Ibsen context

He based ADH on the experience of his friend.

She was hospitalized after having a nervous breakdown.

This was because of her divorce after her husband found out she had committed forgery to take out money in his name.

She did so as he was dying and she needed the money to save his life. 

Unmarried women = dependant on their fathers. Married women = dependant on their husbands.

Women were not expected to have an education past high school.

Women were in the domestic sphere.

Women were not expected to work unless facing an extreme financial crisis.

Angel of the House.

The new woman. 

Ibsen wanted to highlight the disadvantaged position of women in a male-dominated

society.

He stated: “A woman cannot be herself in contemporary society; it is an exclusively male

a society with laws drafted by men, and with counsel and judges who judge feminine conduct

from the male point of view."