Reviewing a live performance - Henrik Ibsen's : A Doll's House.

AS-LEVEL: PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS UNIT 3: REVIEWING A LIVE PERFORMANCE HENRIK IBSEN'S : A DOLL'S HOUSE Southwark Playhouse - 11th November 2003 Voice * Nora Helmer's (Kananu Kirimi) delivery was very clear in the sense that she did not rush her words or speak quietly. * Her accent was not sustained throughout the entire performance as she was attempting to speak with a very well-to-do accent, but dropped it many times for a strong Northern English accent. * Her voice was mannered in some aspects when she did not drop the accent. * It was also quite flexible in the sense that she sounded excitable and high-pitched one minute, but she was able to sound serious and sombre the next. * The tone used was quite appropriate as she managed to give off an excitable and keyed up tone of voice at the beginning which made her disposition look fake which is true to the character. * Her voice was used to show a giddy temperament at the beginning of the play and at the end of it - to show a sombre and more mature disposition. * In the beginning of the performance Nora's tone was excited and high-pitched to convey her child-like persona. Towards the end of the performance the tone was more serious and intense to show obvious maturity. Movement * The body language and gestures used by Kirimi, was not so effective due to the fact she did not convey the jollity that Nora's character

  • Word count: 5058
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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"Do you want your characters to live? See to it that they are free." Discuss

"Do you want your characters to live? See to it that they are free." Discuss - Simon Evans Henrik Johan Ibsen was an extremely influential Norwegian playwright writing around the turn of the twentieth century, and is considered by many to be largely responsible for the rise of the modern realistic drama. His plays were considered scandalous in much of society at the time, when Victorian values of family life and propriety were still very much the norm, and any challenge to them was viewed as immoral and even outrageous. It is hardly surprising, therefore, than many of his plays act as an attack on the society he inhabited, and his characters often choose to free themselves from its restrictions, sometimes passively, some times violently but always dramatically. Ibsen's personal struggle to realise himself in spirit and in truth coincided most productively with his efforts to effect a 'revolution of the human mind' and subsequent sociological changes.i Ibsen's society appears both affluent and agreeable yet only for those who understand how to operate it successfully. The Helmers, for example, in A Doll's House, live well. Their house is "tasteful"ii, with Porters and Maids to help set up a "Christmas Tree". When we first meet Nora she is reprimanded by her husband Torvald for "squandering money", and yet Torvald's subsequent and consisted use of pet names, "pet",

  • Word count: 4381
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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A Dolls House Use Of Language

A doll's House has alot of qualities about it which most plays often don't have. The sub-text within the play is really intense because characters say one thing yet mean another. This mainly happens with Nora's character as she has alot going on that she doesn't want her husband to know about. Mainly where alot of sub-text is used is at the beginning of act two with Anne-Marie and Nora where they start talking about the fancy dress party and about Nora's dress "I wish I'd torn it to pieces." What Nora could mean here is not that she'd torn the dress to pieces but that she wishes she could tear her life to pieces to start a whole new one without mistakes. The whole conversation between Anne-Marie and Nora consists of sub-text like when Anne-Marie starts talking about her own daughter. "No, No. She wrote to me, when she was confirmed, and when she got married." The audience can see from that sentence alone that Anne-Marie feels lonely because her only child has getting in contact with her twice to tell Anne-Marie of her confirmation and marriage yet, she hasn't let her know if Anne-Marie is a grandma or nanna. Anne-Marie could be thinking I gave her up I can't expect anymore from her but it would be nice to hear from her now and again just so I know how she is doing. Yet Anne-Marie's thoughts are portrayed through other written words. Like when Nora asks "Are the children

  • Word count: 3373
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Henrik Ibsen - A Doll's House - Plot.

