English2 Essay
Mglhuu9
secondary_source.docxSource: Masterplots II: Juvenile & Young Adult Literature Series, Supplement ; March 1997, p1-2
Article Author: Henry, Joyce E.; Includes bibliography
Document Type:Work Analysis
Biographical Information: Ibsen, Henrik Full Name: Henrik Johan Ibsen
Locale
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HenrikIbsen Born: March 20, 1828; Skien, Norway Died: May 23, 1906; Christiania (now Oslo), Norway
First produced: 1879
First published: Et dukkehjem, 1879 (English translation, 1880)
Subjects: Family, gender roles, and social issues
Type of work: Drama
Type of plot: Domestic realism and social realism
Time of work: The late nineteenth century
Recommended Ages: 13-18
Locale: A comfortable room in the Helmer residence
Nora Helmer, a young wife and mother who is proud of her efforts to restore her husband’s health
Torvald Helmer, a lawyer who is protective and paternal in his role as Nora’s husband
Dr. Rank, a family friend
Kristine Linde, a widow, Nora’s childhood friend and confidante
Nils Krogstad, a fired bank clerk
A Doll’s House , a realistic three-act play, focuses on late nineteenth century life in a middle-class Scandinavian household, in which the wife is expected to be contentedly passive and the husband paternally protective. Nora Helmer, however, has subverted this model. At that time, a woman could not sign a legal contract alone; thus, when her beloved husband, Torvald, became ill, Nora secretly obtained a loan by forging her father’s signature so that they could travel to a warmer climate. As the play opens, Torvald is about to become manager of the bank and Nora has almost repaid the loan through odd jobs and scrimping on the household expenses. Nora discloses her actions to her friend Kristine Linde and exults in her accomplishment.
The structure of the play is linear; after the exposition, the action becomes complicated with the appearance of Nora’s debtor, Nils Krogstad, a man disgraced by crimes that he committed to protect his family. Insecure in his position at the bank, he threatens to expose Nora’s loan and forgery unless she pleads his case to Torvald. In her ignorance, Nora had not fully understood that forgery is a criminal act.
The major conflict of the play, concerning honesty in marriage, arises from this situation. Nora cannot discuss the blackmail with her husband, since her role in their relationship is that of a charming child; thus, she must plead for Krogstad. Torvald, however, refuses to hear her plea, labeling Krogstad morally lost for the crimes that he committed and not fit to bring up his children. The parallel is not lost on Nora, who sends her children away from her at the end of the first act.
Nora’s fear increases when Torvald rejects her second plea and fires Krogstad. As Kristine helps with her costume for the Christmas party, Nora confesses that Krogstad has left a letter to Torvald in the mailbox revealing everything. She is convinced that now a wonderful thing will happen — that, when Torvald discovers her actions, he will assume the blame and that she then will commit suicide. As the second act ends, Nora dances a violent tarantella in an effort to distract Torvald from opening the mailbox.
The final act begins with Kristine and Krogstad resuming a relationship formerly hindered by their economic circumstances. Although Krogstad now regrets his blackmail, Kristine decides that the letter should remain in the mailbox and that Torvald must discover the truth. Torvald reads the letter and immediately denounces Nora as a liar and a criminal, the destroyer of his future. When another letter arrives containing the promissory note, however, Torvald realizes that he is “safe.” He forgives Nora, promising to “be conscience and will” to her thereafter. In the classic scene that follows, Nora speaks openly with her husband, the first such occasion in their entire married life, and admits her ignorance of herself and the world beyond. Declaring that she must leave Torvald and the children to find herself, she leaves and slams the door behind her.
