Over the course of Henrik Iben's A Doll's House, appearances prove to be misleading, which, in turn lead to the revelation of the reality of the play's characters and situations. The first impressions of Nora, Torvald, and Krogstadt are all eventually undercut. Nora initially seems to be a silly, childish woman, but as the play goes on, we see that she is intelligent, motivated, and, in the end, a strong-willed, independent thinker. Torvald plays the role of the strong benevolent husband, but later reveals himself to be cowardly, petty and selfish when he thinks that Krogstadt might expose him to scandal. And once Krogstadt situation is explained, he evolves from a villainous character to more of a sympathetic one.

Ibsen does a good job of developing each character, whether they are minor or major, and he helps the reader form a specific characterization of him/her. At the...