Download A Doll`s House

THINK-PAIR-SHARE
In “A Doll’s House”, Nora is referred to by a
number of nicknames such as, “little lark,”
“squirrel,” “spendthrift,” and “sweet tooth.” Nora
refers to her husband as “darling” and “dear.”
THINK-PAIR-SHARE
Consider the language that will be used in the play to represent gender
stereotypes. On a sheet of paper, work independently to brainstorm
nicknames or pet names currently used when talking about men and
women. Pair up and compare lists. Partners should note any
commonalities, trends or patterns they see. For instance, are the
nicknames used for one gender more condescending than the other? Is
one set more physically oriented? Is one more comparable to children? Or
are both sets equal?
I N D I V I D UA L I S M V E R S U S S O C I A L
RESPONSIBILITY WALKABOUT
S U RV E Y
 What is the definition of freedom?
 Does social responsibility impede the rights of the individual?
 What are society’s expectations for mothers?
 What are society’s expectations for fathers?
 Can a person contradict these expectations and still be a good mother or father?
 Do society’s expectations prevent a parent’s individual growth?
 Are society’s expectations of parents outdated in today’s world?
NORWAY, 1879
GENERAL FACTS
Born to a middle-class family whose economic stability was
threatened during his childhood, Ibsen used A Doll’s House as one
vehicle for questioning the importance—and the tyranny—of wealth.
This play comes from Ibsen’s middle period, when his most radical
ideas were presented.
FACTS CONTINUED
 Published in 1879
 Written originally in Norwegian (Et dukkehjem)
 The play was highly controversial when first published since it is
sharply critical of Victorian marriage norms.
 Written while Ibsen was in Rome and Amalfi, Italy
A REVOLUTI ONARY
PLAYWRI GHT
 With revolution fever permeating much of Europe in 1848, a new
modern perspective was beginning to emerge in the literary and dramatic
world, challenging the Romantic tradition: Realism
 Ibsen has been credited for mastering and popularizing the realist
drama derived from this new perspective.
 His plays were both read and performed throughout Europe (in
numerous translations) like no other dramatist before. A Doll’s House was
published and premiered in Copenhagen.
WHAT IS REALISM?
Literary technique that attempts to create
the appearance of life as it is actually
experienced. Look for:
• Common Language, NOT Highly poetic
language formal declarations, asides, or
soliloquies
• Everyday people and events, NO heroes or
the saving a kingdom.
• Opening of the eyes and the minds of an
audience, NOT melodrama with happy
endings.
WHAT IS REALISM: VIDEO
WOMEN’S RIGHTS AT THE
TIME
In the early 1800s, women were second-class citizens:
•
Women were expected to restrict their sphere of interest to the home and the
family.
•
Women were not encouraged to obtain a real education or pursue a professional
career.
•
After marriage, women did not have the right to own their own property, keep
their own wages, or sign a contract.
•
In addition, all women were denied the right to vote. Only after decades of
intense political activity did women eventually win the right to vote.
WOMEN’S RIGHTS AT THE
TIME
In 1840, women status was considered as incapable, that is to say, that it was
impossible to enter into any agreement, debts, or even control their own money.

They were not entitled to any training, or able to be considered for any
government job.

As for single women, of which there were many during the era, they could
request to be placed into employment under the authority of a guardian.

On their wedding day, married women transitioned from living under the
authority of their fathers to under that of their husbands.

