Abstract The author states that "A Doll's House" is a strong feminist statement although Ibsen himself always claimed to be resolutely apolitical. The paper describes Nora as a character trapped by the circumstance of her past who refuses to remain trapped. The author of this paper sees the play as an argument that both women and men deserve to be free. The author concludes that the political overtones of the play contributed to its longevity.
From the Paper "His behavior towards her when he discovers what she has done ? and it is important to remember that she has acted only out of concern for his welfare and has shown both courage and initiative in doing so ? is patronizing and unkind. She acts entirely out of love for him, but his response to her actions makes her realize that he has never actually seen her as a real human being on her own but rather as a pretty doll."
Tags: feminist, social, change, infantile, political, doll, norwegian, dramaturgical, rights
Abstract This essay compares the characters of Iago, from "Othello", with Krogstad in "A Doll's House". These two men play significant roles in destroying a marriage; however, the results of their involvement are different. Iago ruins Othello and instigates the murder of Othello's wife. Krogstad inadvertently liberates Nora from her marriage so that she is free to leave her unhappy life. While both Iago and Krogstad are secondary characters, they play primary roles in effecting a dramatic change in the outcome of the plays.
Abstract A paper on the "A Doll's House" by Henrick Ibsen that states that the play focused upon self discovery, depicting the way that various characters are forced to eventually resolve the conflicts that rise within them, conflicts related to their identities and the confusion that arises from identity crisis.
Abstract This paper purports that Nora is right in leaving her husband and children. Nora is a victim of oppression and of patriarchy. Her life has been a doll house that she must leave in order to find herself.
Abstract This paper examines the treatment of women in Henrik Ibsen's drama, "A Doll's House". It also looks at the behavior and actions of the sheltered wife Nora and the causes of Nora's transformation as a character.
From the Paper "Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's House is almost certainly not as shocking to those who read it today as it was when it was first published. In many ways general public attitudes have caught up with Ibsen's own so that his play now appears to express what man..."
Abstract This paper provides an insight into dolls, Theodor Adorno, pop culture and how they all tie together. The objective is to describe how Theodor Adorno's views on pop culture would apply to today's mass production of dolls, doll's images and the market for dolls in general. Through reviews of Adorno's work, it looks at how a correlation can be made that tie the many aspects of the doll making industry to the expectations of society.
Outline
Introduction
Adorno
Mass Production
Dolls How Would Adorno Look at Dolls Made Today?
The Doll -- A Historical Function
Function in Recent Popular Culture
Conclusion
From the Paper "To understand the modern doll industry, we must also understand the art or science of mass production. Adorno may tell us that the capitalist way of life was built on a foundation of mass marketing and mass production even though that can not provide culture. To have mass production, a system needs factories and places to sell the goods produced by those factories. Capitalism, however, is not easily satisfied with a few places, it requires an ever increasing number of plants and malls to satisfy its voracious appetite. Consider how today there is still a need for more places to build and sell the mass produced nothingness, dolls and doll houses are but one example. The current trends systematically erase resources and even history by building new shopping malls on historic battlefields or whatever land is available."
Abstract This paper explores the impact of dolls on the black and white children during the periods between 1940's and 1970's. A number of groundbreaking and pioneering research studies have been cited in the paper to provide a comprehensive analysis of the influence of dolls on the psychology of children. Subsequently, the paper explores the promotion and advertisement activities carried out by leading doll manufacturers in that particular era and also the difference of marketing activities between the south and the north. This paper reveals and clarifies the role played by the corporations throughout the specified period in either promoting or demoting interracial harmony.
Introduction: Three Interracial People
Review of Literature
Dolls from 1940's through 1970's and their Impact on Black and White
Children
Sketching Social and Fashion Meanings from Literature on Dolls Doll Representing Contemporary Fashion
The Marketing and Promotion of Leading Doll Manufacturers
Conclusion
From the Paper "All through American history, children of interracial groups have been unable to maintain a healthy relationship with each other. This is particularly true for both black and white communities. The blacks are jealous of the whites because of their higher social, political and financial status and the whites hate the distinct color of the black skin because to them the black color resembles overloaded jinx. The situation is not getting any better and with globalization at the doorstep, the challenges confronting the American society, in general, and American corporations, in particular, are enormous. The last thing they need is to single out a particular group on the basis of their color and marginalize them. Ursula M. Brown (2001) writes, "Thus interracial children have to negotiate all the developmental challenges that confront uni-racial children. In addition, they have to face a unique set of emotional hurdles. These stem from their mixed racial background, a world that has deprived them of the right to define themselves as who they are, and communities that may resent them for their blackness, interracialness, or whiteness.""
