A Doll's House: Genre craft
15 lenses on genre craft for A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 G8 G9 G10 G11 G12 G13 G14 G15
G1. Genre and subgenre, and how well the book fits. AI
A realistic drama or problem play. It fits the genre well, using domestic setting and dialogue to explore moral and social questions about marriage, identity and women's autonomy.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1, Scene 2, Scene 3
G2. The genre's must have scenes: present or missing? AI
The play includes the must have scene of moral confrontation and reckoning in Act III. It lacks a reconciliation or redemption scene, which is unconventional for the era.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 3
G3. The genre's conventions: which are used? AI
Uses conventions of realistic drama: domestic setting, linear time, dialogue driven plot, social critique. Avoids melodrama despite the secret and threat. Focuses on psychological truth over spectacle.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1, Scene 2, Scene 3
G4. Mystery: clue list, red herrings, fair play test. AI
5 clues. See the full lens on the book page.
G5. Thriller: clocks, chases and set pieces. AI
Not a feature of this book. The play has no chases or set pieces. Tension comes from the ticking clock of the letter's discovery and Nora's internal countdown, not external action.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 2
Five o’clock. Seven hours until midnight; and then four-and-twenty hours until the next midnight. Then the Tarantella will be over. Twenty-four and seven? Thirty-one hours to live. (Ch 2, para 432)
G6. Romance: the meeting, the barriers, the grand gesture. AI
Not a feature of this book. The play is not a romance. It deconstructs marriage as a false romantic ideal, showing Nora and Helmer's union as built on deception and inequality.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1, Scene 3
G7. Horror and gothic: how dread builds, when the monster is seen. AI
Not a feature of this book. The play is not horror or gothic. Dread builds through social and moral threat, not supernatural or physical danger.
G8. Science fiction: the new idea and its rules. AI
Not a feature of this book. The play contains no science fiction elements or speculative ideas.
G9. Fantasy: moments of wonder, and the cost of magic. AI
Not a feature of this book. The play is not fantasy and contains no magical elements or wonder.
G10. Adventure: stages of the journey and physical trials. AI
Not a feature of this book. The play is not an adventure. It has no journey or physical trials.
G11. Literary: inner life and the moment of insight. AI
Strong feature. The play is literary, focused on Nora's inner awakening and her moment of insight in Act III when she recognises her marriage is false and she must leave to find herself.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 3
I believe that before all else I am a reasonable human being, just as you are—or, at all events, that I must try and become one. (Ch 3, para 319)
G12. Children's: age of the lead, level of peril, humour. AI
Not a feature of this book. The play is not children's literature. It deals with adult themes of marriage, morality and identity.
G13. Plays: entrances, exits and stage time per character. Count
Nora has the most stage talk, 46% of all spoken words.
| Character | Speeches | Words | Share | Scenes | First scene |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nora | 566 | 11393 | 46% | 3 | 1 |
| Helmer | 271 | 6257 | 25% | 3 | 1 |
| Krogstad | 127 | 2550 | 10% | 3 | 1 |
| Mrs Linde | 193 | 2526 | 10% | 3 | 1 |
| Rank | 100 | 1560 | 6% | 3 | 1 |
| Nurse | 15 | 208 | 1% | 2 | 1 |
| Maid | 14 | 106 | 0% | 3 | 1 |
| Doctor Rank | 1 | 53 | 0% | 1 | 1 |
| Servant | 1 | 22 | 0% | 1 | 1 |
| The Children | 1 | 16 | 0% | 1 | 1 |
| Children | 2 | 14 | 0% | 1 | 1 |
| Porter | 1 | 1 | 0% | 1 | 1 |
G14. Where the book bends or breaks its genre's rules. AI
The play breaks the convention of its era by refusing reconciliation or redemption. Nora leaves her husband and children, rejecting the expected happy ending. This was shocking and controversial.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 3
That our life together would be a real wedlock. Goodbye. (Ch 3, para 383)
G15. Tropes present, with where they appear. AI
Uses the secret revealed trope (Act III). Uses the false marriage trope (throughout). Uses the woman trapped by duty trope (Acts I and II). Subverts the redemptive love trope by having Helmer fail to forgive.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1, Scene 2, Scene 3
Ask A Doll's House a question about its craft (free beta)
Answers cite chapter and paragraph, and every quote is checked against the text. (3 free questions a day).
Weekly email: coming soon
One short email a week on new AI tools for authors. Sign up opens soon.