English 12 - Mr. Rinka Lesson #58 Henrik Ibsen & A Doll’s House Act Two

Torvald’s Demeaning Comments Is that my little lark twittering out there? Is it my little squirrel bustling about? When did my squirrel come home?

Has my little spendthrift been wasting money again? (Goes up to her and takes her playfully by the ear.) The same little featherhead! That is like a woman! Tell me something reasonable that you would particularly like to have.

What are little people called that are always wasting money? You can't deny it, my dear, little Nora. (Puts his arm round her waist.) It's a sweet little spendthrift, but she uses up a deal of money. One would hardly believe how expensive such little persons are! But you can't save anything!

You are an odd little soul. And I would not wish you to be anything but just what you are, my sweet little skylark. (wagging his finger at her). Hasn't Miss Sweet-Tooth been breaking rules in town today?

Demeaning Comments belittle people. dehumanize people. give the speaker a sense of superiority. establish a position of control. reflect a flawed cultural value.

Observe the interactions between Torvald and Nora. It is more Father/ Daughter than it is Husband/Wife. kRiRJI

Act Two Christine arrives to help Nora repair a dress for a costume party she and Torvald plan to attend the next day. Torvald returns from the bank, and Nora pleads with him to reinstate Krogstad in his position, claiming she is worried Krogstad will publish

libelous articles about Torvald and ruin his career. Torvald dismisses her fears and explains that, although Krogstad is a good worker and seems to have turned his life around, he must be fired because he is not deferential enough to Torvald in front of other bank personnel. Torvald then retires to his study.

Dr. Rank, a family friend, arrives. Nora asks him for a favor, to which Rank reveals that he has entered the terminal stage of tuberculosis of the spine and that he has always been secretly in love with her. Nora tries to deny the first revelation and make light of it, but is more disturbed by his declaration of love.

She tries clumsily to tell him that she is not in love with him but that she loves him dearly as a friend. Desperate after being fired by Torvald, Krogstad arrives at the house. Nora convinces Dr. Rank to go in to Torvald's study so he will not see Krogstad.

When Krogstad confronts Nora, he declares that he no longer cares about the remaining balance of Nora's loan but that he will preserve the associated bond in order to blackmail Torvald into not only keeping him employed but promoting him as well. Nora explains that she has done her best to persuade her husband

but that he refuses to change his mind. Krogstad informs Nora that he has written a letter detailing her crime (forging her father's signature of surety on the bond) and puts it in Torvald's mailbox, which is locked. Nora tells Christine of her predicament. Christine says that she and

Krogstad were in love before she married and promises that she will try to convince him to relent. Torvald enters and tries to retrieve his mail but Nora distracts him by begging him to help her with the dance she has been rehearsing for the costume party, feigning anxiety about performing. She dances so badly and acts so

childishly that Torvald agrees to spend the whole evening coaching her. When the others go in to dinner, Nora stays behind for a few minutes and contemplates suicide to save her husband from the shame of her crime and (more importantly) to thwart any gallant gesture on his part to save her reputation.

Act Two (to p. 40) #57 LA 12 A Doll's House ems/dolls_house_0812_librivox/doll house_02_ibsen_64kb.mp3

Modernism Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement in the arts, its set of cultural tendencies and associated cultural movements,

originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In art, Modernism explicitly rejects the ideology of realism and makes use of the works of the past, through the application of reprise, incorporation, rewriting, recapitulation, revision and parody

in new forms. Modernism also rejects the lingering certainty of Enlightenment thinking, as well as the idea of a compassionate, all- powerful Creator. Pablo Picasso, Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, 1910, The Art Institute of Chicago

Assignment #1 Finish Listening and reading. Act Two: #57 LA 12 A Doll's House ems/dolls_house_0812_librivox/doll house_02_ibsen_64kb.mp3

Assignment #2 Discuss as a class how the roles of women are changing in your family, community and world. Are these changes happening out of necessity or choice? Do you think you will ever see a time when men and women are treated completely “equal?” What would that look like?

English 12 - Mr. Rinka Lesson #58 Henrik Ibsen & A Doll’s House Act Two