Linda Lapina English A1 Analysis Henrik Ibsen A Doll's House Plot Act l It is Christmas evening, and Nora Helmer has just arrived from Christmas shopping. She has a conversation with her husband Torvald that shows that he likes to act as being superior (while Nora obeys) and that for long they have had to struggle to save money, but now Torvald is promoted and they are going to be affluent. Separately arrive Dr. Rank, a good friend of Helmers', and Christine Linde, an old schoolmate of Nora's, who has not met her for many years. While Dr. Rank spends time with Torvald, both women talk about their present prospects and begin to share their experiences about the long time that they haven't met. Christine tells about the hardship that she has experienced- unloved husband's death, her being obliged to take care of her sick mother and younger brothers afterwards. Nora promises to talk to Torvald to procure Christine a place of employment in the bank. Christine feels pre-eminent and proud of her past struggles, and that provokes Nora to reveal that she has something to be proud of as well. Step by step, Nora tells how, when she and Torvald were indigent, Torvald heavily overworked and Nora had to borrow money to pay for a trip to Italy to save her husband's life, without him knowing. Since then, she has been struggling to repay the debt, which is soon going to be

  • Word count: 3164
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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A Doll's House Externalizing Inner Problems

A DOLL'S HOUSE Venesia Teh 6. Discuss instances where Ibsen is able to "externalize" inner problems by using effective symbols. When writing A Doll's House, Ibsen had planned it to be a realistic play. To do this, he must portray the fluent speech of everyday life, and unnecessary monologues must be prevented. Hence, Ibsen cleverly employs certain symbols in his play to externalize the characters' inner thoughts. Throughout the whole play, the characters' actions and words often carry an implicit meaning, and subtly reflect what they are thinking. This technique is already evident at the start of the play, even with minor or seemingly insignificant situations. Small actions can tell the audience more about each character. For example, when Torvald was lecturing Nora about wasting and borrowing money, she goes over to the stove, stating, "Very well, Torvald, if you say so". This obviously shows that Nora is sulking, reflecting her childish character. This action is again used when Krogstad comes to see her husband, though for a different reason. Nora [tensely and in a low voice, taking a step towards him]: You? What is it? Why do you want to see my husband? Krogstad: Bank business - in a way. I have a small post at the Savings Bank, and I hear your husband is to be our new Manager - Nora: So it's only - Krogstad: Only dull official business, Mrs. Helmer;

  • Word count: 2830
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Plot Summary - A Dolls House

Act 1 It is the Christmas Season: Nora is unwrapping parcels and eating forbidden sweets - macaroons. Her husband, Torvald, enters from his study prompting Nora to hide her sweets. In a patronising tone, he reminds his wife that their wealth is finite upon seeing all the parcels she has bought. His wife responds by saying they can simply borrow money if such is the case but Torvald opposes the idea of debt. Nora, like a child, submits to Torvald. It appears that Torvald and Nora's relationship is more akin to that of a father and daughter. Visitors arrive. Dr Rank, a friend of Torvald, goes to the study whilst Mrs Linde stays with Nora. Mrs Linde has not seen Nora for nine years. She tells Nora of the ordeal she went through when her partner died penniless. Nora informs her friend that she too has had a difficult time with her partner's health which required her borrow money, something that Torvald detests. Nora tells how she borrowed £250 so that she could travel to Italy with her husband in order to cure an illness he was suffering from. Nora says that she borrowed the money from her father. Whilst talking about Torvald, Mrs Linde asks if there is a possibility of employment at the bank. Nora agrees and Mrs. Linde becomes grateful: "especially since you [NORA] know so little of the worries and hardships of life". This annoys Nora, as loaning the money has been worrying,

  • Word count: 2188
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Hedda Gabler and Mrs. Alving in Search for Freedom

Hedda Gabler and Mrs. Alving in Search for Freedom Henrik Ibsen's works are dealing with the well kept secrets and dogmas in society. His plays strip away the defending layers of the established ethical and moral virtues of social life and therefore create a great commotion and distress among the general public. Ibsen's radical exposure of highly tabooed themes such as sexually transmitted diseases, euthanasia, incest, dysfunctional marriages, and the "angel of the house" role of women causes the painful response of the spectators facing the brightness of the truth. Prof. Bjorn Hemmer in his "The Dramatist Henrik Ibsen" laconically summarizes the magnitude of Ibsen's impact on modern theatre and social conventions: "However, drama was the focus of his real lyrical spirit. For a period of many hard years, he faced bitter opposition. But he finally triumphed over the conservatism and aesthetic prejudices of the contemporary critics and audiences. More than anyone, he gave theatrical art a new vitality by bringing into European bourgeois drama an ethical gravity, a psychological depth, and a social significance which the theatre had lacked since the days of Shakespeare. In this manner, Ibsen strongly contributed to giving European drama a vitality and artistic quality comparable to the ancient Greek tragedies."1 "Hedda Gabler" and "Ghosts" are the two plays this essay will

