Dark, claustrophobic plays as a small group of characters are confronted by secrets, people from the past, financial dealings, which overwhelm them.

The Doll's House: A middle class home, a rather silly, flighty wife and mother, a rather patronising yet fond father....and three acquaintances.
Money troubles, deception, a rather melodramatic feel to the whole thing...and Nora realising, at last, that the life she's been leading as the petted, childlike wife is not sufficient for her and she needs to 'find' herself...

Ghosts- A middle class widow, her artist son, who's returned home...and a servant girl and a sanctimonious pastor. The secrets of the past start to unfold...was the widow's marriage so happy as was thought? Why has Oswald quit painting?

Hedda Gabler...probably the most gripping. An entirely amoral wife, her goofy academic husband...and a couple of faces from the past...

Master Builder...my least favourite. I appreciate the arrival of Hilde Wangel was a catalyst to the gloomy builder and his wife, but found her entirely implausible. ( )

I've read all these plays before. Ibsen's world view is very dark and gloomy.
Each of these plays deals with the bad outcomes from following "conventional morality." He deals with lies (even well-intentioned ones), hypocrisy and monetary success at all costs. And the costs are great. Unfortunately, his tragedies suggest nothing at all to make things better.

In A Doll's House, Nora is a good little girl who has never grown up. And it seems unlikely to me that she ever will, regardless of which ending one chooses. (The book gives an alternate ending, demanded by the ticket-buying public, that Ibsen hated. See, he's caught in the same trap - success at all costs.)
In Ghosts, the sins of the fathers come to rest on both of his children. In the hands of a different playwright, the closing lines "The sun. The sun." could have been gloriously hopeful. Not the case here.
Hedda Gabler is another girl who never grew up. In fact, she's still a spoiled brat, ruining the lives of everyone else.
And the Master Builder somehow reminds me of the Tower of Babel, which was a high tower built by those who thought they could reach heaven by material means.


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We studied A Doll's House for theatre studies. At the time I thought Nora was quite lacking and flat as a character, but I have come to appreciate her more. ( )

I started to listen to this play on a Naxos CD. I highly recommend this classic. But for me, it is so *Powerful* that I could not finish it.

This play changed things in the playwright world. I was simply astonished how Ibsen created a world practically seconds and minutes right from the beginning.

The article on Ibsen in Wikipedia says he is ranked almost or alongside Shakespeare. ( )

This edition collects four of the famed Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's well-known plays: A Doll's House (Et Dukkehjem), Ghosts (Gengangere), Hedda Gabler, and The Master Builder (Bygmester Solness).

A Doll's House deals with female lead (Nora) and her decision to leave home alone, as she comes to terms with actions in her past. Though positively shocking on its première, nowadays it seems rather tame in comparison, though its deconstruction of traditional marital roles is still important for women's studies today.

Ghosts deals with the past's effects on the present and how decisions made long ago have severe consequences today. I preferred this play over A Doll's House since the central conflict was more interesting.

Hedda Gabler was another favourite, dealing with one woman's quest to control all those around her. The character of Hedda is particularly interesting since there are many different ways in which she can be interpreted: a wife looking out for her husband, manipulative villain, or prototypical feminist.

The Master Builder deals with power again - this time between men and women, and how that power is used. It is a deconstruction of a middle-aged man and his infatuation with a young woman, with deadly consequence.

Altogether, these four plays present an excellent introduction to Ibsen's dramatic corpus: showing both focus on personal struggle and public dilemma. ( )