The slamming of the front door at the end of A Dolls House shatters the romantic masquerade of the Helmers marriage. In their stultifying & infantilized relationship, Nora & Torvald have deceived themselves, both consciously & subconsciously, until Nora acknowledges the need for individual freedom. Ibsens 1879 play shocked its first audiences with its radica The slamming of the front door at the end of A Dolls House shatters the romantic masquerade of the Helmers marriage. In their stultifying & infantilized relationship, Nora & Torvald have deceived themselves, both consciously & subconsciously, until Nora acknowledges the need for individual freedom. Ibsens 1879 play shocked its first audiences with its radical insights into the social roles of husband & wife. His portrayal of the caged songbird, his flawed heroine, Nora, remains one of the most striking dramatic depictions of a late-nineteenth century woman. Meyers translations of Ibsen are a major fact in ones general sense of post-war drama.-George Steiner