A Doll House was the first of Ibsen's plays to create such a HUGE sensation and I think it is now perhaps his most famous play. It is my favourite Ibsen play. At the time when it was published, the play was highly controversial due to it's blatent criticicism of the standard Victorian marriage.
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Advantages: complex characters Disadvantages: felt a bit suffocated whilst reading
A Doll House was the first of Ibsen's plays to create such a HUGE sensation and I think it is now perhaps his most famous play. It is my favourite Ibsen play. At the time when it was published, the play was highly controversial due to it's blatent criticicism of the standard Victorian marriage.
About the author
Henrik Johan Ibsen was a Norwegian playwright of the late 19th century. He brought to the European stage a whole new ... ...the action takes place in a single room in the Torvald household.
Style
Due to the realistic nature of the play, Ibsen wrote the dialogue in simple, day to day, middle-class language rather than the typically elegant language characteristic of romantic plays. It is a 3 act play.
Themes
-Individuals and families-how things start to fail when males oppress females, reducing them to mere toys and objects more
A Doll House was the first of Ibsen's plays to create such a HUGE sensation and I think it is now perhaps his most famous play. It is my favourite Ibsen play. At the time when it was published, the play was highly controversial due to it's blatent criticicism of the standard Victorian marriage.
About the author Henrik Johan Ibsen was a Norwegian playwright of the late 19th century. He brought to the European stage a whole new order of moral analysis that was placed against a very traditional middle-class background and developed with economy of action, powerful dialogue, and gusto thought. Basically, Ibsen wrote for and about the middle class and life in the outskirts of cities and small towns. He focused completely on characters and psychological conflicts rather than dramatic situations. He is more character orientated and it's what the character does that creates the action. As opposed to the action dictating how the character reacts. His central theme was the duty of the individual towards himself; staying true to oneself.
Setting The play is set in 1879, Christmas time. All the action takes place in a single room in the Torvald household.
Style Due to the realistic nature of the play, Ibsen wrote the dialogue in simple, day to day, middle-class language rather than the typically elegant language characteristic of romantic plays. It is a 3 act play.
Themes -Individuals and families-how things start to fail when males oppress females, reducing them to mere toys and objects -Living a lie is not living at all. -Money cannot buy Freedom. -There is always hope for a brighter future. -hypocrisy and materialism -disease, both moral and physical meaning -"Hide that Christmas tree away, Helen, the children mustn't see it before I've decorated it this evening" (1072) by Nora. This is the first line of the play and it creates the tone, which is hiding the raw truth until it is decorated to sheer perfection.
My first impressions I felt very clustrophobic as all the action takes place in the one setting. The play was very intense and full of realistic dialogue. I like the clever nature of the play as it showed how someones expectations in a human relationship can often stifle and cloud an individuals reality.
My second impressions I picked up more about the character relationships and the tension throughout the play. I also began it realise the complexity of Nora's character which I hadn't noticed on first reading. This changed my view of her and I felt empathy towards her. I noticed that the characters talk in relation to their position and their relationship with each other. For example, the way that Torvald speaks with Nora shows that he condescends to her and that Nora enjoys it.
Alternative Ending There is another ending to this play, which if you can get your hands on is worth a read. In my opinion, the alternative ending seems completely false. I think the alternative ending makes Nora out to be an egotist.
I had to read this play twice to fully appreciate the depth and complexity of the characters. There is so much to untangle!
Advantages: A great feminist play written by a man. Disadvantages: none,
When Ibsen created a Doll’s House he aimed to create it in a certain way. This structure was known as the well made play. Here are some examples of the format of the well made play and by looking at this list it is clear that A Doll’s House is of that nature.
The Well Made Play
1) The plot during a well made play is usually based upon a withheld secret, often about the hero or main character and when it is revealed, the story line changes.
... ...ended. This is seen in A Doll’s House.
