This book addresses a deceptively simple question: what accounts for the global success of A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen’s most popular play? Using maps, networks, and images to explore the world history of the play’s production, this question is considered from two angles: cultural transmission and adaptation. Analysing the play’s transmission reveals the social, economic, and political forces that have secured its place in the canon of world drama; a comparative study of the play’s 135-year production history across five continents offers new insights into theatrical adaptation. Key areas of research include the global tours of nineteenth-century actress-managers, Norway’s soft diplomacy in promoting gender equality, representations of the female performing body, and the sexual vectors of social change in theatre.

At first glance, Nora Helmer appears to live the perfect life. She is married to the ambitious banker Torvald and is well provided for. But when she is blackmailed by one of her husband's colleagues, she is forced to re-examine her life along with her role as a frivolous, scatter-brained wife. First published in 1879, A Doll's House scandalized contemporary audiences and rewrote the rules of drama. It challenged notions of women's place in society and questioned every aspect of what constituted good conduct in domestic life. Ibsen's masterpiece was the first serious play to focus on ordinary people in everyday situations rather than on the lives of the upper classes. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Arcturus Classics series brings together high-quality paperback editions of classics works, presented with contemporary graphic cover designs. Together they make a wonderful collection which is perfect for any home library.

Ibsen's best-known play displays his genius for realistic prose drama. An expression of women's rights, the play climaxes when the central character, Nora, rejects a smothering marriage and life in "a doll's house."

From the Star-Spangled Banner flag to Dorothy's Ruby Slippers, the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History is home to some fascinating objects. In fact, one of the most fascinating of these, and one of the most popular, is itself a home. On the museum's third floor sits a five-story dollhouse donated to the museum by Faith Bradford, a Washington D.C. librarian, who spent more than a half-century accumulating and constructing the 1,354 miniatures that fill its 23 intricately detailed rooms. When Bradford donated them to the museum in 1951, she wrote a lengthy manuscript describing the lives of its residents: Mr. and Mrs. Peter Doll and their ten children, two visiting grandparents, twenty pets, and household staff. Bradford cataloged the Dolls' tastes, habits, and preferences in neatly typed household inventories, which she then bound, along with photographs and fabric samples, in a scrapbook. She even sent museum curators holiday cards written by the Dolls. In America's Doll House, Smithsonian Institution curator William L. Bird, Jr. weaves this visual material and back-story into the rich tapestry of Faith Bradford's miniature world. Featuring vibrant photography that brings every narrative detail to life, America's Doll House is both an incisive portrait of a sentimental pastime and a celebration of Bradford's remarkable and painstaking accomplishment.

“Smart, funny and utterly engrossing…This unexpectedly rich sequel reminds us that houses tremble and sometimes fall when doors slam, and that there are living people within, who may be wounded or lost…Mr. Hnath has a deft hand for combining incongruous elements to illuminating ends.” —Ben Brantley, New York Times It has been fifteen years since Nora Helmer slammed the door on her stifling domestic life, when a knock comes at that same door. It is Nora, and she has returned with an urgent request. What will her sudden return mean to those she left behind? Lucas Hnath’s funny, probing, and bold play is both a continuation of Ibsen’s complex exploration of traditional gender roles, as well as a sharp contemporary take on the struggles inherent in all human relationships across time.

This revised Student Edition of Ibsen's popular play contains introductory commentary and notes by Sophie Duncan, which offer a contemporary lens on the play's gender politics and consider seminal productions and adaptations of the play into the 21st century. As well as the complete text of the play itself, this new Methuen Drama Student Edition includes a: · Chronology of the play and Ibsen's life and work · Discussion of the social, political, cultural and economic context in which the play was originally conceived and created · Overview of the creation processes followed and performance history of the play, including recent performances such as a 2012 short film adaptation and a stage adaptation set in colonial Calcutta. · Analysis of some of the major themes and specific issues addressed by the play, such as whether it's a feminist play and its author a feminist · Bibliography of suggested primary and secondary materials for further study Ibsen's 1879 play shocked its first audiences with its radical insights into the social roles of husband and wife. His portrayal of the caged 'songbird' in his flawed heroine Nora remains one of the most striking dramatic depictions of the late 19th century woman.

The unique dimensions make this book a miniature dollhouse. The outside hard cover with the brick house opens in the center like many dollhouses to reveal the ornate interior of the book. On the pages inside, the hundreds of stunning pictures show every detail of the most amazing dollhouses from around the world. This striking package will be irresistible to collectors and dollhouse fanatics. Covering the gamut of historical periods and international designs, each two-page spread explores a select architectural style from a medieval castle to a space-age apartment. Examples of miniature businesses and stores from bakeries to butcher shops to corporate offices offer something for every type of doll house enthusiast, young and old. Photographs showcase both the exteriors, interiors and the dolls themselves. The book focuses on the life-like details that delight dollhouse devotees-from running faucets to cut marks on an inch-tall chopping block to leather-bound books with pages of flawlessly miniscule text. Descriptions of every house and all its hidden secrets accompany each spread.