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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The Importance of Scenography in Miss Julie and A Doll's House

The Importance of Scenography in Miss Julie and A Doll's House The work of a playwright is customarily evaluated in terms of the interaction between the elements of literature such as setting, character, theme, plot, and style. Scenography, which deals with the physical materiality of a production, is probably the farthest away from the literal and abstract contents of a drama - elements which have traditionally gained the most attention and appreciation from audiences and critics alike. It is an aspect often undermined upon reading a play, despite its importance in enhancing dramatic effect and capacity to generate and convey ideological ideas to the audience. Both Strindberg and Ibsen wrote carefully visualized, highly charged mise-en-scene into their plays that serves a double role - on one hand, it is a functional construction assisting the actor's work, while on the other hand, it is aimed at concretizing the psychological states and spiritual conditions of the characters. The arrangement of space and visual environment around the characters, as well as the use of props in both A Doll's House and Miss Julie can be seen as metaphoric parallels into Nora's, Miss Julie's and Jean's emotional struggles. Miss Julie takes place over a very short time interval in the kitchen of the Count's country house. Although the kitchen is the only room visible on stage, there are

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Plot and Sub-Plot of A Doll's House

Plot A Doll's House is the last few days in the relationship of Nora and Torvald, and it follows Nora's struggle for freedom from a marriage based on forgery and lies, with a man that treats her like a 'doll'. Her husband overprotects her and encourages her to let those around her do the work, rather then be resourceful and fight her own battles. Although the play starts on Christmas Eve, the events start much earlier. Several years before the play is set, Nora's husband is taken ill and needs to go to Italy to recover. It is here that the problems for the Helmers start. Nora cannot afford to pay for the trip so she gets a loan from moneylender Krogstad, forging her dead father's signature to receive it. They then live in peace for a while until the play starts and these old demons of Nora's are brought up. When the play starts, Nora has been shopping and she returns having bought many presents. Torvald enters and we learn that Nora often overspends and borrows money from him to keep her going. As the play progresses we learn that she is not, as we were lead to believe, spending this money on clothes, instead she is using this as a pretence to cover up her repayment of the debt to Krogstad. After Torvald leaves an old friend of Nora's, Mrs Linde, enters. After discussing life in general with her Nora tells Mrs Linde of the loan and her forgery, however she doesn't reveal

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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'A Doll's House,' written by Henrik Ibsen - allows every individual in the play to find out the kind of person he or she is and to strive to attain their true identity

English HL 'A Doll's House,' written by Henrik Ibsen allows every individual in the play to find out the kind of person he or she is and to strive to attain their true identity. Ibsen portrays this behaviour in a Doll's House through one of the main characters, Nora Helmer by setting the scene in Norway during 1872. In the late 1800's women did not play an important role in society. Their job was to cook, clean, sew and take care of the children. Women were treated as material possesions rather than human beings that were capable of thinking and acting for themselves. On the other hand males had always dominated over the women appearing more superior, however this was not viewed as something 'unfair'. Males were to go to school and then further advance in their education by attending college. Ibsen strappingly depicts the limit of women's rights during the 1800's. Deception within 'A Doll's House' is an ongoing theme. It brings out the plot, outlines the characters and allows the reader to explore the status of women and the society. Without deception there would really be no play. This also leaves the audience to make a decision about the play. After reading 'A Doll's House' I can conclude that there are resemblances yet a contrast between the characters Mrs.Linde and Nora. A contrasting difference in the characters are shown in the role that they play in their marriages.

  • Word count: 1895
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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