♪ Background music ♪
Narrator: Europe, 1879, the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House in is embraced by
supporters of feminist ideals and vilified by opponents of women's liberation. The play is quite the
sensation. The renowned Swedish dramatist August Strindberg publicly denounces Ibsen's play,
believing it will lead to the emancipation of women, and thus ruin the institution of marriage.
Strindberg: All I've done is attack A Doll's House a stupid play lacking a fixed code of marriage. And
as far as Henry Ibsen is concerned, I fear neither devil nor troll.
Narrator (whispering): Strindberg becomes obsessed with discrediting Ibsen. In his mind, the
similarities between the characters in Ibsen's play and Strindberg's life were too coincidental. In
1884, Strindberg launches a counterattack, and writes his own version of A Doll's House in the
controversial book Giftas, a collection of short stories dealing with the failures of marriage.
Strindberg: In the end, I have nothing left but my great beautiful hatred for them. As for my Giftas, I
wrote A Doll's House Ibsen never dreamed before.