A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen

1800 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Analysis of henrik ibsen's book of a doll's house

To understand the meaning of A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen we read the whole script. To go deeper into the meaning we used our own drama abilities to explore. To understand the meaning of A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen we read the whole script. To go deeper into the meaning we used our own drama abilities to explore. We used Hot-Seating, Collages, and Still Image. All of these three things helped me understand the meaning of the play and explore the characters further. The script does not tell me everything I need to know, a lot of things are hidden, and techniques are needed to protrude facts. When you begin to understand the play you begin to appreciate what a fantastic play writer Ibsen actually is. We used Hot Seating at first in the exam. The teacher would say a character and the stage the character is at in the play. The character I have chosen to analyse is Nora. Vicki played Nora in Hot-Seating. We all asked her questions to see how she answered her. This helped a lot as we were finding things out about Nora that are not bluntly stated in the script. For example we find out why she has macaroons and how it builds up tension. When Vicki was being Nora it made me realise what Ibsen was doing with the Macaroons. He was building up tension bit by bit. The macaroons were showing the reader of the play that Torvald had some kind of control over Nora and that she had a disobedient side to her. It showed us she would lie to Torvald. Throughout the play this enhances and evolves into something much bigger. Nora has lied to Torvald and this time it is much more serious than macaroons. She has betrayed him and it is close to him finding out. The macaroons were Ibsen's way of showing me that Nora was devious and could undermine Torvald and then it transforms into something much bigger. The reader knows this could happen but when it does it shocks. To show me what I said above someone asked the question "Would you ever lie to Torvald?" Vicki helped me understand that towards the end Nora begins to realise she does not love Torvald and that she decides to leave him. This showed me that Torvald could NOT stop her and shows me how sexism has collapsed socially. Ibsen is trying to show how bad sexism is in this play. , Using Nora and Torvald. I Played Mrs Linde in Hot-Seating, it helped me also being in he position.

Show More
Related

  • A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen

    1127 Words  | 3 Pages

    When attending a masquerade, a person is expected to wear a mask. In fact, it’s looked down upon if a mask isn’t worn. But, what if for some people that mask never came off? In A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, each character has constructed their own metaphorical mask that they set firmly in place every morning when exiting their bed. Each character: Nora, Torvald, Kristine and Krogstad all have masks that they put in place when speaking to each other. Throughout most of the play, it is clear that all of the aforementioned characters have multiple facades that they use when speaking to one another; often switching quickly as they begin speaking to someone else. Henrik Ibsen’s use of the masquerade serves as an extended metaphor to show the masks that the characters use in their everyday lives.

    Read More

  • Henrik Isben's A Doll's House

    1006 Words  | 3 Pages

    Most of us live a life where we do what we want and when we want without anyone telling us how to live our lives. This wasn’t the case in A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, where he illustrates to us how one woman lives a life through her father and husband. Throughout the play we see how a once childish like woman gains her independence and a life of her own. Ibsen shows us a very realistic play that demonstrates how on the outside Nora and Torvald seem to have it all. While in reality their life together is simply empty until Nora stands up for herself and starts to build her own life.

    Read More

  • Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House

    1192 Words  | 3 Pages

    Phylogeny versus misogyny, arguable one of the greatest binary oppositions in a work of literature, is present in Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 Norwegian play A Doll’s House. The title itself suggests a misogynist view, while the work mainly consists of feminist ideology, as Ibsen was a supporter of the female as an independent, rather than a dependent on a male. Nora knew herself that her husband did not fully respect her, and this became a major conflict in the play as Nora progressively became more self-reliant in the play. Ibsen created Nora to give an example for all women, showing that they are more than what their husbands make of them. The misogynistic views in the play can be seen through Nora’s husband Torvald, due to the fact that he believed, as the majority of males did at the time, that women were not equal to them socially. This opposition caused a major conflict between the couple that progressed throughout the stage production.

    Read More

  • The Practices of Dr. Rank in A Doll's House

    1741 Words  | 4 Pages

    The roles that Ibsen gives Dr. Rank are crucial in the reader's understanding of the plot. The functions that Rank performs are able to move the story along, adding connections that force the reader to think about the appearance and reality of the major characters' personalities. The greatest achievement in the play is that of breaking down the walls of society, enabling Nora to evolve. Ibsen is able to do this through the connections he provides through Dr. Rank in A Doll House.

    Read More

  • A Doll's House Realism Essay

    1918 Words  | 4 Pages

    While eating and lying about macaroons may seem trivial, why would one need to lie about a trivial matter? Not only does she lie about eating the macaroons to her husband but also once to Dr. Rank. The most serious deception is that of the loan that she took out in order to save her husband’s life. While this is an extravagant lie we can find it in ourselves to forgive Nora because her actions were selfless. Perhaps if Torvald could accept his wife instead of constantly feeling the need to control her she would not have lied to him. Once Nora reveals her deceptive act to Mrs. Linde we begin to see Nora’s character in a whole new light. One that is much more mature and determined than previously thought. It isn’t until Mrs. Linde accuses Nora of not knowing a hard day’s work that she finally reveals her greatest secret. It is through their common experience of sacrifice that unites them and brings them closer together

    Read More

  • A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen

    1281 Words  | 3 Pages

    Weintraub, Stanley. ""Doll's House" Metaphor Foreshadowed in Victorian Fiction." Nineteenth-Century Fiction 13: 67-69. Web. 6 Jan. 2011.

