Henrik Ibsen and Henrik Lundgren: A Comparative Study of Two Great Authors

KB: Item shipped/arrived quickly, and was very well packaged.

United States on Aug 07, 2023

Janet Os: This play was quick to read and very thought provoking. I enjoyed the story and intrigue. Some interesting old use of common words. It has worn well.

United Kingdom on Oct 22, 2021

Laur: I ordered this for a research paper I was working on-- I had an older edition of the play that was falling apart from use. While this is a perfectly acceptable edition for reading, I was somewhat disappointed to encounter some differences in this translation which altered the meaning of the text in certain scenes. As a result, I ended up citing a few different translations in my paper anyway. Overall, if you're looking to read the play, it's a great edition and the large print is easy to read, but I don't think I would recommend this if you're using it in an academic context.

United States on Dec 13, 2020

Betty Boop: My 18 year old student grandson recommended this book to me after he read it. When he told me that it is actually written as a play I was not really that keen, but he also said that it is quite a short book so I thought that I would have a look at it. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised and very quickly got into the plot. The fact that it is written as a play did not bother me and I quickly got used to the format. I found the plot quite gripping and I have to say that I found the whole book surprisingly good. Definitely worth reading.

United Kingdom on Nov 28, 2020

60sgirl: This is the story of Nora, a woman who loves her husband (Torvald) so much that she takes matters into her own hands, without his knowledge, and tries to keep the secret hidden. Torvald is a man who wants his wife to be his little dolly - to not have a brain, to not have an identity separate from his, to just be a lovely creature upon his arm. Nora finds, once the secret is revealed, just how hateful and punishing Torvald is. Instead of succumbing to his punishment, she leaves. Nora is not a doll, she is brave and strong and knows where the line is.

United States on Aug 17, 2017

Julia Monson: Somehow, I never read this when I was in school. It seems the sort of book that teachers make you read.

All of the characters in the play are flawed. The way Helmer is so quick to condemn Nora, and then a few minutes later tells her he forgives her. Why would he think she would forgive him for saying so many horrible things? And for so much of the play, Nora seems to delight as being seen as a silly, flighty woman. This makes her speech at the end a little confusing. If she resents being treated that way, why act that way?

This was a quick read. I read it all in about one hour. I enjoyed reading it. The play gave me a lot to think about.

United States on Feb 20, 2016

AJ Moor: This is definitely a play from another day. I liked it from its perspective on the journey of a woman from complete dependence on her husband (despite taking independent steps before the book's beginning to help him) to a freedom from his tyranny. Yes, tyranny.

We don't see him that way though. We see him as being quite loving toward his wife, but in this case, we find a woman enslaved to a life she does not want. When she finally discovers this, along with seeing a side of her husband she had always wanted to ignore was there, she is free.

Fascinating? Yes. Relevant? Not in 2014.

Read it if you want the literary snobbery that goes with having read an Ibsen play. It's reasonably entertaining, too. It's not the kind of literature that will leave you up all night thinking though.

United States on Jan 18, 2014

Oliver Brown: I was surprisingly entertained by this book, its light humour hiding some serious undertones about marriage, inequality and feminism that still ring true today. I am currently trying to find an interesting text to use for my English A level coursework and I didn't have high hopes for a 19th century play but found this one very unique. I would enjoy seeing this performed live; if anyone knows of a place where I could see it or watch it online, I would be very grateful.

United Kingdom on Oct 17, 2013

V. G. Harwood: This is the first time I've read any Ibsen and I've got to say I'm not a big play reader - it's not really my sphere of interest. However, I did enjoy reading this, although I enjoyed it more as it progressed. Therefore Act I didn't really find all that interesting, Act II, I enjoyed more and I felt that Act III was just masterly in the way that everything was brought together and Nora comes to her epiphany moment in her realisation of the inequality of her marriage. I loved the point in Act II, where the reader's attention is drawn to the similarities between Nora and the supposedly despicable Krogstad. I also loved the way Mrs Linde and Krogstad renew their relationship, he initially doubting her intentions and her "Nils, a woman who has once sold herself for another's sake doesn't do it a second time." Helmer's selfishness and moral cowardice is just brilliant.

I've recently read a book of critical essays by Margaret Atwood in which she argues that certain types of what are popularly thought of as low- and high-brow literature have definite things in common and I've got to say that parts of this play struck me as being very similar to a Mills and Boon. It's certainly...

United Kingdom on Sep 22, 2013

Tim Royal: I enjoyed this play, it illustrates the Victorian view on women well, and yet at the same time gives them chance to prove that they were not completely useless. There are several different stereotypes in this play which helps to understand Victorian life. Nora's character is particularly interesting - the childish spendthrift with a secret and a decision made without thinking and with bad consequences. On first read, I can already see there will be lots to analyse. I enjoyed this, but if you don't, it's actually short enough that it won't kill you to read to the end.

United Kingdom on Aug 16, 2013