A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen was born in Skien, Norway on March 20, 1828. At age 15, Ibsen moved to Grimstad where he supported himself as an apothecary's apprentice and practiced writing on the side. In 1879 Ibsen created his masterpiece titled A Doll's House (Krutch 9-112). A Doll's House is a story about middle class people named Nora and Helmer. Nora must question the foundation of everything she believes in when her marriage is put to the test. Nora borrows money from a man named Krogstad by forging her father's signature, in order to pay for a trip to Italy to save Helmer's life. Helmer is unaware of his condition and the loan, he believes that Nora's father gave them the Money. This conflict sets off the rest of A Doll's House. In A Doll's House, Ibsen shows the complex relationships among money, survival and independence (Ibsen 1-150).

The first main aspect of the story is the one of money. The need and addiction of money is shown by many of the characters in A Doll's House. Elizabeth Hardwick states, "almost the first line of the play is, How much?" (Hardwick 293). This comes when Nora asks the delivery boy who had brought the Christmas tree, how much she owes him. Although the fee is only fifty dollars she gives him one hundred dollars and tells him to keep the change. Throughout the story Nora brags to her friends about her husband Helmer's new promotion at the Savings Bank. Nora cannot contain her excitement at the thought of having more spare money and how she will have enough money to do what she wants all the time (Urban 25-87). In A Doll's House, money is in one case also used as blackmail. Money is not the only thing that ...