When Henrik Ibsen wrote A Doll’s House, the institution of marriage was sacrosanct; women did not leave their husbands, and marital roles were sharply defined. The play, which questions these traditional attitudes, was highly controversial and elicited sharp criticism. The character of Nora Helmer, a favorite with actresses seeking a role of strength and complexity, has dominated the play from its inception. She is the one who gains audience empathy, who grows through the course of the play. Some early critics viewed Nora as a prime example of the “new woman,” a breed seeking independence and self-definition, and the play as a polemic advocating women’s rights. Some insisted that although a woman might leave her husband, she would never leave her children. Later critics faulted Nora’s sudden conversion from a sheltered child stroking her husband’s ego to a mature woman seeking independence. Yet, others maintained that Ibsen skillfully foreshadows Nora’s departure in her behavior throughout the play in her gaiety, generosity, and unselfishness. Further, Ibsen himself declared that he was not writing solely about women but instead about issues of his society and about the need for individuals, both men and women, to be true to themselves.
Thus A Doll’s House can be viewed thematically not only as a picture of an innocent nineteenth century woman struggling to achieve self-definition but also as a devastating indictment of a routine marriage between two ordinary people who lack awareness of themselves and who have differing views of right and wrong. Torvald unquestioningly accepts society’s dicta of the husband as the breadwinner and moral authority, but Nora’s attempt to conform as the submissive wife forces her into lies and deception. Both care about what people think; neither consciously considers opposing society’s mores.
The need for communication contributes to the thematic pattern of the play. Nora and Torvald communicate only on the most superficial level; he speaks from the conventions of society but neither sees nor hears her, while she can only play out the role that he has constructed for her. This inability or unwillingness to express themselves verbally leads to unhappiness and pain.
The theme is echoed in the subplot of Kristine and Krogstad, both of whom have struggled with the cruelties of society. Kristine endured a loveless marriage in order to support her elderly mother and young brothers; Krogstad was forced into crime in order to care for his ill wife and children. Although within the plot their union seems somewhat contrived, Ibsen characterizes them as aware of themselves and honest with each other.
One of Ibsen’s masterful touches is the use of concealment as a motif; it permeates the play in several manifestations and reinforces the major theme of the need for openness in marriage. Nora’s first word, “hide,” initiates the motif. Thereafter, she hides the Christmas presents, lies about eating macaroons, continues to deceive Torvald into believing that she is a spendthrift and flighty female, and invents distractions to prevent him from opening the mailbox. Torvald too participates in concealment. Fearing exposure in the third act, he starts and orders “Hide, Nora! Say you’re sick” when the doorbell rings.
The primary agent of empowerment in A Doll’s House is money. Private and public rewards result from its presence. It enabled Nora and Torvald to travel to Italy for his health. Money from Torvald’s new salary at the bank will provide prestige for the Helmers and allow Nora, in particular, to breathe more easily. Yet, all the major figures — Torvald, Nora, Kristine, and Krogstad — have been affected adversely by its absence: from the deception in the marriage of Torvald and Nora to the prior unhappy marriage of Kristine and the criminal acts of Krogstad.
In the complex pattern that Ibsen has created, lack of self-knowledge, inability to communicate, and unthinking conformity to convention affect the institution of marriage most adversely.
A Doll’s House is an important play both for its subject matter and for its method. Frequently anthologized and often revived, its subject matter, the exploration of a marriage, carries universal interest. Along with Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler (1890; English translation, 1891) and Gengangere (1881; Ghosts, 1885), the focus on the behavior of a specific woman helped to pave the way for plays in which women in major roles think and behave as complex human beings rather than as cardboard figures.
Ibsen’s method is equally notable; he achieves his effects through plainness and economy. The dialogue in A Doll’s House is spare and conversational and true to each character. There are no long bombastic or poetic speeches; each exchange carries the action forward. Much of the emotional progress is nonverbal; the slamming of the door in the final moment is truly eloquent.
Ibsen chose a three-act, linear, climactic structure, almost classic in its regard for the Aristotelian elements of time and place but also a model for the realistic movement, with its emphasis on everyday, domestic details. The time span is three days, specifically Christmas Eve through the day after Christmas. The setting, a room in the Helmer household, is carefully described, with furniture and objects that help to delineate the characters.
A watershed, A Doll’s House marked the beginning of Ibsen’s greatest period of creativity, as well as a new direction for theater itself.
Essay by: Joyce E. Henry
