_Copyright 1906 by William Heinemann_ CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION TO “A DOLL’S HOUSE” vii INTRODUCTION TO “GHOSTS” xvii “A DOLL’S HOUSE” 1 _Translated by_ WILLIAM ARCHER “GHOSTS” 157 _Translated by_ WILLIAM ARCHER A DOLL’S HOUSE. INTRODUCTION. On June 27, 1879, Ibsen wrote from Rome to Marcus Grönvold: “It is now rather hot in Rome, so in about a week we are going to Amalfi, which, being close to the sea, is cooler, and offers opportunity for bathing. I intend to complete there a new dramatic work on which I am now engaged.” From Amalfi, on September 20, he wrote to John Paulsen: “A new dramatic work, which I have just completed, has occupied so much of my time during these last months that I have had absolutely none to spare for answering letters.” This “new dramatic work” was _Et Dukkehjem_, which was published in Copenhagen, December 4, 1879. Dr. George Brandes has given some account of the episode in real life which suggested to Ibsen the plot of this play; but the real Nora, it appears, committed forgery, not to save her husband’s life, but to redecorate her house. The impulse received from this incident must have been trifling. It is much more to the purpose to remember that the character and situation of Nora had been clearly foreshadowed, ten years earlier, in the figure of Selma in _The League of Youth_.