Ibsen's 1879 play, A Doll's House, portrays a dynamic character, Nils Krogstad, as a man in conflict with society. On the one hand, he wants to make up for his previously shady behavior.
Krogstad Ibsen's 1879 play, "A Doll's House," portrays a dynamic character, Nils Krogstad, as a man in conflict with society. On the one hand, he wants to make up for his previously shady behavior. On the other, he constantly meets pressures to return to his illegal activities. Because this one character, more than any other, creates drama and tension in the play he specifically alters the lives of Nora and those around her. He is the troubled antagonist who changes Nora's cozy marriage forever. Ibsen explores the effects of harsh Victorian society on those perceived to be morally corrupt through the character Krogstad's earlier life, first appearance in the play, and struggle to overcome an ugly past. Krogstad's past is fed to the reader largely through snide comments from the other characters. All the main characters at some point in Acts I or II make a rude or negative comment about Krogstad, demonstrating through these few people how an entire judgmental town must behave around him. For example, Dr. Rank, who hardly knows Krogstad, calls him "morally diseased." What Krogstad minimizes as an "indiscretion," Helmer refers to as a horrible corruption that creates a poisonous atmosphere of lies in the Krogstad home (Act I). Even Christine, who is in love with him, comments that he is "greatly altered" from their last meeting. All of this combines to portray a man who is
Barbie Dolls: Is Their Slim And Fashionable Imagery Good For Children?
Barbie Dolls: Is Their Slim And Fashionable Imagery Good For Children? Barbie dolls have been around for decades and have been some of the most popular dolls around. Young girls, and indeed boys, often enjoy playing make believe with their newest set of dolls. Always wanting the newest and most fashionable doll, the question must be asked, what comes of these dolls, and what affect do these dolls' fashionable and stylish 'lifestyles' have on children? Ruth Handler was the creator of the Barbie doll. She noted that her daughter enjoyed playing with adult paper dolls rather than children. When in Europe, Ruth found a doll called Lilli, which was originally made for adult usage. Ignoring the original purpose, Ruth bought the rights to the doll, changed its name and its hair-do, and thus 'Barbie' was born. This truth is that nobody wants to play with an ugly doll. The Barbie doll has always had its slim and 'beautiful' image as this defines what it was and what it stands for. It can be seen as the epitome of style for young children and making them obese or changing them into educational tools, will in turn ruin its whole point. The dolls are also made as a collectable item, and if their image is destroyed, and made to represent something that is not generally nice to look at, then their purpose as a collectable item is too ruined. Moreover, if children want to play with dolls
Analysis of the opening scenes of "A Doll's House."
Analysis of the opening scenes Of "A Doll's House." The very first scene in A Doll's House, opens with extremely precise and detailed stage directions. These stage directions are very important and relevant as they benefit the characters and the directors. This is so that they know the backgrounds to the event of the scene. The stage directions show us as the readers the type of character he/she is. It reflects back upon the characters personality and lifestyle. The play is based in Helmers apartment and goes straight into description. The very first line of the stage directions gives us the impression that the Helmer's are happy, "...room furnished comfortably..." Here we see that the room is comfortably and tastefully but not expensively furnished. Even though it is not expensively furnished we can see straight away that the room is "happy" even though the inhabitants may be poor and unhappy. The structure of the play is a one room tight fitting. The structure of a one-room use is relevant to the play as it shows the restrictions on Nora as women in those days. The layout as a whole and the use of this structure reinforces the claustrophobic emotional nature of Nora and Helmer's relationship. In this scene there is a lot of reference to doors. Many doors are mentioned in the stage directions of the play. The doors are a metaphor in technical language they represent
The portrayal of women as rebels in society, as seen by the characterisation of Nora in Ibsen's "A Doll's House" and Medea in Euripides' "Medea".
