Abstract This paper provides a description of the general themes apparent in Ibsen's play 'A Doll's House' and the characters Ibsen creates. In defining the play as a "realism" play, the unique setting Ibsen chooses is analyzed.
From the Paper "All of the characters in 'A Doll's House' are ordinary, everyday people with whom the 19th Century audience would undoubtedly identify. This notion works in the same way as the naturalistic staging, as it prevented the audience from distancing themselves from 'those type of people'. One of the most acclaimed aspects of Ibsen's work is the profound depth and complexity of his characters. The temptation is to label characters as 'good' or 'bad', 'moral' or 'immoral', but their complexity makes such a definite distinction difficult. This is perhaps one of the things that most disturbed people at the time. Ibsen disregarded simplistic definitions and introduced the idea that all people contain elements of both good and bad."
Abstract This paper looks at Henrik Ibsen's play "The Doll's House" and how the theme of deception runs through it. The author shows how from the start the character of Nora seems too perfect-- perfect wife, perfect woman, but towards the end the truth emerges when Nora's true character is revealed.
From the Paper "Nora is a sheltered housewife who is domineered by he husband, until circumstances force her to show her own independence. Nora was a perfect wife at the beginning of the play, but there were underlying deceptions beneath the perfection.
"From the start of the play, we realize that there was a general sense of falsehood in the Helmer house, brought on mostly by Nora's inability or unwillingness to accept the real world. Nora's desire to conceal the truth from Torvald and herself is further augmented by the patriarchal attitudes of Torvald towards her and her open acceptance and manipulation of such treatment in order to further suppress reality. Nora's departure, as well as being an escape from a house of lies is also an opportunity for personal growth and the means by which she discovers reality."
Abstract This paper presents a brief look at how Henrik Ibsen uses Krogstad as a foil character in order to create more audience sympathy for Nora in his famous play, "The Doll's House".
From the Paper "The ultimate goal of drama is believed to be the audience's suspension of disbelief for the brief time that they are watching the play. That said it does not follow that works of drama do not have other purposes as well. They are meant to make the audience think about the world beyond the stage about society and about the minds of individuals. Such is the case with Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House. Ibsen uses minor characters and subplot ..."
Abstract This paper discusses how in Ibsen's A Doll's House, the presence of irony exists to the greatest extent when Nora decides to leave the home. At the time that the play was written women were considered subservient to men and a woman was expected to marry and spend her life caring for her husband and raising children. The paper further discusses how the fact that Nora ultimately decides that what is best for her family is to pack her bag and walk out of a situation that is socially acceptable was unheard of when the play was produced.
A comparison of dramatic strategies of Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg, focusing on off-stage events and utterances in the plays - looking at Ibsen's "A Doll's House" and "Hedda Gabler" and Strindberg's "Miss Julie."
Abstract This paper shows how Ibsen and Strindberg both wrote plays taking place in one setting over a short period of time, often only a day or two in scope. The writer explains that to propel the plot there had to be action that took place off stage, outside the constructed set. Ibsen embedded offstage action into his texts more so than Strindberg did, but Strindberg succeeded elsewhere. Whereas both were successful in removing important action from the stage, Strindberg's work was brought further into the realm of what will soon be defined as off the off stage than Ibsen's, with the difference being Strindberg's better use of a new form of player: the audience. The plays analyzed are Ibsen's "A Doll's House" and "Hedda Gabler" and Strindberg's "Miss Julie."
From the Paper "Dealing first with the off stage world of Ibsen we can see many examples of the action he writes for the express purpose of invisibility to the audience. In "A Doll's House" the audience is given a very good chance to hear events offstage. The main stage area comprising of one room with four doors leading to other parts of the house. Throughout the play the characters move within this space, but constantly refer to actions taking place outside of it as well. Beginning in the opening scene, the audience is allowed only a glimpse of the outside world in the porter bringing the Christmas tree in for the maid (Ibsen, 3). This is one of the few visuals the audience has of the off stage world; most of our comprehension of the off stage happens as a result of utterances. "Is that my little lark twittering out there?" (Ibsen, 4) Helmer calls from his room early in the first Act. This simple line, with the stage direction, immediately defines the space we see. As he is calling from his room, we immediately identify the space on the stage as belonging to Nora. This is further strengthened throughout the play as we see Nora take charge of this main stage space. When her life is interrupted, so is this space. Krogstad's entrance through a door left ajar upsets her, removing control from her hands to his. Her first instinct is to take control where she can by taking her children to the room on the left and shutting the door after them (Ibsen, 26). Nora's space, her life, is thus defined by the space around her off stage; her boundaries of power remain clear. She has power only as it relates to people invading her space: for one example she is able to bolt the door to Torvald's room on her side of the door, giving a degree of privacy to her affairs (Ibsen, 55). Her space thus defined the actions offstage suddenly take on a greater importance: these are actions that Ibsen has defined as outside of Nora's world."
