-Expectations of wives and mothers in the 1870s.

-Laws regarding marriage, divorce, and custody.

-Early feminist movements in Europe/Norway.

-Social class and the middle-class domestic setting.

-Norway’s economy and its impact on family life.

-Political situation (independence movement, modernization).

-His career as a playwright.

-His relationship with Laura Kieler and how her story influenced A Doll’s House.

-How his personal life and beliefs may have influenced A Doll’s House.

-The legal status of women in marriage (e.g., financial dependence, property rights).

-What divorce meant at the time and who had power in family decisions.

-Power Dynamics and roles within marriage: how this would have influenced the play.

-Audience reactions in 1879 (scandal, bans, uproar).

-The “alternate ending” Ibsen was pressured to write in Germany.

-Why critics called it immoral/dangerous.

-Contemporary versus modern reactions

-Contrast with melodrama and Romantic theatre.

-Realism, Modern tragedy, The problem play

-The “well-made play” structure and how Ibsen adapted/subverted it.

-The significance of setting the entire play in one room.