her own well-being over others. It's an insightful examination of how gender roles dominated nineteenth century Europe.

With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of A Doll's House is both modern and readable.

A masterpiece of modern theater, Hedda Gabler is a dark psychological drama whose powerful and reckless heroine has tested the mettle of leading actresses of every generation since its first production in Norway in 1890.
Ibsen's Hedda is an aristocratic and spiritually hollow woman, nearly devoid of redeeming virtues. George Bernard Shaw described her as having no conscience, no conviction ... she remains mean, envious, insolent, cruel, in protest against others' happiness. Her feeling of anger and jealousy toward a former schoolmate and her ruthless manipulation of her husband and an earlier admirer lead her down a destructive path that ends abruptly with her own tragic demise.
Presented in this handsome, inexpensive edition, Hedda Gabler offers an unforgettable experience for any lover of great drama or fine literature. Among the most performed and studied of Ibsen's dramas, it continues to provoke and challenge audiences and readers all over the world.

Taken from the Oxford Ibsen, this collection of Ibsen's plays includes An Enemy of the People, The Wild Duck, and Rosmersholm.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

First performed in 1882, Ghosts is the controversial and tragic play by the famed Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It is the story of Helen Alving, a wealthy widow who was unhappily married to her unfaithful husband. Helen has tried to shelter her son, Oswald, from the corrupting influence of his father's immoral behavior and has sent him away only to discover that he is suffering from syphilis inherited from his father. Oswald has also unfortunately fallen in love with Regina, his mother's maid, who is revealed to be Oswald's illegitimate half-sister. Oswald is heartbroken and asks his mother to help him end his life with an overdose of morphine, as he fears slipping into a vegetative state as his disease progresses. Ghosts is a scathing indictment of Victorian society in which Ibsen refutes the notion that if one simply fulfills one's duty according to the morals of the time then a good and noble life is guaranteed. Scandalous in its day for its frank discussion of venereal disease, marital infidelity, incest, and euthanasia, Ghosts continues to resonant with modern audiences for its intense psychological drama and sharp social criticism. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

Dr. Thomas Stockmann's personal and professional life is attacked after he declares a town's water supply is contaminated, which threatens the success of their economy. Ibsen tackles the corruption of local politicians, and their effect on the people.

After thorough examination, Dr. Thomas Stockmann discovers an unsettling truth about his town's water system. He believes its polluted and attempts to alert the proper authorities. Yet, this revelation threatens the town's economy, which depends on the success of its spa business. Stockmann's brother is the mayor and wants the story hidden from the public. He conspires with other politicians to protect their investment, despite the doctor's warning.

With An Enemy of the People, Ibsen criticizes the selfish nature of man. It centers a powerful minority that chooses profit over people. The writer exposes the dangers of honesty in a world fueled by lies.

With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of An Enemy of the People is both modern and readable.

Widely regarded as one of the foremost dramatists of the nineteenth century, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) brought the social problems and ideas of his day to center stage. Creating realistic plays of psychological conflict that emphasized character over cunning plots, he frequently inspired critical objections because his dramas deemed the individual more important than the group.
In this powerful work, Ibsen places his main characters, Dr. Thomas Stockman, in the role of an enlightened and persecuted minority of one confronting an ignorant, powerful majority. When the physician learns that the famous and financially successful baths in his hometown are contaminated, he insists they be shut down for expensive repairs. For his honesty, he is persecuted, ridiculed, and declared an enemy of the people by the townspeople, included some who have been his closest allies.
First staged in 1883, An Enemy of the People remains one of the most frequently performed plays by a writer considered by many the father of modern drama. This easily affordable edition makes available to students, teachers, and general readers a major work by one of the world's great playwrights.

A Doll's House is the story of Nora Helmer who has secretly borrowed a large sum of money to help her husband recover from a serious illness. Nora who has borrowed this money by forging her father's signature soon discovers the value of the relationship she has with her husband, Torvald, when he becomes the director of the bank that employs the man, Nils Krogstad, who has lent the money to Nora. When it is discovered that Nils has commited a forgery himself, Nils threatens to reveal Nora's secret to her husband if she does not convince Torvald to allow Nils to keep his position at the bank. A Doll's House is a gripping drama about a failing, loveless marriage.

Performed for the first time in 1891, Hedda Gabler is one of Henrik Ibsen's greatest dramas. It is the story of its title character, Hedda, a self-centered and manipulative woman who has grown bored of her new marriage to the kind and reliable George. Hedda was born to a life of luxury and privilege and marries a man she does not love to avoid becoming a spinster. After returning from her honeymoon, Hedda discovers that her marriage will not be the life of wealth and excitement she was accustomed to and that George will never be the ambitious and successful man she wishes him to be. To escape her boredom, she begins to meddle in the lives of George's academic rival, Eilert, who is Hedda's former paramour, and Eilert's unsuspecting wife, Thea. Hedda fears that Eilert and his professional success may stand in the way of George's future in academia and Hedda takes it upon herself to sabotage her husband's rival, leading to truly tragic consequences for everyone involved. Marked by one of the most dramatic female roles in all of theater, Hedda Gabler stands as an enduring masterpiece by Norway's most famous playwright, Henrik Ibsen. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper, follows the translation of Edmund Gosse and William Archer, with an introduction by William Archer.

