Nora's Independence Day in Ibsen's a Doll's House
Henrik Ibsen's play, "A Doll's House," is all about truth, reality, and independence. These things almost always go together and Ibsen's play demonstrates how this is true. Ibsen emphasizes Nora's situation by placing her in a society that does not fully appreciate women. Therefore, for Nora to grow and become complete, she must attempt to do it on her own. It is difficult to reach out and grab your independence when the society in which you live does not support this kind of behavior but Nora does it and, at the time of its publication, the play was shocking and inspiring.
"A Doll's House" is a realist play in that it is believable to audiences. The setting, the characters, and the plot are realistic and audiences to not feel as though they are traveling to another world when they watch this play. They are instead brought into an environment that is very much like their own. The play takes place in the couple's home and there are no outrageous aspects to the setting. This aspect of drama, while it seems natural today, was not common among plays in the nineteenth century.
Another aspect of the drama that lends it to realism is the fact that Ibsen is addressing a social issue in the play. He makes a very clear statement about women and their needs to be free at a tie when fighting for women's rights had not yet become vogue. The struggle between man and wife is seen through a different light as Nora begins to discover her true self. This play is realistic in that it shows characters in a constant state of change, which when slow down long enough to admit it, is exactly how we live our lives from day-to-day.
The problem with Nora's bubble is that it will eventually burst. For Nora, truth comes in the agonizing form of knowledge about her husband. While we do not doubt she loved him, we also know she can never see him the way she did before she knew the truth. His reaction to her forgery reveals how he actually thinks about her, which is shocking and brutal. Torvald cannot see how she did this for him and calls her a "hypocrite, a liar . . . A criminal" (190). He accuses her of ruining his…
Ibsen's a Doll's House as Modern Tragedy The most powerful and lasting contributions to the literature of a given era are invariably penned by bold thinkers struggling to comprehend the ever changing world in which they live. Spanning the 18th and 19th centuries, the European Modernist movement, which was propelled by the authorial brilliance of authors and playwrights such as like the Norwegian Henrik Ibsen, was shaped and inspired by the
Rank. "But, Nora darling, you're dancing as if your life depended on it!...This is sheer madness - stop, I tell you!...I'd never have believed it - you've forgotten everything I taught you" (Ibsen 204). Torvald must now take her in hand and re-teach the wild Italian dance, the tarantella. The choice of this particular dance by Ibsen is a stroke of genius as it aptly illustrates the nature of the
The people elected Andrew Jackson President of the United States even though he had married a divorced woman. Nonetheless…men and women had specific marital responsibilities and lived with considerable restraint on their behavior, always subject to community approval. Men were assigned the world of business and family support. Women were custodians of the home. In such a social situation, Ibsen, by having Nora walk out on her husband, is literally
113). Through all these events, Torvald demonstrates that he does not see Nora clearly. He is blind to her strengths and exaggerates her weaknesses, and sees her only as someone to entertain and enhance his image in the eyes of others. HOW NORA RELATES to TORVALD While clearly Torvald sees Nora as an entertaining child who must be guided, Nora's conversations with her friend Mrs. Linde show that to some extent, Torvald
Because of society, Nora becomes a wife and mother without giving it much though. She did what she was supposed to do. When Torvald calls Nora "hypocrite, a liar . . . A criminal" (Ibsen 190), he is overstepping his bounds, even as a husband. The words sting and it is as if they open Nora's eyes to the truth. He could not see the love behind her act
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