Abstract The author of this paper shows how in Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House" the home of Nora and Torvald Helmer is a microcosm of society at large and specifically, society's prevalent sexual divide. He points out that, like dolls in a dollhouse, every character is incomplete: they are fragile, have faults and are easily breakable. The paper shows how Ibsen, who considered himself a social commentator, enters the realm of realism and that the symbolism in "A Doll's House" enhances the realism.
From the Paper "The independence that Nora demonstrates towards the end of the play so shook up the establishment that the production of "A Doll's House" in Germany was not allowed in its original form. In the German version, Nora does not slam the door in Torvald's face and storm out into an uncertain future with steely determination. She takes one look at her children and her resolve melts away into uncertainty and self pity. She relents and stays home. In Sweden, social invitations came with an admonition that "A Doll's House" should not be discussed. Ibsen was incensed at this threat to the basic integrity of the play; he called such a reaction "barbaric." (Ibsen & Kildal, 1911)"
Abstract The paper discusses Henrik Ibsen's play "A Doll's House" which seems to only have to do with 1960's and 1970's era women's issues when many women were still struggling to be equal, at work or as persons in their own right. The paper notes then many women found it difficult to enter professions like medicine or engineering which were dominated by men. There was also more social pressure on women to marry, have children, take care of a home and 'know their place.' The paper comments that much has changed since then and that Ibsen's "A Doll's House" remains relevant and that it is not only a play about women's rights even if that seems its most obvious focus. The paper notes that "A Doll's House" can be looked at freshly from the perspective of today's much different world - but also one in which pressures and expectations still exist, and one where men and women alike struggle perhaps now more than ever to find their authentic selves.
From the Paper "Nora is a stronger-minded woman than she appears and also one who knows for sure by the end of the play that it is more important to see and feel her authentic self than to keep up appearances by staying married to Torvald. Within life today such a state of mind can be found in many people seeking either a whole fresh start or even among those just wishing to develop a yet undeveloped talent, interest, or part of him or her self. Hollywood movies abound today about men and women alike who are fast-track executives or well-paid lawyers, physicians, or investment bankers but realize their lucrative profession is all wrong for them because they have entered it for the wrong reasons: money; prestige; pressure from parents or a wish to impress society. "
Abstract The paper explores the similarities and differences between Mike Kelley and Yoshitomo Nara's usage of the doll motif, and their true purposes in utilizing this unusual totem of popular culture. The paper explains that while Kelley employs the doll motif as a means of probing the nature of abjection, Nara's seems to be exploring adolescent alienation. The paper points out that Nara tends to favor static materials, such as paint, while Kelley's dolls are made of everything from fabrics to stuffed animals. The paper concludes by asserting that behind the work of both artists lies a certain amount of pain.
Outline:
The Abject: Mike Kelley
Totems of Adolescent Alienation: Yoshitomo Nara
Conclusion
From the Paper "The motif of the doll features prominently in the work of both Mike Kelley and Yoshitomo Nara, two of the more famous contemporary artists whose playful deconstructions of the human figure probes questions of authenticity and artifice while simultaneously bowing to the supremacy of popular culture. While Mike Kelley employs the doll motif as a means of probing the nature of abjection, Yoshitomo Nara's prolific usage of the doll seems to be done for slightly different purposes - namely, as a means for exploring adolescent alienation. While the two artists certainly have a lot of similarities - the most obvious one being their mutual affinity for punk rock and their ties to various factions of the youth culture, as represented by their album cover art - it could also be said that they have profound differences as artists."
