Ibsen was one of the earliest writers to dramatize the individual's alienation from society.
In play after play society is increasingly seen as a force insidiously hostile to self-fulfilment. These three plays, written at ten-yearly intervals, show the development of Ibsen's belief as his main characters succeed, to a lesser or greater extent, in facing up to the truth - their only chance as Ibsen saw it, of gaining their freedom.
The League of Youth (1869) was Ibsen's first venture into realistic social drama and marks a turning-point in his style.
By 1879 Ibsen was convinced that women suffer an inevitable violation of their personalities within the context of marriage. In A Doll's House he portrayed the wife struggling to break free: this was unheard of at the time and Ibsen's play caused a sensation. Continuing the theme of tensions within the family in The Lady from the Sea, Ibsen put forward the view that freedom with responsibility might at least be a step in the right direction.