I Played Mrs Linde in Hot-Seating, it helped me also being in he position. When people ask me questions it does confuse but then you realise you must slip into character and not think, “What would Mrs Linde say”, you have to think you are Mrs Linde and not yourself. It was very confusing but in the end I understood it. Someone asked me about how I felt about Krogstad. I think Mrs Linde is a mysterious person and she would not answer any questions she did not want to. Playing Mrs. Linde showed me that she is a secretive character and very independent. Compared to Nora she is everything Nora is not. Nora is everything Mrs Linde does not want and Nora fears everything Mrs. Linde is. It is strange they are together, I think Mrs Linda is there to urge Nora to become independent and run away.
When Rebecca played Rank you could tell he was an outsider of the home because he did not know what was going at all. Alternatively, maybe the home did not exist at all. The home was generally supposed to be a place for a trusting family. Nora, Helmer and the children. Nora ruined this anyhow so the house does not exist anymore. When Simeon played Helmer it showed me that the house and socialism collapsed when Nora left. I think Ibsen is trying to convey that nothing can hold Women against their will. They can leave if they want to. Rank showed me that when he told Nora he loved her he felt confused. The only reason Rank was confused was because Nora was confused. This is also showing socialism turning around. The man is chasing the woman in this situation. Rank is an outsider of the house and comes and goes as he pleases. I learnt this from Rebecca as well.
When Simeon played Torvald is showed me that when Nora had left he began to make excuses for himself and say that it was not his fault. As he continued he started to break down and say “Well, maybe if I could have talked to her more,” he started to realise what kind of person he really is. Another way Ibsen shows the reader socialism can collapse over something so minor.
We used Still-Image in the exam to help us understand the play. We formed groups and had to construct 5 images that represent what happens from the beginning to the end of the play.
Our first image was of Torvald standing over Nora. This showed me that at the beginning of the play Nora was being overpowered by Torvald.
The second image was of Mrs. Linde coming into the house. Helmer was being blown back from her power. It showed us that Mrs Linde has some knowledge for Nora that Torvald does not like at all. We used three other people as a barrier to show Mrs Linde breaking through the barrier. The barrier is Nora’s mind. Once Mrs Linde breaks the barrier (Enters the house) she influences Nora to be independent.
The third image was of Dr. Rank and Nora flirting, this was just to show that this happens in the play no deeper meaning was supposed to be conveyed in my opinion.
The fourth image was of Torvald in a circle of people with their backs to him. The people were Dr. Rank, Nora, Mrs Linde, and Krogstad. Mrs Linde and Krogstad were together, Nora was alone, and so was Dr. Rank. Torvald ends up in a circle, lonely and with everyone's back turned to him. We were trying to show that in this image.
The fifth image shows Torvald On his knees and Nora standing up over him. This is showing that Nora has now defeated Torvald and has power over him. E.g. by leaving him. It is contrasting to the first image. The roles have now swapped between Nora and Torvald.
We used collages and I will use my own to analyse. We were all asked to draw a collage representing the play in our own way. It is easier to analyse my own collage because I made it and I know what it going on. The task made me think about the play very carefully. I will mention one collage though. One Olly did. It had a picture of a dog being dragged by the walker. This was very much like Nora and Helmers relationship. Although the walker was supposed to have power over the dog the dog is still dragging the walker. It is like the social policy in Ibsens play. The husband is supposed to be the authoritive figure and the wife the follower. At the beginning Torvald is walking Nora but at the end Nora is dragging Torvald and running and disobeying him.
My collage (Attached) was to show a variety of things. Mainly the relationship between Nora and Torvald which relates to social attitudes. I started with a pink and white flower on the left-hand side of the page. These are made up of very similar shapes I used these shapes to show how Nora and Torvald's relationship was quite smooth and nothing irregular was happening; the repetitive colour also showed this. The shapes then get very angular and different colours showing a change in the relationship. The shapes then get sharp and black showing Nora get restless and wanting to run. The circle around all of these shapes is a bubble representing Torvald and Noras home. There is a gate with a yellow brick road coming out of the house. This road is used in The Wizard of Oz for Dorothy. The road represents fun and independancy. Dorothy is very independent when she decides to follow this road alone (Except a dog). I compared A Dolls House to The Wizard of Oz because it helps me. Making Comparisons helps me understand things. This is why the collages helped me so much. People used other things to explain the script. Like Olly did with the dog walking.
The yellow brick road is the road Nora takes. When she leaves the home she is very brave like Dorothy and knows she may come across dangers and success like Dorothy does. At the end she will find her home. Not the one with Torvald in but her true home. Dorothy goes home at the end of The Wizard of Oz. Next to the Yellow brick road on my collage is a train track. Railways are lonely yet independent. This was used to represent Mrs Linde. Mrs Linde is like a train track she guides Nora Out on to yellow brick road. (The track in connected to the house bubbled by a dead tree) The dead tree is there to remind Nora that something is dying. The train track guides the Yellow brick road. Like Mrs Linde guides Nora out of the house. Even though Nora makes the decision herself. There is an eye in my collage with is half open and half closed. The eyelashes are curled up nicely on the shut eyelid and the eyelashes are stretched out on the open eye. This again is representing Helmer and Nora's relationship. The closed eye is the beginning of the relationship when their eyes are closed to what Ibsen's way of life should be like. Ibsen's view and Torvald's view are very different. It is almost like they are arguing in the script. The eyelashes show that everything is neat and tidy in their relationship at this point. The open eye represents the later stage of their relationship; the eye has opened up to reality. Nora has realised she does not love Torvald. She must leave. The eyelashes stretched out represent that the truth is out and Torvald knows about Nora's secrets.
Hot-seating, Still-Image and Collages have shown me many things about the script that I would have not known if I had of just read the script through once. We used these techniques to learn about Ibsen's purpose in this play and how it was supposed to be ingested. Still- image activated my independancy to search through the play myself so did the collage. The Hot-seating was difficult to perform in but watching other actors/actresses perform did bennfit me a lot.
