A Doll’s House
Notes by Danielle Hernandez
by Henrik Ibsen •
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Henrik Ibsen o Norwegian playwright o The literary plays of his time were fluffy French romantic pieces o Ibsen dealt with political, social, and moral issues of the time o A Dolls House was produced in 1979 o It reflects the basic Victorian life The male is a benevolent dictator and the woman is the frail, childish, • housewife who is her husbands accessory. o He was the borderline between classical Romanticism and more of a Realism Dark Romanticism However, the issues he addresses are not necessarily important. He does not • specify how she survives in the end. o Ibsen believed that, in order to truly be free, you had to get rid of ghosts from the past o Ibsen is the father of modern drama Tragedies, supposedly, involve someone who is in a high place and goes • through a tragic personal flaw. Ibsen disagrees and feels that ordinary people can have a tragedy • He did away with many stage devices commonly used in the time such as: • Mistaken identities Bloody fights Tearful melodrama Large casts Etc. BUT he did not do away with these. With the letter in the letterbox, he uses common suspense • mechanism He used characters as foils o Kristie She married first for the money • Nora, at the end of the play, she realizes that she did the same thing o Nora's father He was very controlling and moralizing • Torvald substitutes the father in this o Nora found comfort with the maids as a child Nora finds comfort in Dr. Rank after her marriage • Nora's Legacy in Literature o She was kind of a symbol for feminism, liberation, and equality o It is ironic that so many people have cheered her because she DID walk out on her family (the cornerstone of any era is family). This is exactly Ibsen's point. • Victorians cared about maintaining APPEARANCE • There are, however, skeletons in the closet All is not always what it seems to be. To be truly free, you have to deal with these problems Pet names o My little… whatever o They are demeaning terms o Torvald does not give her any credit for any amount of intelligence whatsoever. The Macaroons
She plays right into his treating her like a child by hiding the macaroons and then lies to him • Torvald's Career o He was in law o Now he's a bank manager • Appearance o Wealth=Appearance o She had, last Christmas, made her own decorations and stuff to keep up appearance during their financial hardships o Although they don't have much money, they have servants. Kristine • o She married a man for his money because her mother was ill and she had to support her brothers o She had an unhappy marriage. o She is now a widow o She came to Nora hoping that Torvald can get her a job in the bank. Another motivation for Krogstad's future blackmail. • However, when she tries talking to Nora, Nora is very rude and babbles on • about herself We NEED her to be self-absorbed, though, because we get the insight about Torvald's illness • Torvald's health o He was in law at the time and lost his job and got himself think o Nora tells Kristine that she saved his life and paid for it all herself o Women were not allowed to take out loans on their own. o She wanted to get the money from her father but he had passed on already o Nora never told Torvald about this and she does understand his pride and this stems from society It would destroy him to think that he owed her- the little woman- something • She is putting things in bizarre aspects and is playing games of her own- she • is not that stupid after all o Nora implies that she has a lover on the side who is giving her the money Nora does not believe that she did anything wrong because there is a larger issue at • stake. This is very naïve. • Forgery o She forged her father's signature on the documents and dated it from after he was already deceased o This IS a crime Kristine and Krogstad • o They used to be in love o Both of them have had unhappy marriages and are widow and widower o Krogstad is left with 3 children. o Krogstad comes to the Helmers' home Kristine tells Nora that she knows her • She then tells Kristine about his life and a "diseased moral character" • • Dr. Rank o He has a terminal disease and doesn't have much time o He has syphilis o Nora lets on that she knows some things about his condition • Nora lies to Torvald o She gives this huge story about how Kristine came just to see him for a job o She also flatters him • With her Children o
She only has her children summoned to her when she wants and so, when with them, she seems like a perfectly loving mother Krogstad's Bribe o He comes in while she is here with her children and he threatens her o He threatens her wit blackmail. He wants to keep his good job at the bank to fix his reputation for his • children's sake. Nora then dares him to tell Torvald but there is the more serious matter of • the forgery. The documents o The document that she forged was a loan or an IOU o The ends justify the means in her eyes o Krogstad attacks this point o Then she tries to be confident and doesn't pull that whole crying bid However, you know that she is upset because when he leaves and the • children come back in, she refuses to play with them What he did o Nora actually asks Torvald why Krogstad is a bad man o Ironically, he committed forgery o Torvald claims that most criminals had a deceitful MOTHER He believes women are too stupid to function • Nora is "pale with terror" after she is told that she may poison her home • o
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Act II Opens on Christmas day o Every time Nora hears something, she thinks there is someone there o She is definitely agitated and paranoid o This is also when she starts to contemplate her leaving her children to the care of the nurse. o Kristine comes in to help Nora with her costume This is when they begin speaking of Dr. Rank • They say he has "consumption of the spine" and his father had all kinds of • "excesses" Then Kristine was shocked to know that Nora would know something like this Syphilis is not spoken about in "gentile society" o Nora asks Kristine about the loan when Torvald comes in and is trying to flirt with him and coax him into allowing Krogstad to keep his job. She tries to convince him by appealing to his reputation • She tells him that Krogstad may slander him in the papers • BUT he will not do it because it wouldn't look good to his staff. • The reason that Torvald wants him dismissed is because Krogstad acts as if • they were on the same level. GET OVER YOURSELF! It's petty She tells him that this is narrow minded He is definitely dismissing him NOW out of SPITE! He sends out his dismissal letter. She gives a final warning and he says he's man enough to take on the consequences Dr. Rank o He comes telling her he has not much time left o He doesn't want Torvald there when he dies because Dr. Rank has a more refined nature o He gives more hints to the Syphilis. o Then Dr. Rank professes his love to Nora and he has loved her for a long time o She is made extremely uncomfortable by this.
