Despite being melodramatic and predictable, the final act is powerful. Unfortunately, the great ending can't make up for the rest of the drama, which doesn't merely telegraph its symbolism, but flat-out announces it directly through character dialogue.

I'd love to see this performed, since the ending is so perfect for theater. I also think this would make a good play to teach high schoolers as an introduction to Ibsen. Unfortunately, compared to other Ibsen dramas, this one just feels too staged for my liking. (We even get a literal instance of "Chekhov's gun.")

As usual with Ibsen, the drama's theme is one that becomes so important in the 20th century, especially in psychoanalytic study: when we take away the structuring fantasies of our lives, then what we understand to be "reality" crumbles.