The portrayal of women as rebels in society, as seen by the characterisation of Nora in Ibsen's "A Doll's House" and Medea in Euripides' "Medea". Throughout history, the role of gender equality has been viewed with varying degrees of importance by societies. People are quick to identify and label a 'rebel' as the one who goes against all the moral convictions and different 'normalities' of each society. The definition of rebel is listed as "someone or something that resists any authority or control." In the context of society, the control which is resisted by the rebel can be no other than the stereotypes of that particular society, a feature which can be directly linked to the oppression of women and their desires and aspirations under standardised conditions and circumstances. Can the rebellious attitudes of women be condemned, ignoring the discontent of these women? Also, should their happiness become repressed, giving way to self-sacrifice and the forfeiting of their desires? It is these issues which Medea and Nora are faced with, and in each case we can see that their decision to go against the stereotypes of the eras are perhaps indicative of the predominance of their own desires and dreams over the notion of self-sacrifice. Thus we can see that both Medea and Nora can be characterised as rebels against the societies they live in. To begin with, Nora has fit into her
A Doll's House : Torvald's Use of Language
Torvald's Use of Language Torvald uses his language to show the audience that he treats Nora as a doll and to explain that he is in control. His thoughts and movements are her thoughts and movements, as she is purely a puppet who is dependant upon her puppet-master, Torvald. Torvald's language also shows his physical attraction over Nora, when he is teaching her the tarantella. After he teaches her the dance, he proclaims, "when you were dancing the tarantella, chasing, inviting, my blood was on fire; I couldn't stand it any longer, that's why I brought you down so early". Nora then says, "Leave me now, Torvald. Please! I don't want all this". Torvald then continues to way, "What do you mean? You're only playing your little teasing bird game with me; aren't you Nora? Don't want to? I'm your husband, aren't I?" The conversation between Torvald and Nora shows how there relationship is built on lust and physical attraction rather than love. Furthermore, the formality in which he speaks and his use of language all contributes to his character. His formality of speech when talking to Nora helps to show his feelings of a higher status than Nora. He shows his higher status above Nora on other occasions, for example, when Nora asks him, "What are all those papers"? He merely answers, "Bank business". By not explaining he is showing that her status is not high enough to
Investigation of Power in Ibsen's 'A Doll's House'
Investigation of Power in Ibsen's 'A Doll's House' By Giles Dunseath-Hamilton Nora Helmer is introduced in Act I as a character subjugated to the wills and desires of her husband; she is merely an object which Torvald, possesses. At the conclusion of Act III however, she has become sufficiently independent to arrive at her decision to leave the children, her husband and what life she had behind, as she slams the door on the family home. A significant transition of power has occurred and this is one of the major themes that Ibsen raises in his dramatic text 'A Doll's House.' However, in examining the underlying issue of power presented by the text, one cannot simply look at the plight of Nora's character, three major aspects of this theme need also to be considered. They are the demonstration of power at home, the power and control of society over the actions of Ibsen's characters and finally the causes and effects in the shift of power to Nora. From very early on in the text, in fact from Helmer's first line, we are introduced to an obvious imbalance of power present in the domestic setting. "Is that my little songbird piping away out there?" The manner in which Torvald talks down to his wife and the apparent, unopposed acceptance of this by his wife, is evidence that, at least initially, power firmly rests in the grip of Nora's husband. Nora's language is full of
Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's House - short review
In Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's House, Torvald and his wife, Nora, live a middle class, conservative life with three children. Nora stays at home while Torvald works as a manager at a bank. Previously, when Torvald was sick, Nora forged her father's signature on a bond to receive money for a trip to Italy so Torvald could recover. Only Nils Krogstad, another man at the bank, and Nora's best friend, Linde, know about her terrible secret. Linde and Krogstad have also failed in society like Nora: Krogstad has performed the same act of forgery, and Linde had to work to support her family while most women stayed at home. Nora and Torvald succeed in society but their relationship fails. Ironically, Krogstad and Linde maintain a true relationship although they are both failures. They are able to be honest with each other, converse seriously, and have both been wronged by society. Therefore, they are already exposed to criticism of the world. Krogstad and Linde are able to be honest with each other while Nora and Torvald are not. Although Krogstad committed a serious crime and Linde was forced to work to support her family, both of these burdens have already been removed from them. Therefore, they are able to be open because they have no secrets left to conceal. Linde tells Krogstad she believes they must "have a complete understanding [...] which is impossible with [...] concealment
What do the lingulstic features of Nora and Torvald's dialogue in the opening scene suggest to the audience about their individual personalities and relationship?
