A Dolls House Essays

A Dolls House Essays A Dolls House Essay A Dolls House Essay Miss Julies struggle against the societial expectations of her time can be compared to that of another female character of modern drama, namely Nora in Ibsens A Dolls House. Nora believed in her ability to realize her true self, but it relied on her escaping her home, which represents the trap of her loveless marriage. Noras own psychological struggle is also referenced to the arrangement of the set. Similar to Miss Julie, the dramatic activity throughout A Dolls House is focused entirely on the one room (with four doors) that is visible on stage. The set creates a visual correspondence that communicates the essential dramatic idea of the work: Nora is sheltered from the outside world in her fantasy doll house. Early in the play, Ibsen defines the space onstage as Noras: Is that my little lark twittering out there? 2 Helmer calls from his room in the opening lines of Act I. This simple line not only identifies the space on stage as Noras, but Helmers allusion to the lark further suggests that Noras life is much like a bird cage protected, confined within the boundaries of her home. Noras space thus defined, certain actions take on a symbolic context of meanings. We notice that Nora always keeps the doors leading to the other rooms closed, except when there is motion through them; for example, Nora is able to bolt the door shut to Helmers study, she takes the children out of the living area when Krogstad enters, so in a sense she has control as it relates to people invading her space. Her life in her dolls house is thus defined by the stage space, so when her life is interrupted, so is this space. For instance, Krogstads entrance through a door left ajar upsets her, unleashing the sequence of events that determines her departure. Ibsens stage directions read: Meanwhile there has been a knock at the hall door The door is half open and Krogstad appears. 3 Ibsen emphasizes the fact that the door through which Krogstad makes his unsolicited entrance had been left open and Noras life susceptible to intrusion, leaving her in a disquieted state of mind. Noras psychological struggle is further emphasized by Ibsen through the use of the Christmas tree, which aside from its use as a conventional indicator of the passage of time serves as a visual representation of Noras emotional turmoil. Soon after Krogstads visit, Nora tries to set aside the eminent threat to the destruction of her doll house by asking the maid to bring in the tree, and place it in the middle of the floor. She is confident that her home and her family must come first before any legal matter. The audience recognizes the tree as a powerful symbol representing family security and happiness, set defiantly in the center of the stage to dominate it, as if its mere presence is sufficient to banish Noras troubles. As Nora begins to dress the tree, she states: A candle here and flowers here -. The horrible man! Its all nonsense theres nothing wrong. The Tree shall be splendid! I will do everything I can to please you, Torvald! 4 Thus, the tree is the visual representation of Noras blind conviction that things will be fine, merely because she says so. However, the opening of Act II presents a very different atmosphere. In the opening stage directions, Ibsen indicates that The Christmas tree is in the corner by the piano, stripped of its ornaments and with burnt-down candle-ends on its disheveled branches. 5 One soon realizes that Nora finds herself in a greatly altered state of mind. At this point, she has become fully conscious of the reality of Krogstads threat, and she loses hope that she will succeed she is terrified. The family gaiety and happiness is spoiled, and she dares not play with the children. Whereas before, the Christmas tree dominated the stage, in Act II, when the curtain goes up, the tree has been stripped of its ornaments, and it has been pushed in a corner of the room a very fitting symbol of dejection. In Act III, there is an implication that the Christmas tree is no longer present, foreshadowing Noras shocking decision to leave her family. The act opens in the same scene, however there is no mention of the Christmas tree, which develops the symbolism one step further, seeing as the scandalous rezolution can be clearly foreseen at this point. Similarly, Strindberg utilizes prop pieces to expose Jeans psychological struggle; however, unlike Ibsens dynamic prop pieces, which change in appearance and position with the advancement of the plot, Strindberg uses several objects that remain static throughout the duration of the play. This technique is employed in portraying the Count, whose powerful presence and influence over the characters is represented mostly by scenographic means: the ringing bell and speaking tube that mediate his orders, as well as his riding boots. At the beginning of the play, Strindbergs stage directions read as follows: Jean enters, dressed in livery and carrying a pair of large riding boots, with spurs, which he puts down on the floor where they remain clearly visible. 