Abstract
modern Chinese drama, Ibsen’s social plays, such as A Doll’s House and An Enemy of the People, have functioned as models for plays on the themes of women’s independence and the quest for the iconoclastic self. In the May Fourth era, when individualism was championed as a remedy for Confucian collectivism, A Doll’s House was regarded as promoting individualist self-identity.... However, in the 1930s, when proletarian collectivism was needed to promote a working-class consciousness, A Doll’s House was cited in many novels that called for women to leave home and join the working class as a way to seek personal independence and freedom. Productions of the play were also meant to advocate for women’s emancipation.... By privileging one scene over the others, such as the ending in which Nora confronts Helmer, a director may choose to emphasize the change of power relations between Helmer and Nora, or Nora’s maturity from “childhood” to womanhood.
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