A Doll’s House Notes by Danielle Hernandez

by Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen o Norwegian playwrighto The literary plays of his time were fluffy French romantic pieceso Ibsen dealt with political, social, and moral issues of the time o A Dolls House was produced in 1979o It reflects the basic Victorian life

The male is a benevolent dictator and the woman is the frail, childish, housewife who is her husbands accessory.

o He was the borderline between classical Romanticism and more of a Realism Dark Romanticism However, the issues he addresses are not necessarily important. He does not specify how she

survives in the end.o Ibsen believed that, in order to truly be free, you had to get rid of ghosts from the pasto Ibsen is the father of modern drama

Tragedies, supposedly, involve someone who is in a high place and goes through a tragic personal flaw.

Ibsen disagrees and feels that ordinary people can have a tragedy He did away with many stage devices commonly used in the time such as:

Mistaken identities Bloody fights Tearful melodrama Large casts Etc. BUT he did not do away with these.

With the letter in the letterbox, he uses common suspense mechanism He used characters as foils

o Kristie She married first for the money

Nora, at the end of the play, she realizes that she did the same thingo Nora's father

He was very controlling and moralizing Torvald substitutes the father in this

o Nora found comfort with the maids as a child Nora finds comfort in Dr. Rank after her marriage

Nora's Legacy in Literatureo She was kind of a symbol for feminism, liberation, and equality o It is ironic that so many people have cheered her because she DID walk out on her family (the

cornerstone of any era is family). This is exactly Ibsen's point. Victorians cared about maintaining APPEARANCE

There are, however, skeletons in the closet All is not always what it seems to be. To be truly free, you have to deal with these problems

Pet nameso My little… whatevero They are demeaning termso Torvald does not give her any credit for any amount of intelligence whatsoever.

The Macaroonso She plays right into his treating her like a child by hiding the macaroons and then lies to him

Torvald's Career

o He was in lawo Now he's a bank manager

Appearanceo Wealth=Appearanceo She had, last Christmas, made her own decorations and stuff to keep up appearance during their

financial hardshipso Although they don't have much money, they have servants.

Kristineo She married a man for his money because her mother was ill and she had to support her brotherso She had an unhappy marriage.o She is now a widowo She came to Nora hoping that Torvald can get her a job in the bank.

Another motivation for Krogstad's future blackmail. However, when she tries talking to Nora, Nora is very rude and babbles on about herself

We NEED her to be self-absorbed, though, because we get the insight about Torvald's illness

Torvald's healtho He was in law at the time and lost his job and got himself thinko Nora tells Kristine that she saved his life and paid for it all herselfo Women were not allowed to take out loans on their own.o She wanted to get the money from her father but he had passed on alreadyo Nora never told Torvald about this and she does understand his pride and this stems from society

It would destroy him to think that he owed her- the little woman- something She is putting things in bizarre aspects and is playing games of her own- she is not that stupid

after allo Nora implies that she has a lover on the side who is giving her the money

Nora does not believe that she did anything wrong because there is a larger issue at stake. This is very naïve. Forgery

o She forged her father's signature on the documents and dated it from after he was already deceasedo This IS a crime

Kristine and Krogstado They used to be in loveo Both of them have had unhappy marriages and are widow and widowero Krogstad is left with 3 children. o Krogstad comes to the Helmers' home

Kristine tells Nora that she knows her She then tells Kristine about his life and a "diseased moral character"

Dr. Ranko He has a terminal disease and doesn't have much timeo He has syphilis o Nora lets on that she knows some things about his condition

Nora lies to Torvald o She gives this huge story about how Kristine came just to see him for a jobo She also flatters him

With her Childreno She only has her children summoned to her when she wants and so, when with them, she seems like a

perfectly loving mother Krogstad's Bribe

o He comes in while she is here with her children and he threatens hero He threatens her wit blackmail.

He wants to keep his good job at the bank to fix his reputation for his children's sake. Nora then dares him to tell Torvald but there is the more serious matter of the forgery.

The documentso The document that she forged was a loan or an IOUo The ends justify the means in her eyeso Krogstad attacks this point o Then she tries to be confident and doesn't pull that whole crying bid

However, you know that she is upset because when he leaves and the children come back in, she refuses to play with them

What he dido Nora actually asks Torvald why Krogstad is a bad mano Ironically, he committed forgery o Torvald claims that most criminals had a deceitful MOTHER

He believes women are too stupid to function Nora is "pale with terror" after she is told that she may poison her home

Act II

Opens on Christmas dayo Every time Nora hears something, she thinks there is someone thereo She is definitely agitated and paranoido This is also when she starts to contemplate her leaving her children to the care of the nurse. o Kristine comes in to help Nora with her costume

This is when they begin speaking of Dr. Rank They say he has "consumption of the spine" and his father had all kinds of "excesses"

Then Kristine was shocked to know that Nora would know something like this Syphilis is not spoken about in "gentile society"

o Nora asks Kristine about the loan when Torvald comes in and is trying to flirt with him and coax him into allowing Krogstad to keep his job.

