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The Practices of Dr. Rank
In the play A Doll House, by Henrik Ibsen, the convention of marriage is examined and questioned for its lack of honesty. The play is set in the late 1800s, which provides the backdrop for the debate about roles of people in society. Ibsen uses the minor character, Dr. Rank, to help develop the theme of conflicts within society. This, in turn, creates connections with the plot. Dr. Rank's function in the play is to foreshadow, symbolize, and reflect upon the truth of life and society and to break down the barrier between appearance and reality.
One function of Dr. Rank in the play is to foreshadow events to come. Upon Rank's introduction in Act I, the reader is immediately given insight into the conflict Nora will face with Krogstad. Rank provides the reader with minute details into Krogstad's past that will help in understanding his desperate blackmail attempt. The reader can begin to see this in Rank's statement to Nora and Mrs. Linde: "Oh, it's a lawyer, Krogstad, a type you wouldn't know. His character is rotten to the root--but even he began chattering all-importantly about how he had to live" (1574). Rank also foreshadows the change of society that is a constant throughout the play. One can begin to see this foreshadowing in the statement Rank makes about the morally sick being forgiven, "That's the concept that's turning society into a sanatorium" (1574). Through these insights, Dr. Rank provides the reader with an ability to form opinions important to the plot.
Ibsen also uses Rank as a symbolic tool, enabling the reader to look deeper into the plot. Dr. Rank is used as a symbol of a dying society as the main characters in the play ...
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...ing of what he may have once declared to be truth. Ibsen uses Rank to make these truths about Nora and Torvald's personalities evident to the reader.
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.
Work Cited
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll House. The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing. 5th ed. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999. 1564-1612.
Consider being treated not as a 2nd class citizen, but as a 10th class citizen. Consider being in front of a washroom, but to be told it is for whites only and that you must go to the other side of town to use a “coloured” washroom. Consider not being allowed to do something just because a white man told you not to. Consider doing menial labor your entire life, even though you have a university education. Consider being an African-American.
When the witches told Macbeth that no man born of a woman could harm him, he would not be defeated until the forest came to his castle, and that his only threat was Macduff, Macbeth felt very secure about his kingship. Little did Macbeth know, that all of these foretellings would bring about his demise. Macduff was born out of a dead woman, so he was the only one who could hurt Macbeth. When Malcolm's army attacked Macbeth's castle, they camouflaged themselves with trees, thus giving the appearance of the forest coming to the castle. Finally, Macduff was the only thing that Macbeth had to worry about, because he was not born of a woman, and could kill Macbeth. Macbeth completely disregarded the Witches' prophecies because he thought of them as rubbish. Had the three witches told Macbeth the real truth that they ticked him out of believing, Macbeth would not have gotten so cocky as a result of his security.
In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, the boys who are stranded on the island come in contact with many unique elements that symbolize ideas or concepts. Through the use of symbols such as the beast, the pig's head, and even Piggy's specs, Golding demonstrates that humans, when liberated from society's rules and taboos, allow their natural capacity for evil to dominate their existence.
Macbeth’s ambition to obtain power convinces him that it is his destiny to become King of Scotland, and that he should do anything to fulfill that destiny, even if it involves him committing tremendously immoral acts such as murder. After Macbeth realizes that the witches may actually speak the truth due to the second prophecy (Thane of Cawdor) becoming true, he begins to have an eerie and frightening thought of him killing his king and friend, Duncan, in order to ac...
Once word of the demented king of Scotland reached Malcolm, one of Duncan’s sons, he and Macduff made plans to overthrow Macbeth. When Macbeth learned of the traitors, he boasted his confidence to servants and generals. The witches had filled his head with nonsense once more, including the belief that no man of woman born could kill him. While he spent his time gloating, his wife passed away, yet he held no remorse for Lady Macbeth’s death. The atrocious man moved forward into battle where his madness led him to his ultimate demise at the hand of
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 of 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?”
