A doll's house (English: Et dukkehjem)

A three-act play written by Norwegian playwright Ibsen in 1879 while he was staying in Germany. It premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen that same year, making the author famous worldwide. Nora, the wife of lawyer Helmer, is the mother of three children and dotes on her husband. Her husband is to become the president of a bank from the new year, and the play unfolds against the backdrop of this joyous Christmas. When her husband, shortly after their marriage, falls ill and needs to recuperate at a new location, Nora secretly borrows money from a loan shark, using a false signature of her late father. That vicious man, Glogsta, now works at the same bank. Helmer tries to fire him when he becomes president, but the man threatens Nora, threatening to bring about the downfall of the couple on the basis of the false signature. When her husband finally finds out, he curses her for being betrayed by his beloved wife. However, when Grogusta reunites with his old lover, she sends back the debt receipt, and the crisis is resolved, and her husband is ready to welcome her again. However, Nora realizes that she has only been treated as a doll wife, and she refuses her husband's pleas to "live as a human being before being a wife and mother", and leaves home, leaving her children behind. At the same time as the play was performed, a fierce debate broke out between women's liberation advocates and the church and conservative factions, and some countries banned the play, but Nora became synonymous with the "new woman." The play premiered in Japan in 1911 (Meiji 44) at the Bungei Kyokai, and Nora, played by Matsui Sumako, caused a great sensation.

[Yamamuro Shizuka]

"A Doll's House" (translated by Michio Takeyama, Iwanami Bunko / translated by Genkuro Yazaki, Shincho Bunko / translated by Hogetsu Shimamura, Kadokawa Bunko)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ノルウェーの劇作家イプセンの三幕戯曲。1879年ドイツ滞在中の作。同年コペンハーゲン王立劇場で初演され、作者の名を世界的にした。弁護士ヘルマーの妻ノラは、3人の子供の母であり、夫からは溺愛(できあい)されている。夫は新年から銀行の頭取に迎えられることになり、その喜びにあふれたクリスマスを背景に劇は展開する。ノラは新婚早々の夫が病気になって転地療養を必要としたとき、夫には内緒で亡父の名を偽署して高利貸から借金をしていた。その悪質男グログスタはいまはその銀行に勤めている。ヘルマーは頭取就任を機に彼を解職しようとするが、相手は例の偽署をたてに逆に夫妻を失脚させるとノラを脅迫する。ついに夫の知るところとなって、彼は最愛の妻に裏切られたとののしる。しかし、グログスタが昔の愛人と結ばれたことで心機一転、借金証を送り返してきて危機は解決され、夫はふたたび妻の意を迎えようとする。しかし、ノラは、自分がこれまでただ人形妻としてかわいがられていたにすぎぬことを知り、「妻であり母である前に一個の人間として生きる」ことを求めて、哀願する夫を振り切り、子供も残して家を去る。上演と同時に、女性解放論者と教会や守旧派との間に激しい賛否の論争がおこり、上演を禁止する国もあったが、ノラは「新しい女」の代名詞となった。日本では1911年（明治44）文芸協会で初演され、松井須磨子(すまこ)扮(ふん)するノラが大きな反響をよんだ。

［山室　静］

『『人形の家』（竹山道雄訳・岩波文庫／矢崎源九郎訳・新潮文庫／島村抱月訳・角川文庫）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例