Too frightened of scandal to become involved with a brilliant writer, Hedda Gabler opts instead for a conventional but loveless marriage. But, when her first love returns with a masterpiece that might threaten her husband's career, Hedda decides to take drastic and fatal action.

Universally condemned in 1890 when it was written, Hedda Gabler has subsequently become one of Ibsen's most performed and studied plays. Blending comedy and tragedy, Ibsen probes the thwarted aspirations and hidden anxieties of his characters against a backdrop of contemporary social Habits and hypocrisies.

This Methuen Drama Student Edition is published with Michael Meyer's classic translation, and with commentary and notes by Dr. Sophie Duncan. These offer a contemporary lens on the play's gender politics, and consider some key twentieth and twenty-first century productions of Hedda Gabler, which include actresses like Maggie Smith, Harriet Walker, and Ruth Wilson taking on the iconic titular role.

The majority is never right...Who are the people that make up the biggest proportion of the population -- the intelligent ones or the fools? - Henrik Ibsen

Widely regarded as one of the foremost dramatists of the nineteenth century, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906), created realistic plays bringing the social problems of his day to center stage. His dramas portrayed psychological conflict that emphasized character over devious plots, and over critical objection, he deemed the individual more important than the group.

In this powerful work, Ibsen does just that, as his main character, Dr. Thomas Stockman, is an enlightened and persecuted minority of one confronting an ignorant, powerful majority.

When Dr. Stockman learns that the financially successful baths in his hometown are contaminated, he insists that this popular complex be shut down for expensive repairs. At first, he is thanked, but the next morning, even his brother, who is the town's mayor, and his closest friends, tell him to retract his statement because the baths are crucial to the town's economy. When he refuses, Stockman's home is vandalized, he and his daughter are fired, and he is ridiculed, persecuted, and declared an enemy of the people by the townspeople. The doctor stands up to it all, believing that the strongest man is the man who stands alone.

In response to the public outcry against him and his play, Ghosts, which openly discussed adultery and syphilis, Ibsen faced accusations of being scandalous, degenerate, and immoral.

Four Major Plays: Volume I
A Doll House - The Wild Duck - Hedda Gabler - The Master Builder

Among the greatest and best known of Ibsen's works, these four plays brilliantly exemplify his landmark contributions to the theater: his realistic dialogue, probing of social problems, and depiction of characters' inner lives as well as their actions. Rich in symbolism and often autobiographical, each of these dramas deals convincingly and provocatively with such universal themes as greed, fear, and sexual hostility, and confronts the eternal conflict between reality and illusion. These Rolf Fjelde translations have been widely acclaimed as the definitive versions of the major works of the father of modern theater.

Translated and with a Foreword by Rolf Fjelde
And an Afterword by Joan Templeton

The Glass Door is an adaptation of Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen. In this version (in three acts), the play has been shortened, the set simplified and updated, and the dialogue revised to some extent. The intent is to make it easier for modern small and community theaters to produce, and for modern audiences to enjoy, this fascinating play.

Content warning: This play deals with themes and acts of suicide.

Amy Herzog's streamlined adaptation of the Ibsen classic is a vibrant and compelling theatrical experience. A small-town doctor considers himself a proud, upstanding member of his close-knit community. When he discovers a catastrophe that risks the lives of everyone in town, he raises the alarm. But he is shaken to his core when those in power, including his own brother, try not only to silence him, but to destroy him.

Henrik Ibsen is one of the most prolific playwrights of all time, with over twenty-five plays written during his lifetime as well as around 300 poems. He is known as the father of modern drama as he changed the direction of theatrical writing by revealing the truth about human error and casting light on the realities of society. Though his plays were criticized for being scandalous during a time when European theater was expected to follow a strict pattern depicting the morals of society, Ibsen is often lauded as the best playwright since William Shakespeare. Ibsen's plays are the most performed throughout the world, aside from Shakespeare himself. Ibsen reworked the rules of drama, introducing a complex realism into his plays that was not seen before. Ibsen's plays challenge assumptions about reality and depicts real issues of his time, creating a more artistic value to drama, rather than simply being entertaining.

Written in 1884 and first performed in 1885, The Wild Duck, by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, is the first modern tragicomedy to be embraced by critics and audiences alike. The play, titled Vilanden in its original Norwegian, is widely considered one of Ibsen's most well-written plays. The story centers around the secrets and dramas of the Ekdal family, who live a dysfunctional life in purposeful denial of the many skeletons that lurk in their respective closets. Their delusional, but comforting, existence is interrupted by the reappearance of family friend Gregers Werle, an idealistic young man who values honesty and absolute truth above all other concerns. Gregers zeal prompts him to force the Ekdals to expose their secrets, which are made up of scandalous stories of illegitimacy, prison, and madness. As a result their entire lives begin to unravel in classic Ibsen fashion. Provocative, moving, and thoughtful, Ibsen's masterpiece asks the audience to consider the cost of protecting ourselves with lies and fantasies and whether or not it is worth the damage it may do to reveal such shameful and embarrassing secrets. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper and follows the translation of Frances E. Archer.

This translation is based upon the Norwegian text in the Centenary Edition of Ibsen's collected works. It provides a close account of the quality of Ibsen's play by reproducing as nearly as possible not only the meaning in the literal sense but the verse forms that constitute so much of the substance and dramatic structure of the original. It makes an important contribution to those studying Peer Gynt in English, as until now little of the dramatic quality of the play has found its way into English translations.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.