The first few pages of a book are very important because they set the scene; we make our first interpretations of the characters and what might happen. From the opening scene of "A Doll's House" we start to learn about Torvald and Nora's individual personalities and relationship. We can interpret this by the linguistic features in their dialogue. Nora is a very generous person. This is shown within the first few lines, "How much?" "A shilling" "Here's a pound. No, keep it." But this also shows she isn't very sensible when it comes to the true value of money. When Torvald questioned her about paying back a loan if he were to die, she replied, "Them? Who cares about them? They're strangers." The sentence structure is broken down by exclamation marks to put across how naïve Nora is. Nora is also very childish; the language used portrays this. Henrik Ibsen uses lexis to do this. "Pooh, we can borrow till then." Her attitude also comes across as very childish, without consideration to what might happen. "Come out here, Torvald, and see what I've bought." The sentence structure and use of punctuation shows how excited Nora is about the gifts she has bought for the children; this is another example of her childishness. From the opening scene we can tell Nora is quite deceitful; but not as much as further in the play. For example, the macaroons being hidden from Torvald, "(Pops
Theatre Coursework on 'A Doll's House'
Theatre Coursework on 'A Doll's House' Plot Introduction The story of 'A Doll's House' is very complex, splitting into numerous sub-plots. However, the story in itself is quite linear and not very hard to follow. The only thing that would make this play confusing is the way that Nora changes her character and the way she acts between the different people. Nora's character is the most complex part of the play because of this. Essentially what happens in this play is that, Nora has taken a loan from a lawyer at the local bank. She forged the signature required for security on the loan. This is the suspense of the play and is the reason for the way Nora behaves throughout the play. Nora tries to keep her husband from finding out because he hates the idea of having loans but also because she has committed a crime that would ruin her husband's reputation. Which in the time this play was written, during the Victorian era, was the one of the worst things that a wife could do to her husband because during that time reputation and status was everything. As the play continues there are various sub-plots that break off that could be a story in itself if it was made longer and explored more. All of the sub-plots however effect what happens in the play. Act 1 . It is Christmas Eve, Nora Helmer enters, laden with parcels and tells the maid to hide the Christmas tree so that the
“Hedda Gabler is deeply preoccupied with the nature of power.” To what extent is this statement reflective of Ibsen’s play?
"Hedda Gabler is deeply preoccupied with the nature of power." To what extent is this statement reflective of Ibsen's play? In Ibsen's play Hedda Gabler, the nature of power is seen in the inter-relationship of the characters, led by Hedda Gabler the main protagonist. It is a complex study of Human Beings and their place in the power sphere within Hedda Gabler; their power over others, how they relate to power and how the nature of power can be destructive or put to higher purposes, depending on how it is used. The nature of power comes in several forms, in various degrees. They are the power one has over others, the power to control, to influence, power over situations, power in using other powers to satisfy one's end. Ibsen also explores the power struggles between characters, the power of good and evil, the power of Alcohol; the power society has over its inhabitants and the power of the Law. For one to understand this nature of power that Ibsen writes about, one must be aware, among other things that 'Power is knowledge and Knowledge is power'. In the play, the power to manipulate or control lies mainly in the hands of those who have additional knowledge and intelligence which gives them dominance over situations and the other characters. For Brack and Hedda, this is especially true. Brack is a judge and therefore would be privy to a lot of information and he uses this