She was on the verge of asking him for the money but now she can't Now she has to make up some other secret to tell him. Krogstad comes back again o Nora says that she tried to keep his job for him o He tells her that it will only be between the 3 of them. o She doesn't want Torvald to know, still o NOW he tells her tat he isn't going to give back the document. She now can't destroy it. o She admits to contemplating running away or killing herself. o He has a letter for Torvald explaining it and he just wants to get on with it. o He's being a hypocrite because he is trying to rehabilitate his morals but is doing such with blackmail o NOW he doesn't want to just keep his job but have Torvald's position in the future. Kristine finally figures out what is going on o She says that telling Torvald is the best thing o She has Kristine as her witness in the case that she kills herself or runs away so that no blame will be upon her husband o Kristine is going to talk to Krogstad and Nora is going to distract her husband. This is when their past comes out. • Distraction o Nora pretends that she needs coaching in her dancing to buy time o She even, specifically, tells Torvald NOT to open the letter box. How STUPID is this!? • o The Tarantella She is dancing frantically and irrationally and hysterically • A dance that came from ridding your body from the poison after being bit by • a toxic tarantula She is actually dancing for her life • Kristine and Krogstad meet o Kristine tells Krogstad that she came to find him o She proposes marriage and has faith in his ever fault and wants a relationship with no secrets. They will be on equal footing Contrast to Nora and Torvald. • o Krogstad will take the letter back. Kristine says "no" because she feels that she is helping their marriage in this. Fancy Dress Ball o Symbolically A symbol for assuming another identity and putting on an act. • Nora changes out of her costume after the ball before leaving which is also • symbolic o When they finish, Torvald is drunk but is STILL bossy and instructs Kristine in knitting and embroidery. He is still acting like her OWNS Nora. His sexual drunken fantasies are even dominating • Dr. Rank comes in o Rank and Nora have a little "code language" going on o Rank comes to say that he is finally going to die. Torvald doesn't get it. The Letter Box o It was trying to be picked. Nora blames the children. o Torvald opens it and first finds Rank's death note. The truth is out • o When Torvald is reading THE letter, Nora decides to drown herself. THEN Torvald comes storming in and begins ranting. • She then refers to her wanting to commit suicide and her husband doesn't • care! Her life matters not! o o
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He only thinks of HIS reputation! YET he wants to hush these matters up and pretend nothing is fine. HOWEVER, he will not let her raise the children now. o Another letter comes He says, "I am saved." • He then includes her being saved as an afterthought • Then he begins being all fluffy to her again and starts being such a fecking • hypocrite! He now wants to be her hero and is going to "save her"… from WHAT!? • The final conversation o You know the deal in THIS part… o She has changed and wants to have a serious conversation o He is MISSING the POINT o He never loved her but only liked the idea of being in love with her. o She is doll in a doll house and was her father's and Torvald's doll as her children have been her doll children. o He feels like there is hope and promises that he will teach her. This is still patronizing! o She must educate herself and declares she will leave o Torvald forbids it… what will people say? AGAIN HIS reputation! o This next speech was put in by Ibsen in order to try to hush the scandal he knew would come from leaving the children She explains that she is doing this because every human being has a right to • self-actualization o She says that she loves you no longer o He says "No one would sacrifice their honor for the one they love" She says that thousands of WOMEN have done this • o He is now becoming panicky and is saying he'll change. He asks if they could even live like brother and sister. o She is completely disconnecting herself from her family and calls him a stranger. The play ends at the New Year. It is, for Nora, a new beginning. • • •
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