Doll's House (Ibsen)

Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:

• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)

Also, consider these talking points to help start a discussion for A Doll's House:

1. Consider Act I only. How would you describe the nature of Torvald and Nora's relationship? If you knew nothing about the following two acts, would you consider theirs a good marriage? Why or why not?

2. Consider Torvald's pet names for Nora. What do they suggest about his perception of his wife? Having read the entire play, what is the ultimate irony behind those references?

3. Would you describe Torvald as the antagonist of the play? Is he a misogynist? Or is he a victim of his society's mores?

4. How do you first view Nora in Act I? How does your idea of her change throughout the play?

5. Consider A.S. Byatt's judgment of Nora (under Book Reviews, above), in which she sees Nora as displaying "a silliness and insensitivity." Do you agree or disagree with Byatt's observation?

6. What law has Nora broken? Is she justified in doing so? Was there another option open to her? Is Torvald worthy of her sacrifice (see Question 3)? Would you ever risk so much to save someone you love?

7. Consider the many references to sickness and fever in the play. What larger meanings might Ibsen have meant by them?

8. Talk about the symbolic use of the masquerade costumes, especially the dress that Kristina Linde helps Nora repair. What other symbols does Ibsen incorporate to highlight major concerns within the play? Consider the hidden macaroons, Nora's dancing the tarantella (given the folklore surrounding the dance), the light Nora calls for when Dr. Rank tells her he loves her.

9. Why does Kristina Linde convince Krogstad not to retrieve his letter of revelation? Even, or especially, in light of the final consequences, was she right or wrong?

10. Once he reads the letter, Torvald insists that "happiness doesn't matter; all that matters is...the appearance." What does that suggest about Torvald...about societal values?

11. Torvald tells Nora that "before all else [she] is a wife and mother." Nora believes that she is first and foremost a human being. Who is right? Must those two stances be separate?

12. Nora tells Torvald that she could stay in the marriage only if "the greatest miracle of all" could happen—the ability to live together in a "true marriage." What is her idea of a true marriage? Is that "miracle" possible for the couple after what has happened?

13. Is Nora's departure—and final door slam—the only option open to her, the only path by which she can achieve full humanity? Where will Nora go? What do you predict will happen to her?

14. Follow-up to Question 13: Consider that Ibsen, under pressure (and to his later dismay), rewrote the ending. What do you think that ending entailed? How would you rewrite the ending?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks. )

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