Arko Dewri Mr. Murguia AP Literature, Period 4 29 March 2013 Ace Review Play: "A Doll's House" General Reactions: 1.The play begins in the household of the Helmer family. The audience can see Nora, the wife and mother of the family, being treated in a demeaning manner by Torvald, the husband and father of the family; Nora behaves in sort of a child-like manner being disciplined by Torvald. A friend of Nora's comes to visit her to whom she confesses about her secret debt. Nora communicates to both her friend and to the audience that she had committed forgery to acquire money to fund for a trip to Italy in order to cure Torvald from his malady a couple of years prior, and she is very concerned about it; later, it is found that Nora took the money from a man named Krogstad. In the meantime, Krogstad is fired from his job by Torvald because Nora's friend was going to get that job. As a result, Krogstad blackmails Nora to pursue Torvald to put Krogstad back to his job, otherwise he would produce a scandal against Nora and Torvald revealing the truth of Nora's actions. So, frightened Nora tries her best to convince Torvald, but fails at last. Subsequently, Krogstad leaves a letter to Torvald revealing the truth of the fact. When in the end Torvald reads the letter, he is outraged and treats Nora very badly. However, consequently, Krogstad reveals his change of mind about disclosing the scandal to others and vows to never harass the Helmers again. Following that Torvald expresses his joy and happiness to Nora, but Nora had already seen the true characteristic of Torvald. So, she
decides to leave Torvald and the family to pursue her own destiny of independence as a self-relied individual. 2.The phrase in the play that allured the most focus is the statement by Nora, "I have been performing tricks for you, Torvald," that alludes to the idea of gender role and the sacrificial nature of women. This phrase as well as this ideology produces the image of Nora being a doll that serves the purpose of entertaining her husband, Torvald. Nora had been seen in the play to act as a delicate plaything that functions merely as a decorative model. She takes her actions under the dominance of Torvald and his constantly disciplined by him in a demeaning manner, like a child being disciplined by a parent. The intentional focus diverts the gender role concept, portraying how the role of women in the society was to take care of her family while the role of men was to exert control over the women; in addition, the women were treated far more unfairly, despite their outmost dedication to their families. Hence, the phrase stated above resonates the image and philosophy of feminism through the account of Nora's life. 3.The most important word of the play is probably the term "doll-wife," and the most important phrase of the play is possibly the quotation by Nora, "Our home has been nothing but a playroom. I have been your doll-wife." This word and this phrase create the
most important image that describes Nora's existence as Torvald's plaything. The image is important as it reflects the central philosophy of the play, the undignified role of women and the male censorship upon them. Through her life history, Nora commutes that she had been treated as a toy all throughout her life, first by her father and later by her husband. Such details illustrate the fundamental theme of the play regarding the sacrificial nature of women, which allude to feminist sentiment.
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6.Two pieces of literary work come to mind when pondered about this play: "Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller and "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry. These two pieces are connected to this play by their similar genre. All of the pieces can be considered as family drama. All these pieces inhabit upon the lifestyle of middle-class families. There are also tragedies involved within all three literary works. The theme of all three literary works are similar as well; all three pieces fringe upon the theme of gender role and filial obligations. Additionally, the female characters are very similar as they conform to the feminine role, while the male characters conform to the dominant role of the society, leading to their assimilation within all three plays. 7.In writing about the piece, it would be ideal to focus on the character of Nora and to describe the sacrificial nature of women in the society. Perhaps, it would be ideal to write about the personality and actions of Nora, as well as Torvald's treatment of her. Such focus projects the central message of the play regarding the suppressed nature of Nora's existence. Writing about how Nora is comparable to a doll being played with for entertainment purpose within a futile house would be ideal, in addition to talking about how Torvald's selfish nature had resulted in Nora's awakening into a thoughtful individual who decided to take upon the path of independence and individualism, rather than embracing the petty role as a mannequin. Setting: 8.The setting of the play is Norway, presumably around late 1870s. The clues for the apparent setting are the facts that the original language of the play is Norwegian and the play was published in 1879; also the nationality of the playwright Henrik Ibsen is Norwegian. Yet the characters of the play do not spend a lot of time talking about articles
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