The plays in this volume, each written a decade apart, demonstrate different sides of Henrik Ibsen's genius, but all deal with themes of alienation from society and the breaking down of convention. "A Doll's House" portrays a woman questioning her duty to her husband and seeking to escape from the stifling confines of her marriage - a theme that shocked contemporary audiences and established Ibsen's name outside Scandinavia. In "The League of Youth", his first prose drama, Ibsen created a vivid comedy about a hypocritical politician, and in "The Lady From the Sea" he depicts a woman who longs for the life she enjoyed by the sea before she was married.