She tries to convince him by appealing to his reputation She tells him that Krogstad may slander him in the papers BUT he will not do it because it wouldn't look good to his staff. The reason that Torvald wants him dismissed is because Krogstad acts as if they were on the

same level. GET OVER YOURSELF! It's petty She tells him that this is narrow minded He is definitely dismissing him NOW out of SPITE! He sends out his dismissal letter. She gives a final warning and he says he's man enough to take on the consequences

Dr. Ranko He comes telling her he has not much time left o He doesn't want Torvald there when he dies because Dr. Rank has a more refined natureo He gives more hints to the Syphilis. o Then Dr. Rank professes his love to Nora and he has loved her for a long timeo She is made extremely uncomfortable by this. o She was on the verge of asking him for the money but now she can'to Now she has to make up some other secret to tell him.

Krogstad comes back againo Nora says that she tried to keep his job for him o He tells her that it will only be between the 3 of them. o She doesn't want Torvald to know, stillo NOW he tells her tat he isn't going to give back the document. She now can't destroy it. o She admits to contemplating running away or killing herself. o He has a letter for Torvald explaining it and he just wants to get on with it.o He's being a hypocrite because he is trying to rehabilitate his morals but is doing such with blackmailo NOW he doesn't want to just keep his job but have Torvald's position in the future.

Kristine finally figures out what is going on

o She says that telling Torvald is the best thingo She has Kristine as her witness in the case that she kills herself or runs away so that no blame will be

upon her husbando Kristine is going to talk to Krogstad and Nora is going to distract her husband.

This is when their past comes out. Distraction

o Nora pretends that she needs coaching in her dancing to buy timeo She even, specifically, tells Torvald NOT to open the letter box.

How STUPID is this!?o The Tarantella

She is dancing frantically and irrationally and hysterically A dance that came from ridding your body from the poison after being bit by a toxic tarantula She is actually dancing for her life

Kristine and Krogstad meeto Kristine tells Krogstad that she came to find himo She proposes marriage and has faith in his ever fault and wants a relationship with no secrets. They will

be on equal footing Contrast to Nora and Torvald.

o Krogstad will take the letter back. Kristine says "no" because she feels that she is helping their marriage in this.

Fancy Dress Ballo Symbolically

A symbol for assuming another identity and putting on an act. Nora changes out of her costume after the ball before leaving which is also symbolic

o When they finish, Torvald is drunk but is STILL bossy and instructs Kristine in knitting and embroidery. He is still acting like her OWNS Nora.

His sexual drunken fantasies are even dominating Dr. Rank comes in

o Rank and Nora have a little "code language" going ono Rank comes to say that he is finally going to die. Torvald doesn't get it.

The Letter Boxo It was trying to be picked. Nora blames the children.o Torvald opens it and first finds Rank's death note.

The truth is outo When Torvald is reading THE letter, Nora decides to drown herself.

THEN Torvald comes storming in and begins ranting. She then refers to her wanting to commit suicide and her husband doesn't care! Her life matters

not! He only thinks of HIS reputation! YET he wants to hush these matters up and pretend nothing is fine. HOWEVER, he will not let her raise the children now.

o Another letter comes He says, "I am saved." He then includes her being saved as an afterthought Then he begins being all fluffy to her again and starts being such a fecking hypocrite! He now wants to be her hero and is going to "save her"… from WHAT!?

The final conversationo You know the deal in THIS part…o She has changed and wants to have a serious conversation o He is MISSING the POINTo He never loved her but only liked the idea of being in love with her. o She is doll in a doll house and was her father's and Torvald's doll as her children have been her doll

children.

o He feels like there is hope and promises that he will teach her. This is still patronizing! o She must educate herself and declares she will leaveo Torvald forbids it… what will people say? AGAIN HIS reputation!o This next speech was put in by Ibsen in order to try to hush the scandal he knew would come from

leaving the children She explains that she is doing this because every human being has a right to self-actualization

o She says that she loves you no longero He says "No one would sacrifice their honor for the one they love"

She says that thousands of WOMEN have done thiso He is now becoming panicky and is saying he'll change. He asks if they could even live like brother and

sister. o She is completely disconnecting herself from her family and calls him a stranger.

The play ends at the New Year. It is, for Nora, a new beginning.