Women were considered minors.
WOMEN IN 19 TH CENTURY
THE NEW WOMAN
 The New Woman pushed against the limits set by male-dominated
society.
 By the end of the 19th century, many of the social limitations of
the Victorian period became insufferable, especially for the people
who received the brunt of social scrutiny: women and minorities.
They began to rebel and demand equal rights.
SOME THI NGS TO LOOK FOR
I N THE PLAY’S STRUCTURE:
 The events are almost never told in the order in which they
occurred.
 The ordering of the telling of the incidents can be as important as
the incidents themselves.
 Events are often told from several perspectives so that some
characters know certain facts before others do.
STRUCTURE CONTINUED
 Ibsen’s surface events are straightforward and chronological.
 He uses his characters to reveal important info about earlier
incidents
 These revelations build tension in the play because some
characters obtain info that others do not have, and that info changes
the dynamics of the play.
T H E I M P O RTA N CE O F
EXPOSITION
 This is background information that is revealed through the course of the
play.
 Exposition affects character development, relationships, or the progress of
the plot.
 In classical drama, a chorus or character gives an initial speech to orient the
audience.
 Ibsen was one of first playwrights to weave exposition into the play itself.
 Effect is a gradual rise of tension in the conflict
CONFLI CT I N A DOLL’S
HOUSE
 ADH combines a dominant external conflict with the internal
conflict of one or more characters.
 We don’t see much of Nora’s internal conflict but her
psychological development in the course of the story is revealed at
the play’s ending.
C H A R AC T E R D E V E L O P M E N T
TERMINOLOGY
 Protagonist—main character
 Antagonist—opposes the main character
 Confidante – someone in whom the central character confides, thus
revealing the main character’s personality, thoughts, and intentions
 Round characters—fully formed characters with an interior life
C H A R AC T E R D E V E L O P M E N T
CONTINUED
 Flat characters--limited personalities and offer the audience little real interest. The role of a flat
character is to participate in incidents that move the action forward or to behave in a predictable way
that moves another character to change (Anna-Maria). Most flat characters are also static characters;
they don’t change or grow over the course of the play.
 Dynamic character—the character grows or changes (often also a round character).
 Stock characters--a stereotype, manifesting universal characteristics. A stock, flat, or static
character is used as a foil for a more highly developed character. In this case, the less developed
character is used as a point of contrast in which a dynamic character’s growth is made more
noticeable by the sameness of the foil.
STRUCTURE OF THE “WELL
MADE PLAY”
1. Tight plot: revolves around a missing element—letters, a lost or stolen
document, or an absent person
2. Subplots related to the missing element adds tension. They often
supply exposition.
3. A climax or scene of revelation is when the missing element is revealed.
Often saves the hero from ruin or embarrassment.
4. A denouement, or closing scene, is where all earlier questions are
explained. This follows very soon after the climax.
IBSEN’S TWIST ON THE “WELL
M A D E P L AY ”
 Ibsen’s play was notable for exchanging the last act’s unraveling for a
discussion.
 Critics agree that, up until the last moments of the play, A Doll’s House
could easily be just another modern drama broadcasting another comfortable
moral lesson.
 However, when Nora tells Torvald that they must sit down and “discuss all
this that has been happening between us”, the play diverges from the
traditional form.
 With this new technical feature, A Doll’s House became an international
sensation and founded a new school of dramatic art—modern drama.
A D D I T I O N A L D R A M AT I C
TERMS
 Soliloquy - an act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by
oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play.
 Monologue - an extended speech by one person.
MAJOR THEMES
 Gender Roles and Relationships between Women and Men
 Marriage
 Appearance vs. reality
 Deception
 The Individual vs. society
 Money/materialism
 Morality
OTHER THINGS TO NOTICE
 Not a lot of figurative language and imagery because this is a
realistic play
 Lots of visual symbolism
 Use of monologues to reveal character’s world views
 Situational Irony
 Foreshadowing
THE FEMINIST MESSAGE
 The play rocked the stages of Europe when the play was premiered.
 Nora’s rejection of marriage and motherhood scandalized contemporary
audiences.
 In fact, the first German productions of the play in the 1880s had an altered
ending at the request of the producers.
 Ibsen referred to this version as a “barbaric outrage” to be used only in
emergencies.
 Ibsen was reacting to the uncertain tempo of the time; Europe was being
reshaped with revolutions.
T H E F E M I N I S T M E S S AG E
CONTINUED
 The revolutionary spirit and the emergence of modernism influenced
Ibsen's choice to focus on an unlikely hero—a housewife—in his attack
on middle-class values.
 Quickly becoming the talk of parlors across Europe, the play
succeeded in its attempt to provoke discussion. In fact, it is the numerous
ways that the play can be read (and read it was—the printed version of A
Doll’s House sold out even before it hit the stage) that make the play so
interesting.
THE MODERN DAY
WOMAN
Respond to this statement:
"We live in a culture in which the way we represent
women is becoming narrower. I think we have a
generation of women growing up who understand
that power is linked to how we look."
NORA, NOW: A DOLL'S
HOUSE FILM FOR THE
MODERN