Facts

A Doll`s House

The earliest notes for A Doll`s House are dated October 19th 1878, just after Ibsen had moved from Munich to Rome. Under the heading "Notes for the contemporary tragedy" he writes:

"There are two kinds of spiritual laws and two kinds of consciences - one for men and one for women. They do not understand each other, but in the practical matters of life women are judged by men`s law, as if they were not women, but men. In the end the wife in the play is at a loss to know what is right and what is wrong; she is totally confused by natural feelings on the one hand and belief in authority on the other."

Ibsen knew of what was called the Laura Kieler affair, and this played some part in his drawing up of the dramatic conflicts in the play. Laura Smith Petersen - her later married name was Kieler - had had a novel published in 1869. The title was Brand`s Daughters: a Picture of Life, and it was a kind of sequel to Ibsen`s Brand. The following year she got to know Ibsen and the two of them became friends. She visited him in Dresden in 1871 and five years later - with her husband Victor Kieler - in Munich.
 
In 1876 Victor Kieler developed tuberculosis and his doctor advised a stay in a more southerly climate. Unknown to her husband, Laura Kieler borrowed money to finance this, but gradually got into such trouble with her creditors that, like Nora, she committed forgery in order to get hold of some money.
The affair ended in tragedy as the forgery was discovered, her husband demanded a divorce, her children were taken away from her, and the strain on her nerves led to her being committed to a mental hospital for a time. Ibsen knew about all this when he was working on A Doll`s House.

The first complete draft of the play was started on May 2nd 1879. This manuscript is dated as follows:  

Ibsen made changes continually, even when working on the fair copy, which was completed in mid-September. The finished manuscript was sent to Frederik Hegel from Amalfi. On October 6th 1879 Ibsen left Amalfi to return to Munich.
  
First edition
A Doll`s House came out on December 4th 1879 at Gyldendalske Boghandels Forlag (F. Hegel & Søn) in Copenhagen. The first edition comprised 8 000 copies, the largest edition so far of Ibsen`s works. The book was a sensational success, and the first edition was sold out in less than a month. A fresh issue of 4 000 copies came out on January 4th 1880 and a third of 2 500 copies on March 8th the same year.

A Doll`s House became the object of intense debate, both publicly and in private, and was Ibsen`s first international success, with which he entered the sphere of world literature.

First performance
The first performance of A Doll`s House took place at Det Kongelige (Royal) Teater in Copenhagen on December 21st 1879. The production was sold out and a great success. The parts of Nora and Torvald were played by Betty Hennings and Emil Poulsen, and the director was H. P. Holst.

In the course of two months the play was staged at all the main theatres in the Scandinavian countries: on January 8th at Dramaten in Stockholm, January 20th at Christiania Theater, January 30th at Den nationale Scene in Bergen and on February 25th at Finland`s national theatre in Helsingfors. On the Continent Germany was first, with productions at a number of theatres during 1880.

Did you know that
The last scene of A Doll`s House was more than certain German directors of theatres could stomach. They demanded an altered, "happy" ending before daring to stage the play. The wellknown German actress Hedwig Niemann-Raabe was interested in the part of Nora, and made the same demand.

An alternative final scene was written, and the author was - Ibsen himself. In an open letter to the Danish newspaper Nationaltidende, dated February 17th 1880, Ibsen explained his alternative version:

"Immediately after the publication of «Nora» I received a communication from my translator and agent for the North-German theatres, Herr Wilhelm Lange in Berlin, saying he had reason to fear the publication of another translation or «adaptation» of the play with an altered ending, and that this would probably be preferred by a considerable number of North-German theatres.
In order to prevent this eventuality I sent my translator and agent the draft of an alteration to be used in case of necessity. In this version Nora does not leave the house. Instead, Helmer forces her into the doorway of the sleeping children`s nursery, the parents exchange a few lines, Nora sinks to the floor and the curtain falls.

I have myself described this alteration to my translator as a «barbaric act of violence» towards the play. Its use is absolutely contrary to my wishes, and I hope that it will not be used by many German theatres.

As long as there is no literary agreement between Germany and the Scandinavian countries we Scandinavian authors have no rights whatsoever down here, as is the case with German authors in our countries. Thus our dramatic works are constantly being violated both by translators, heads of theatres, directors and actors at minor theatres. But if there is a threat of suchlike in my case, I prefer, having learned from previous experience, to commit such violence myself, rather than surrender my works to treatment and «adaptation» by less careful and less skilful hands than my own."

The first German performance of the play, in Kiel on February 6th 1880, was in this alternative version. After the first night the production toured in Germany, but without success. In Berlin there were actually open protest actions against the misrepresentation of the play.

In volume X of The Oxford Ibsen (London 1961), edited by James Walter McFarlane, the alternative ending is rendered in German and English translations (p. 287f.):

English version
(NORA) ... Where we could make a real marriage out of our lives together. Goodbye. [Begins to go.]
HELMER. Go then! [Seizes her arm.] But first you shall see your children for the last time!
NORA. Let me go! I will not see them! I cannot!
HELMER [draws her over to the door, left]. You shall see them. [Opens the door and says softly.] Look, there they are asleep, peaceful and carefree. Tomorrow, when they wake up and call for their mother, they will be - motherless.
NORA [trembling]. Motherless...!
HELMER. As you once were.
NORA. Motherless! [Struggles with herself, lets her travelling bag fall, and says.] Oh, this is a sin against myself, but I cannot leave them. [Half sinks down by the door.]
HELMER [joyfully, but softly]. Nora!
[The curtain falls.]

By Jens-Morten Hanssen / ibsen.net