Abstract For years, literary critics have tried to reach some sort of conclusion on questions concerning the text and Ibsen's personal views: Was Ibsen a feminist? This paper attempts to examine whether "A Doll's House" is a work that supports feminist views and whether Ibsen intended Nora to be a campaigner for the feminist cause. It shows how, a closer inspection of both the play and Ibsen's preliminary notes about its construction reveal that Ibsen did not intend Nora to advocate women's rights. He intended her to be the catalyst for human betterment, a movement which he felt both men and women needed to participate in before any type of true union between the sexes was possible.
From the Paper "The fact that Torvald, like Nora, is not allowed to break from his role either indicates that he is also a slave to the roles which society dictates, and that freedom for both sexes from these roles is tied up in the release of the opposite sex from their role (Baruch 34). Baruch points out that in this play, the home, traditionally believed to be a place where one is allowed to be oneself, is instead a training ground of sorts for both little boys and girls in which they learn their sexually dictated roles (33). Ibsen himself champions the need to liberate both women and men in Norwegian society in a letter written to Bjornstjerne Bjornson, "Norway is both free and independent enough; but a great deal needs to be done before we can say the same of Norwegian men and Norwegian women" (Sprinchorn 179). "
Abstract This paper explains that, although much has been written about viewing Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House from purely a feminist perspective, the truth is that Ibsen's clever crafting of this play and careful development of his heroine Nora has allowed readers and critics over the years to apply many valid interpretations. The author points out that Ibsen's play is about the roles that people are willing or are forced to play: The role that Nora assumes at the end of the play is just another role - one that she has no idea how to play but feels she must. The paper concludes that Ibsen had to make Nora the explorer into a new world so that the audience might begin to understand his motive of revealing how the strict roles of society have stripped people of their human rights.
From the Paper "The other female character has also become a thinking human being through her trials in life. Ironically, Mrs. Linde because of her ability to think chooses to marry Krogstad during the course of the play. She says in regard to Krogstad's letter that she does not want him to ask for it back because "a whole day's gone by and I've witnessed things in this house that I could hardly believe...This wretched secret must be brought into the open so that there's complete understanding between them". Mrs. Linde's objective is not to destroy their marriage put to force Torvald and Nora to be honest..." with themselves and each other. Mrs. Linde has realized the necessity of this kind of honesty through her life of hardship which is why she decides to marry Krogstad. She accepts that he is not perfect and not a model man of the middle-class, but he can give her what she wants to be happy.
Abstract This paper relates that, through an analysis of Henrik Ibsen's plays, "A Doll's House", "Ghosts", and "Hedda Gabler", one can realize the under current of misogyny that Ibsen provides in his own patriarchal Victorian milieu, which devalues the role of women under the various aggressions of men brought forth. The paper explains that, for Ibsen, women provided a servant function within patriarchal society that did not necessarily provide a "feminist" perspective, but revealed that men should be tolerant and respect women. The paper concludes that, as a result, the dark under current of misogynist values provided by Ibsen in his plays informs the reader of the struggle of women in Victorian society, but does not effectively redefine a feminist ideology for women to liberate themselves from patriarchal aggression.
From the Paper "Hedda's behaviors and actions often appear crude and uninformed as to the nature of husband to use her as a servant for his career. Ibsen often has Hedda appear as naive of the fact that her husband is merely trying to us her as a kind of "trophy wife" to accent his real desire to achieve success in his artistic ambitions. In this manner, she wholly a woman that is able to be traditional, but becomes so enamored of her love that she takes independent action to get his attention. The circumstances under which Hedda burns Lovborg's manuscript are, of course, entirely different and infinitely more dramatic"
Abstract This paper explains that Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House" is a powerful story that has several underlying themes, including but not limited to family life and women's rights. The paper further relates that Ibsen's use of symbolism and his setting are unique and helps illustrate the story for the reader. In addition, with the use of these elements, he helped paint a picture of the scenes throughout the entire story for the reader. These are just a few of the literary devices that Ibsen utilized very well, and are the focus of this term paper.
From the Paper "One final intriguing use of symbolism involves Dr. Rank, the very good friend of the married couple. Dr. Rank admits that he is very ill from syphilis (which he has suffered from since birth) and he will soon pass. Upon returning from a masquerade, the three of them discuss of the next masquerade, and of what they will dress-up as. When Torvald raises the question to Dr. Rank, he responds vigorously, "At the next masquerade I shall be invisible." he adds "There's a big black hat- haven't you heard of the invisible hat? It comes down all over you, and then no one can see you.""
Abstract This paper examines Henrik Ibsen's play "A Doll's House" to show how Ibsen illustrates his point that women have the potential to be independent and forceful, but in a society that is controlled by men, they have to make deep sacrifices in order to achieve their rights.
From the Paper "A patriarchy is defined as a social system in which a community or society is governed by men. For centuries, women have been under the domination of men in patriarchal social systems. In these systems, women are dominated by the law and by repression. Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House shows how women are paternalistically dominated in a society that is governed by men. The protagonist, Nora, is treated like a doll child first by her father and then by her husband. She is never allowed to evolve as a person, and as a result, she is considered to be delightful, ignorant, whimsical, and foolish by the other characters. Yet beneath her twittering, girlish exterior is a woman who has the potential to be independent and forceful, but whose efforts are hampered by the male characters in the play. She is a virtual captive in a lovely dollhouse created by her husband, where her husband keeps her for his amusement."