However, It is not always this simple, often something along the same lines, but with a bit more detail. Along the way of the plot, there are varying up’s and down’s which are always related indirectly or directly towards the plot. This shows up on this graph below, showing a truer version of the well made play’s progression.
A Doll’s House
Plot- Outline
The main plot of a Doll’s ...
Joeyjoe 24.05.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of A Doll's House - Henrik Ibsen
Advantages: A better understanding of Victorian thought Disadvantages: n/a
This play was a pioneer of its time. It was created in the Victorian age, where women where submissive to their husbands, and children only spoke when spoken to. However, this play explored these themes and dealt with them with great care and thought. The central character of the play is Nora, a wife of a soon to be Bank manager. She has a hidden secret which slowly becomes extracted as the play evolves, creating ongoing dramatic tension throughout ... ...a loan shark, (Krogstad), and repaying the money over time. As she is about to make the final payment, Krogstad is fired from the bank and her secret is divulged. She borrowed the money to restore her husbands health, and she only had his best interests at heart. However in doing this, Nora restricted herself to living a simple life with simple clothes, and also became threatened with being outcassed by society.
This theme allows for the audience ...
Colzie 26.03.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of A Doll's House - Henrik Ibsen
Advantages: It's short Disadvantages: he plot, characters, writing etc
...will conceed that it is a feminist play and hence the forerunner of womens lib I cannot excuse the utter boredom it induces in the reader.
The plot revolves around the fact that Nora, wife of Torvald, has borrowed money without her husbands permission and by forging his signature. The money is borrowed from a man called Krogstad, who loses his job at Torvalds bank and demands that Nora gets him reinstatd or he will tell Torvald. Nora fails to reinstate ... ...a friend of Noras and an old flame of Krogstad tries to help, but ends up thinking that Torvald needs to know, and goes out with Krogstad. Torvald finds out, is furious, he is then told that the news won't be made public, he forgives Nora, who walks out after seeing Torvald as he really is. The problem is that the plot is to predictable to be a satisfying read. On stage it works only slightly better, the confines of the theatre giving it more realism. ...
Telute 20.10.2000 (14.05.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of A Doll's House - Henrik Ibsen
Advantages: Good message and critcal of theatre at the time- the late 19th century Disadvantages: Can be annoying and not the most thrilling play ever written
I studied this for my A level English Literature exam, and I'm still not sure if I like it or not. On the one hand it's got a good message; Ibsen was criticising melodrama of the time and the poor position of women in society. It is certainly one of the first feminist plays and Ibsen's message comes across clearly, despite the criticism of it at the time. He was certainly very brave in writing this play, as he knew it was considered shocking and ... ...places. Nora as a character appears somewhat 2-dimensional for the first part of the play, and the other characters are also slightly unrealistic. Helmer is slighly disgusting, in his confusion about his relationship with Nora (he appears to treat her like his daughter which is sickening given his desire to sleep with her at the same time.) Again this shows the inferior role of women in society. Of the other characters, Dr Rank and Krogstad are also ...
MagicKitten 22.11.2000 (27.11.2000)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of A Doll's House - Henrik Ibsen
Advantages: a great play if performed well Disadvantages: the film version is terrible
...in his time and as a result has created a play that is more accepted and appreciated by today's society than it was by his contemporary audience. At the time there was such an outcry about the end of the play (I won't spoil it for you) that Ibsen was eventually forced into writing an inferior, weaker ending. If however you can get hold of a copy of his re-written finale then it is worth it if you wish to see deeper into his society. Ibsen's time, ... ...is likely to attract a huge amount of sympathy from a modern audience. It is my opinion that it is for this reason if we ignore the sex of the key character's the imagery and key concept's of the play become stronger, and makes for a more interesting reading. If you have a chance to watch this play live I would recommend it most sincerely. I have recently seen another production of this play at the Lowry centre in Manchester and it was the greatest ...
super_jimbo 14.12.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of A Doll's House - Henrik Ibsen
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