A Doll’s House by Herik Ibsen

I. Introduction Ibsen’s Style Lies and Truth The movement toward Realism in the theater began in Europe in the second half of the nineteenth century through playwrights like Ibsen, August Strindberg, and George Bernard Shaw. A Doll’s House played a significant role in the movement. Realism reached America later, finding its fullest expression in Eugene O’Neill. Realism began as a reaction to the excessively contrived, sentimental, and didactic melodramas that dominated drama in nineteenth-century Europe and America. Realists take a mimetic approach to theater, striving to create the illusion of everyday life on stage, with the audience’s eavesdropping on a slice of life. Realists tend to depict the middle, lower, and lower-middle classes: their work, family life, language, dress, and problems. Realists prefer contemporary settings. In a direct response to melodrama, realists strive to create complex characters, to make internal conflict as dramatic as external conflict. They prefer the open ending, which does not resolve all the play’s questions and sometimes leaves in doubt the future of the protagonist. The resolution or denouement is generally short in realistic dramas and virtually non-existent sometimes. Do we know, for instance, what happens to Nora once she leaves her home?

Major Themes Living the authentic life vs. the convenient life(—Archetypal/Mythic) Men and Women— equality, respect, and the true marriage (Feminist)

II. Major Themes (con’t.) C. Money (Marxist theory) D. Duty to others vs Duty to Self:

II. Major Themes (con’t.) E. Moral Theme 1. Contagion imagery 2. Sins of the parents 3. True sins of the parents

II. Major Themes (con’t) F. Search for Identity (Psychological)

II. Major Themes (con’t) Archetypal/Mythic Theme The search for truth (Oedipus) The leaving of the family for enlightenment

III. Characters Nora B. Torvald

III. Characters Mrs. Linde Nils Krogstad Dr. Rank

IV. Symbolism Setting 1. Helmers’ House 2. Christmas time B. forgery

IV. Symbolism C. The Tarantela The dress (costume) Animal / pet imagery Light and dark

V. Conclusion The Continuing Power of A Doll’s House 1. issues of respect 2. that miraculous thing: a True Marriage 3. gender issues 4. the birth of the soul— growth of consciousness