Tags: abjection, adolescent, alienation, punk, rock
Abstract This paper discusses whether Ibsen's "A Doll's House" is still relevant today. The writer explains how Henrik Ibsen wrote "A Doll's House" to reflect his views on society and demonstrates through every action of his characters in the story the ill-effects of Nora's world. Ibsen shows the unjust society a woman was faced with during these times, and the writer here believes women are no longer forced to consult with their fathers and husbands.
From the Paper "While audiences in the 19th Century would have sympathized with him and scorned Nora, Ibsen demonstrates the unjust society a woman was faced with during these times. Nora was merely "transplanted" from her father's will and desire to her husband?s, and for this reason she feels she must leave and go find herself. These are actions that most certainly would have made her a social outcast, but Nora is willing to take these steps in exerting her independence and individuality."
Tags: women, feminism, mother, father, husband, wife, sexuality, gender, society
Abstract This paper explains that, as Henrick Ibsen's play, "A Doll's House", progresses, the relationship between Nora and Torvald Helmer changes from that of a well-to-do husband and wife with cheerful children who seem to live the happy marriage life. The author points out that, towards the middle of the play, Nora seems to step away from her fantasy life, observing the fact that she is concerned about what her husband thinks of her. The paper relates that, during the third act, Nora finally opens her eyes to realize that her life with Torvald is over; and, as the play ends, she walks out of her "doll's house" into her new world of dependence, leaving Torvald to raise his three children on his own.
From the Paper "In the beginning of the play, Nora is a doll in her husband's eyes. She is a trophy he has won. He wants to keep his trophy pretty, pampered, and kept on a high pedestal. When he talks to his wife, he treats her like a little girl. He feels as if Nora should no nothing about their financial situation or any important issues in the household. It is a man's job in life to take care of the family. Torvald adores his wife, but treats her like she is not on the same level as him. "Look, Nora, in lots of things, you're still a child. I'm older than you in many ways and I've had a little more experience" (Act 2, pg. 184). He has pet names for her such as skylark, squirrel and featherbrain."
Abstract Henrik Ibsen entitled his play "dukkehjem", i.e., a doll's home. It is the original anonymous English translator who introduced the "doll's house". This paper argues that both titles were deliberately chosen as a direct indication of the different significance that the author and the translator respectively, wished it to give to the play.
From the Paper "Nora is stereotyped to the end, and beyond: she theatrically threatens to suicide, she expects Torvald to "come forward and take everything upon [himself] and say: I am the guilty one" (70) only so that she could make another glorious sacrifice and when he doesn't, she pouts: "I had been living with a stranger and had borne him three children" (70) (not "with him", but "borne him" children). It is also the stereotyped immature-female who just runs away, giving no thought to how she will survive out there but insisting she would "receive nothing from stranger" (71), declaring she'll stay at Christine's (taking for granted she'll accept) then storming out of the house. And storm she did: the final stage direction is "the sound of a door is heard from below" - given that people have been coming and going throughout the play,and not once the door is heard, for Torvald (and the audience) to hear it from below, Nora must have slammed it, highlighting her theatrical exit. "
Abstract This paper presents an analysis of the significance played by money in Ibsen's play, "A Doll's House." It looks at the characterization of Nora as a possession and the issue of male power. The paper also examines Nora's actions and her rejection of her life as a "doll," no matter what hardships, economic for example, that await her.
From the Paper "Money plays an important role in A Doll's House. Many people view money as playing a significant role in A Doll's House because of Nora's secret over forging loan documents. While this action will play a catalyst in Nora's dramatic decision ..."
Abstract This paper compares the main characters in Henrik Ibsen's play "A Doll's House" and James Baldwin's story "Sonny's Blues", noting that the world inhabited by the characters in Ibsen's "The Doll's House" and that of the characters in James Baldwin's "Sonny Blues" are very different and widely separated in time and place.
From the Paper "The world inhabited by the characters in Ibsen's A Doll's House and that of the characters in James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" are very different, widely separated in time and place. In each case, however, the main character, Nora in "A Doll's House" and Sonny in "Sonny's Blues," face a society that is changing and have some trouble dealing with the nature of this change and specifically with the changes they themselves are making. Nora makes a change more from necessity than desire, given her realization of the falseness of the world her husband has built for the family and desirous of asserting herself in a world where the old truths are shown to be hollow."
