I. In my writing, I will be analyzing a work of drama using various techniques such as literary criticism. I have chosen the work of the Henrik Ibsen; “A Doll’s House”.
a. This work is about the “cliche” marriages that we would have encountered in the early days. The typical; wife stays at home raising children and keeping up with the housework while the man is the bread winner. In this story, we have the marriage between Nora and Torvald. Nora has been a stay at home mother who is spoiled and babied by her husband and worries more about her position with society and materials rather than on her family. When she has potentially gotten everything she dreamed of from Torvald and after Torvald finds out about a huge secret that his wife has been keeping from him and confronts her; Nora packs her things and leaves; even leaving her children to the care and management of a nanny.
b. The issue in which I will be discussing in my analysis is Nora. The way she easily walked out of her marriage and most importantly, has the strength to even leave her children behind and to the care of a nanny.
c. As mentioned before, Nora will be my main focus of this analysis. We will break down her character and analyze her behavior throughout this play.
d. In Henrik Ibsen’s “ A Dolls House” we encounter a strong character who social placement and wealth were all she needed in life, even before family.
II. I have chosen to focus on Nora’s character because in emphasizes two aspects of feminism. There is the side at the beginning of the play where Nora is the perfect stay at home wife who has tea with friends, is looked upon in society, and keeps her husband motivated and happy. Then we encounter the strong independent Nora towards the end; who decides that it is her time to live and packs up to start her own life; leaving behind her marriage and her children.
III. Petersen, Fredrick. “Henrik Ibsen’s Drama “A Doll’s House”.” Aftenbladet [Kristiania] 9 Jan. 1880: n. pag. National Library of Norway. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
This analysis focuses on the lack of forgiveness in a marriage. The fact that it was so hard for either parties to forgive there wrong doings and attempt to work things out.
IV. Skram , Amalie. “A Reflection on A Doll’s House”. Dagbladet [Kristiania] 19 Jan. 1880: n. pag. National Library of Norway. Web. 08 Apr. 2014.
In this analysis it explains how women, like Nora, begin to live off of the type of marriage that they first form with their husbands. For instance, Torivald treated her like a spoiled child who immediately received what she asked for, things always being handed to her easily. She focused more on what her friends or the community thought about her rather than focusing on her children and on her family. As soon as her marriage started to dissolve, it was easy for her to walk away and leave everything and just start a new life like she had done at the very beginning.
V. Templeton, Joan. “The Doll House Backlash: Criticism, Feminism, and Ibsen.” PMLA104.1 (1989): 28-49. JSTOR. Web. 2 Apr. 2014
This analysis aims at Nora and from my understanding, emphasizes on the fact that Nora only used that marriage to build herself and her reputation up. She was easy to walk away knowing that she had already accomplished what she had set in mind.
VI. Unknown, “‘A Doll’s House’, A Play in 3 Acts by Henrik Ibsen. Social Demokraten 23 Dec. 1879: n. pag. National Library of Norway. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
This analysis emphasizes its readers to understand that real life stories, like the one portrayed in this play, do exist. Real-time family situations where she is a “trophy wife” while the husband is the bread winner for the family. In a way, it stands up for women who after a while become fed up with their position and one day unexpectedly, decide to leave everything and begin their own life; even if it means leaving everyone behind.
VII. Vullum, Erik. “A Doll’s House”. Dagbladet [Kristiania] 13 Dec. 1879: n. pag. National Library of Norway. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
In this article, it aims direction towards Nora and questions her true value towards her family. How as soon as her marriage dissolves, she automatically leaves and even leaves her own children behind. It describes Nora as something unnatural and artificial.
Conclusion:
Nora represents the opposite of the modern age housewife. The one who starts off being the typical stay at home wife who raises her kids while her husband is the one working while she lives off of luxuries. Towards the end, she decides that it's her time to live and become independent; packs her things and leaves, leaving behind everything including her own kids.
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