    Read More

  • The Struggle for Identity in A Doll’s House

    1479 Words  | 3 Pages

    The inferior role of Nora is extremely important to her character. Nora is oppressed by a variety of "tyrannical social conventions." Ibsen in his "A Doll's House" depicts the role of women as subordinate in order to emphasize their role in society. Nora is oppressed by the manipulation from Torvald. Torvald has a very typical relationship with society. He is a smug bank manager. With his job arrive many responsibilities. He often treats his wife as if she is one of these responsibilities. Torvald is very authoritative and puts his appearance, both social and physical, ahead of his wife that he supposedly loves. Torvald is a man that is worried about his reputation, and cares little about his wife's feelings.

    Read More

  • Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House

    1361 Words  | 3 Pages

    happen for her, he did not change the way he needed to and with that

    Read More

  • Character Development of Nora from A Doll's House

    874 Words  | 2 Pages

    When Nora is asked, "Is that my little squirrel rummaging around?", Ibsen is presenting the image of a scrounge (1139). This could be a precursor to the fact that Nora is secretive and has something to hide. When Nora has to hide the macaroons and lie to Torvald about eating them, the reader must wonder what else she is not being honest about. Then, later in the play, it is revealed that Nora is hiding a deep secret about a debt.

    Read More

  • Subjection of Women in Wuthering Heights and A Doll’s House

    1486 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the time this play was written, women had very few rights in public society. Ibsen reflects this by portraying Nora as having very few rights in the household. Torvald runs everything, and Nora has no say in how the house is run.

    Read More

  • A Doll's House, by Henry Ibsen

    1273 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House, a drama written in the midst of an 1879, middle-class, suburban Europe, he boldly depicts a female protagonist. In a culture with concern for fulfilling, or more so portraying a socially acceptable image, Nora faces the restraints of being a doll in her own house and a little helpless bird. She has been said to be the most complex character of drama, and rightfully so, the pressure of strict Victorian values is the spark that ignites the play's central conflicts. Controversy is soon to arise when any social-norm is challenged, which Nora will eventually do. She evolves throughout the play, from submissive housewife to liberated woman. It seems as though what took women in America almost a century to accomplish, Nora does in a three-day drama. Ibsen challenges the stereotypical roles of men and women in a societally-pleasing marriage. He leads his readers through the journey of a woman with emerging strength and self-respect. Nora plays the typical housewife, but reveals many more dimensions that a typical woman would never portray in such a setting.

    Read More

  • The Breaking of a Family in A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ibsen writes his play A Doll House to explain the life of a housewife and her struggles with her own actions. Ibsen examines the emptiness in the lives of Nora and Torvald as they lived a dream in a Doll House. Both awaken and realize this emptiness and so now Torvald struggles to make amends as he hopes to get Nora back possibly and then to restore a new happiness in their lives. Ibsen examines this conflict as a rock that breaks the image of this perfect life and reveals all the imperfections in the lives of those around.

    Read More

  • Transformation of Nora in Henrik Isben's A Doll's House

    1301 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the play goes on, Nora seems to transform from her delicate little character into something much more. At the end of act one, Krogstad goes to Nora for the recollection of the money she had borrowed from him. "You don?t mean that you will tell my husband that I owe you money?" (21). Since Nora was wrong in doing so socially, she could not tell Torvald or anyone else about her problem. Not only would that affect their social standard but also Torvald's ego, which inevitably would happen anyway. After Krogstad threatens to expose Nora for forging her father's signature, she realizes that no matter what she does Torvald was going to know the truth. The flaw with...

    Read More

  • How is the title “A Doll’s House” appropriate for the play?

    1131 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the beginning of the play, the reader is introduced to the Helmer household on Christmas eve; Nora purchases a Christmas tree to be used as the main ornament in the house and brings it in to be decorated. Shortly after, Torvald, her husband, approaches her by referring to her as his “little lark”(12) and his “little squirrel”(12). Shortly after, Torvald criticizes Nora for eating a macaroon: “Not nibbling sweets?..Not even taken a bite at a macaroon or two?”(14). Torvald “was only joking”(15). Perhaps it was the way the couple communicated at all times, but Torvald’s teasing is also manipulative. Nora seems to believe anything Torvald tells her; as naive as she is, she believes Torvald is only playing with her. However, as the man of the house, he does cause Nora to consistently ask for his approval, or fear his rejection: “I should not think of going against your wishes”(15), Nora says.

    Read More

  • Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House: A Realistic Drama

    1220 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nora has to secretly eat the macaroons while ensuring that her husband does not see the action, as Torvald forbids them and desires her to please him at all cost. Therefore, Nora possesses no liberty of action and symbolizes the lack of freedom within the lives of women.... ... middle of paper ... ...

    Read More

More about A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen

Open Document