A Doll's House - Nora

Nora is the central character of A Doll's House and is arguably not only Ibsen's best known female character but his best known character period. At the beginning of the play she appears giddy, thoughtless, naïve and a little greedy. She loves intensely and has utter, unquestioning faith that she is loved just as intensely in return, even though she seems content to let herself be called somewhat demeaning names by her domineering husband. The play dramatizes her sudden, intense transformation into a woman wounded by betrayal and her own vulnerability but still able to claim her own independence of mind, body and spirit, determined to transfer her devotion from her tyrannical, patronizing husband to herself.

Over the decades since the play was first written and performed, Nora has been viewed in many contrasting ways. Conservative audiences, then and now, see her as...