On Ibsen's A Doll's House[This is the text of a lecture given, in part, in Liberal Studies 310 at Malaspina University-College, Nanaimo, BC, Canada. References to Ibsen's text refer to the translation by James McFarlane and Jens Arup (Oxford: OUP, 1981). This text is in the public domain, published July 2000] For comments or questions, please contact Ian Johnston Those of you who have just read A Doll's House for the first time will, I suspect, have little trouble getting an initial idea of ​​what it is and , if past experience is any indication, many of you will quickly reach a consensus that the main focus of this work has something to do with gender relations in modern society and offers us, in the actions of heroine, a vision of the need for newfound freedom for women (or for a woman) in a suffocating society ruled entirely by unsympathetic and insensitive men. I say this because there is no doubt that A Doll's House has long been seen as a milestone in the greatest revolution of our century. important social struggle, the fight against the dehumanizing oppression of women, especially in the middle class family. Nora's final exit from all her traditional social obligations is the most famous dramatic statement in fictional depictions of this struggle, and helped transform Ibsen (with or without his consent) into an applauded or vilified champion of women's rights and this play into a vital statement that feminists have repeatedly invoked to advance their cause. Thus, in reading the responses and interpretations of this play, one often comes across statements such as the following: Patriarchy's socialization of women into servant creatures is the main accusation in Nora's painful tale to Torvald of how before her father, and then he, used it for charitable purposes. their fun. . . how he had no right to think for himself, but only a duty to accept their opinions. Excluded from any meaning, Nora has never been a subject, only an object. (Templeton 142). Furthermore, if we go to see a production of this show (at least among English-speaking theater companies), it is likely that we will see something based more or less along this line of interpretation: the heroic Nora fighting for her freedom against oppressive males and ultimately winning with his courageous final start. Our condolences will almost certainly be given out so that our hearts go out to Nora, however we may have some reservations about her leaving her children.