A Doll's House - Henrik Ibsen

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 ...
...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 ...

twingkelingstar 24.05.2008 · Read full review
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Review of A Doll's House - Henrik Ibsen

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 · Read full review
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Review of A Doll's House - Henrik Ibsen

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 · Read full review
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Review of A Doll's House - Henrik Ibsen

...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) · Read full review
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Review of A Doll's House - Henrik Ibsen

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) · Read full review
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Review of A Doll's House - Henrik Ibsen

...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 · Read full review
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Review of A Doll's House - Henrik Ibsen

...as she tries to become a ‘free woman’ and no longer a ‘toy doll’ to Helmer her husband. The whole play in a true surrealist fashion is set in the Helmer family house and major incidents happen off stage or before the play is set – like most surrealist plays the true point of the play was to show people not what Nora’s life is like but what the audience’s life is like. The plot may be slightly slow moving but Ibsen more than makes up for it with ...

MrMusic2000_uk 30.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of A Doll's House - Henrik Ibsen

...his period. The result is a play which uses the characterization of Nora as his focus for criticism and he uses a naturalistic method of writing to criticise melodrama. At first the characters seem rather 2 dimensional and not particularly developed and Nora can be annoying. However, as the play progresses Nora develops and evokes more sympathy. Our opinion of Torvald decreases and the reader despises his mysogynistic views and moral preaching. The ...

Kitty-Margolis 07.11.2000 · Read full review
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Review of A Doll's House - Henrik Ibsen

...drama at university. If you're a drama buff and you haven't read this play, it's an essential read and one you shouldn't overlook as part of your ongoing theatre education. As well as being entertaining with some really endearing characters, 'A Doll's House' is an excellent example of a Well Made Play. Well, it would be if it weren't for the ending which goes against the usual happy, neat conclusions that are traditional of a well made play. But ...
...this play so much. There's an exciting twist involving the play's main protagonist: Nora. Whether you're a drama student like I was or just want to read a really great classic by a top playwright, A Do'lls House is one play which should not be gathering dust on your bookshelf. ...

performeress 03.09.2009 · Read full review
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Review of A Doll's House - Henrik Ibsen

...tells the story of Nora, a housewife and mother, who lives with her husband Torvald. It is nearly Christmas and preparations are being make for the festivities. However Nora has a secret which is about to be found out. The play was ground breaking because of Nora's growing realisation during the play that she in effect lives a 'Doll's' existance in a 'Dolls House'. She is a decorative play thing for Torvald. Nora has never been in the outside world ...

AlexMayer 02.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of A Doll's House - Henrik Ibsen