A Doll's House, Men of Honour, When We Dead Awaken
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Very few readers and audiences know that Ibsen's iconic feminist drama A Doll's House was built upon the real-life story of a woman called Laura Kieler, who was his friend and fellow writer. Her life fell apart when A Doll's House came out and the world saw her deeply private life splashed across its stages. With tremendous determination and perseverance, she managed to recover from the trauma that Ibsen's play caused her, and channelled her pain into a successful play of her own called (pointedly) Men of Honour. The play, performed in Copenhagen in 1890, caused great debate and fierce controversy. Ibsen eventually responded to her play by likewise writing a drama: When We Dead Awaken, his final work.
This new edition traces the conversation between Ibsen and Kieler through these plays, across almost two decades and brings Kieler centre stage, and deepens our understanding of Ibsen's A Doll's House and When We Dead Awaken. These three plays create a fascinating whole: a fusion of vantage points, contexts, and visions still reverberating on and off stage today. Furthermore, the two Ibsen plays speak to each other in startling and fresh ways. This volume also explores 21st century concerns about consent and the many ways in which women in particular are still not heard.
ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
Henrik Ibsen
Born in 1828, Henrik Ibsen was a Norwegian playwright and poet, often associated with the early Modernist movement in theatre. Determined to become a playwright from a young age, Ibsen began writing while working as an apprentice pharmacist to help support his family. Though his early plays were largely unsuccessful, Ibsen was able to take employment at a theatre where he worked as a writer, director, and producer. Ibsen’s first success came with Brand and Peter Gynt, and with later plays like A Doll’s House, Ghosts, and The Master Builder he became one of the most performed playwrights in the world, second only to William Shakespeare. Ibsen died in his home in Norway in 1906 at the age of 78.
More by Henrik Ibsen
Kirsten E Shepherd
Kirsten E. Shepherd is professor of English and theatre studies at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St Catherine's College, Oxford. She founded LitHits in 2018.
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