6 Strindbergs insistence that the boots remain visible throughout the play is meant to symbolize the Counts omnipresence in the house as well as his supreme power over the characters. Jean, in particular is tormented by the counts invisible presence. Throughout the play, Jean expresses an avid desire to climb up from his social position. There are numerous power shifts between Jean and Miss Julie throughout the play, however, in the end, both end up in submission to the Count, who is both father and master. The superiority Jean gains in relation to Julie immediately founders when he is reminded of the Count, which causes him to acknowledge his inferior position in society. At one point, he exclaims: I only have to see his gloves lying on a chair, and I feel so small I only have to hear that bell up there, and I start like a frightened horse and now, when I see his boots standing there so high and mighty, it sends a shiver down my spine! [kicks the boots] 7 At this point, Jean has just shared his plans for starting a hotel abroad with Julie. He talks about his dreams of buying a title in Romania and becoming a Count. However, as soon as Julie makes any mention of the Count or his house, Jean becomes insecure and disquieted because he realizes that he is still just a mere servant despite his many ambitious plans for the future. Thus, although often undermined when reading a play, scenography is a vital component of dramaturgy; it unleashes a powerful vocabulary spoken by space and props, which act to convey ideas and define character in their own right. As was shown above, both Ibsen and Strindbergs careful attention to visual detail uncovers an entirely new dimension of the work, exposing many metaphoric parallels between the scenography and the psychology of the characters. The scenographic dimension of a drama is one of the key ones that enables the audience to interpret the private world of the fictional heroes the physical surroundings of the heroes functioning as objectifications of their inner world, and as such, acting as a window through which the audience can understand the internal struggle of the characters. A Dolls House Essays A Dolls House Paper A Dolls House Paper In my opinion, of the three terms given for us to define, feminism suits this play best.It applies to the play only in the sense that Nora, the female figure in the play, is oppressed.Henrik Ibsen;s A Doll;s House shows how a housewife is sent over the edge by her oppressed position.The action she takes exposes a hideous side of human nature.It takes the female character, Nora,and uses her as the doll in which the house belongs to, but she does not have any power over the house. The society at the time of A Doll;s House was driven almost exclusively by males.The man and wife had clearly defined roles.The man was the provider who worked during the day and rested at night.The wife had to run the homestead.She was responsible for the children and the house, but her influence on any major decisions was minimal. In the play Nora is thrown into dire circumstances.When her husband was sick she gathered a sum of money to help finance a recuperating trip.She decided to take the initiative of getting the funds, but her role in society permitted her from attaining the cash.She was dependent on a male to vouch for her, and instead of bothering her dying father she forged his signature.This act would definitely come back to haunt her. The whole fiasco led Nora to question her position within the household.She realizes that she is nothing more than a ;doll; for her father and her husband.Without their status she cannot act alone.Her whole life has been for other;s benefit and the only thing she can do to declare her independence and to make the rest of the world acknowledge her identity is to kill herself.That way she can overcome the oppressive male or male characters. In more recent times people have begun to become A Dolls House Essays A Dolls House Paper A Dolls House Paper Essay Topic: A Dolls House In the play ;A Doll House; by Henrik Ibsen, the author chooses two very unique characters to play Nora and Torvald.He sets them up in a marriage relationship, which is somewhat unrealistic in today;s standards of marriage.Nora plays a weak wife in a relationship where her every action is dominated by her husband, yet she plays along to keep him happy. Torvald is a wealthy man that controls his wife in everything that she does and in his mind believes that she is truthful about everything with him.These two characters provide for conflict although Nora stands for her husband;s abuse until she can;t take it anymore. Throughout the entire play, Torvald plays the role of the dominant character in his marriage to Nora.Nora is a delicate character and she puts up with Torvald for eight years.However, when she finally realizes his insensitivity, she knows she must leave him.One example of Torvald;s dominance over Nora, occurs when he forbids Nora to have any macaroons in the house, even though she really enjoyed them.Also, when they were going to the costume party he picked out her outfit in almost the same way a parent would treat a child.This demonstrates the one-sided nature of the marriage and household.Through everyday conversation, Nora and Torvald reveal that they have a relationship filled with meaningless talk and games, such as ;Is that my squirrel rummaging around?.;Whenever Torvald seeks Nora she comes to him as a puppy would go to their master; she is his puppet.Their relationship is empty even though they act like a normal couple when they are around others. When they are alone Torvald dominates everything that happens.While from the outside the household may have the appearance of being socially acceptable, the marriage of Torvald and Nora was falling apart because of the lack of identity, love, and communication.Nora is a woman that relied