Ibsen uses the expectations and preconditions of earlier playwrights to shock the audience, rather than entertain them. Ibsen inherits the preconditions and viewer expectations of two main theatrical traditions, the tragic and well-made plays. He creates an innovative theatrical experience by manipulating the two formats. This involves the history and future of the dramatic theater. Aristotle’s Poetics outlines the “rules” for this format, which are the 1 – 2-punch of fear and pity: an undeserved destiny paired with a similarly resonant reality. The audience watched on as a character that was uncomfortably known suffered a cruel, unearned fate. It was a cathartic experience for the viewers, as they were able to see their fears come true through the tragic format. They felt a sense of relief after watching the tragedy but without actually taking part in the character’s demise. Ibsen was influenced by the format of this play – Ibsen uses familiar characters, his fate seems unjust, and he struggles with his emotions and mind in a painful and intimate way.
Ibsen is using the tragic tradition, but the car he has created is completely different. It is not a twist of fate anymore, it’s a moral inquiry into the predestinations of society. Nora and Torvald struggle against the classism in European bourgeois societies and with their need to maintain a facade. Ibsen introduces this idea to the fear of the future – characters that once were royalty who faced similar problems are now middle-class people, whom one could call neighbors. Theatre went from being an experience of vicarious enjoyment to one that was reflective – audiences watched themselves on stage in their own homes. Ibsen’s audiences were familiar with themes such as a masculine-dominated world, gender stereotyping and capitalism that dominated both the workplace and the household. Nora, with her doll-like exterior is a slight exaggeration of the average middle-class home. Torvald has a patronizing, patriarchal attitude and an idiotic persona. Ibsen used the tragic tradition to modernize dramatic theater, and shocked audiences with his brutal criticism.
Ibsen adapted the influences from well-made theatre to modernise the theater. The well oiled theater of the well-made play had a format that was intended to release the audience from their daily routine for a couple hours. The plots and settings were often well-known, with crude jokes and fantastical settings. The four main elements of the format for a well-made drama are: the first-act exposition, climax, denouement, object that controls and moves the plot. Ibsen turned these rules into a mockery by applying them in such a way as to make them laughable. The first act, with its stereotyping of gender and dramatic tension is almost absurd. The characters’ superficiality is a criticism, and the unraveling of their perfect world is a journey through the real. The final scene of Nora’s exit is shocking for the audience. Torvald’s hopeless despair at the end shows not only the character’s emptiness but also how societal norms and rules about facade building can be so oppressive to middle-class people. Ibsen uses the IOU, the letter from Krogstad and the climax of Nora’s departure to modernize the classic format. The object in The Glass of Water was usually a humorous and trivial trifle. In A Doll’s House, the objects are the oppressive and destructive influence of capitalism, which is the culture that bases all morality on money.
Ibsen adapts and perverts the traditional format of theater by utilizing the rich tradition of well-written and tragic plays. His innovations in style and character brought a level of realism that was previously unheard-of on the stage. A Doll’s House is a great example of this, with a cast of characters that reveal an entire society.