A Doll's House Act 1 Analysis
Uploaded by sheniza91 on Sep 09, 2007
A Doll’s House was a play written in 1879 by Henrik Ibsen. This was one of the first plays based on realism. At that time not many plays were written about the common people and realistic issues. A Doll’s House was written in prose. It is widely considered a landmark in the development of what soon became a highly prevalent genre of theatre—realism, which attempts to portray life accurately and avoids idealized visions of it. In A Doll’s House, Ibsen employs the themes and structures of classical tragedy while writing in prose about every day, unexceptional people. A Doll’s House also manifests Ibsen’s concern for women’s rights and for human rights in general. Ibsen was trying to put forward his views about feminism. He was the one who started the modern dramas. Coming back to realistic theatre, He wrote plays about the common people which comprises of the middle class. Earlier there were only two classes in the society- the aristocrats and the peasants but after the industrial revolution the emergence of the middle class took place. The middle class comprised of the working class. The play is based on the middle class in the 19th century.
Nora Helmer is the main character of the play. Nora has never lived alone, going immediately from the care of her father to that of her husband. Inexperienced in the ways of the world as a result of this sheltering, Nora is impulsive and materialistic. However, the play questions the extent to which these are simple masks that Nora uses to go through the patriarchal oppression she faces every day. She has a different behaviour with different people. For instance, her behaviour with Krogstag is completely different from her husband, Torvald. At the beginning of A Doll’s House, Nora seems completely happy. She responds affectionately to Torvald’s teasing, speaks with excitement about the extra money his new job will provide, and takes pleasure in the company of her children and friends. She does not seem to mind her doll-like existence, in which she is coddled, pampered, and patronized.
Nils Krogstag is the man from whom Nora borrows money to pay for trip to Italy and an employee at the bank with Torvald. Krogstad was involved in a work scandal many years previously; as a result, his name has been sullied and his career stunted. When his job at the bank is jeopardized...