People need religion because it gives there lives purpose. A religion gives its followers meaning for their lives, something that the lost souls of our modern world are otherwise lacking. Buddhism allows people to be completely independent of any laws other than the ones they create for themselves. Thus taking away from the mundane and constricting aspects that many religions relate too. Religion can provide many great things that are beneficial to society. One great thing Buddhism provides to its followers is a sense of fulfillment within ones self. Offering many great techniques that involve meditation that have been proven to release immense amounts of stress. On famous Buddhism center in the UK says that “The reason the mind needs to be this strong and this focused is so that the meditator can fully develop a number of social skills and intellectual understandings that will propel her along the path to enlightenment .” - Jaymang Buddhist Center. Even though Buddhism is a less popular religion, Buddhism is the future of American society because Buddhism offers a less constricting option and a major stress relief to its followers.
Ibsen, Henrik. “A Doll’s House.” Literature for Composition. Ed. Sylvan Barnet, William Burto, and William E. Cain. 9th Ed. New York: Longman, 2010. 792-841. Print.
Macbeth's intelligence consists of thoughts of how to become king and secure his position without actually considering the consequences that his behaviour will cause. When Macbeth is promised by the three witches that he will soon become King, he takes his destiny into his own hands and attempts to speed up the process by murdering Duncan, and literally crowning himself as the new King of Scotland. This becomes known as the turning point in Macbeth's moral nature and loyalties as he embarks on further atrocities with increasing ease. He puts all his trust into witchcraft and demands the three witches to predict his future by showing him several illusions. From these illusions, Macbeth realises “… for none of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth" (4, 1, 79-81), because every man is born from a woman and so Macbeth b...
and do things themselves. One of the women gets her own job and the other leaves her daughter for adoption. Thus showing they are making their own decisions in life. This is unheard of in the 1800's and shows Ibsen trying to have a society in which women do have an identity in society and can be heard. Throughout the play, a women is shown doing her own thinking and not listening to what men have to say even though that is not how it used to be. Ibsen creates this new society in which anyone, no matter the gender, should be able to make their own decisions about life and how to live it.
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.
...ld does not leave the reader guessing or take away from the responsibility of parenthood. There are large differences among Ibsen's ending and the one presented, but both allow the play to hold on to that dramatic realism. This honesty when exemplifying the circumstances of women in history has made, A Doll's House, vital to study. If any official changes are made, it is most important to keep the main theme illuminated. The influential message that Ibsen has made clear is the value of self exploration for all beings and that principle should never be touched.
The damage that can be done in the inside of the body will last with the person throughout their lifetime. It blackens the lungs and causes lung cancer. Secondhand smoke can also lead to heart disease. Researchers have found that some deaths result in ischemic heart disease. “Nevertheless, this is likely and underestimate” (Wendy Max), told LiveScience. Studies show that people have a greater risk of lung cancer as opposed to heart disease. Secondhand smoke plays a role in our personal hygiene. It can lead to smells within our body, clothes, and hair. Smoking and secondhand smoke can cause us to age faster. Scientists out of the state of Oregon have also took note on how secondhand smoke can build up a compound that affects our blood and urine. “There is experimental evidence from nonsmokers studies where you put nonsmokers in a room, blow smoke into the room, and measure their artery function, that you see the platelets get sticky, which can cause clots and lead to a heart attack, and the ability of the arteries to dilate decreases very rapidly”, says Dr. Matthew McKenna. This cannot only harm our blood but also harm urine within the body. “Some people may say they’re not exposed to secondhand smoke, but they forget about the smokey bus ride they took in the morning or when they walked through the park and someone was smoking near them.” (Max). This compound
Although the title, “A Doll’s House”, serves as the foreshadowing of the play’s plot, and the characterization of Nora Helmer, the protagonist, it does not in any way predict the unexpected ending; the ending that essentially upset Ibsen’s audience in the 19th century and served as a great promotion of the play and giving recognition to Ibsen as a playwright.
Ibsen, Henrik. "A Doll House." Ibsen : Four Major Plays - Volume 1. Trans. Rolf Fjelde. New York: Signet Classics, 1992. 43-114. Print.