'A Doll's House' - Critical Flashcards
(30 cards)
Gail Finley
“Ibsen was widely credited with virtually inventing the emancipated woman”
Joan Templeton
“A Doll’s House is about every woman’s’ struggle against Everyman”
A M Rekdal
“She exploits the whole register of femininity”
Sally Hedger
“Suppressed her own opinions and tastes to suit those of, firstly, her father, and, her husband”
Michael Meyers - s
“His security depends upon feeling superior”
“Helmer is shown to be weak”
Maurice Valency
Valency dismissed Nora’s awakening as “an example of female hysteria”
Michael Meyers - l
“Ibsen shows romantic love to be an illusion, inhibiting the free development of the individual”
Nick Worrall
“Throughout the play, Nora adopts a series of poses. With Helmer she is the child-wife who uses her sexuality to get her way and is pleased to be pampered and protected”
Nessar Uddin
Nora “act as Ibsen’s mouthpiece of the women emancipation… [representing] an individual’s liberation from the shackles and restraints of society”
Liam McNamara
“It is made clear that Torvald’s apparent ‘strength’ is wholly dependent on Nora’s ‘weakness’”
obert Dean
Christine represents an “independent woman’s voluntary return to a patriarchal institution”
M V Brun
“There is not…. a single point which justifies her action, and the transformation of her character, which the playwright forces to happen, is so untruthful, unattractive and unmotivated”
1973 film adaptation (director: Patrick Garland)
Nora imitates the sounds and actions of animals in response to Torvald’s name calling, especially when he gives her money — this reinforces Nora’s deceptive fulfilment of her dehumanised role as Torvald’s property and doll-wife
both Nora’s dance routine and Torvald’s prideful reaction to her performance is shown
Torvald slaps Nora after reading Krogstad’s letter, this physical violence hyperbolises his lack of love or genuine respect for Nora
2007 stage adaptation (director: Lee Breuer)
A
male characters played by dwarves while the female characters were played by women over 6 foot tall
plays on the absurdity of the social order, makes Torvald’s patronising and condescending tone all the more comedic and ironic, seeing as Nora towers above him
women having to squeeze themselves into a cramped set that takes no account of their proportions — represents how society caters to men and ignores the capabilities of women, preventing them from being comfortable and truly free
symbolises societal restrictions and suggests that the true potential of women goes far beyond these restrictions and can barely be contained
Olive Schreiner
“Sides of women’s nature that are not often spoken of and some people do not believe exist”
David Thomas
“Torvald…. is as much a victim as Nora”
Lesley Ferris
Ferris studied female performance across history
the chapter titled ‘The Wilful Woman’ in her book ‘Acting Women: Images of Women in Theatre’ (1990) is particularly relevant to this play
she argues that plays in which women make decisions that men disagree with almost always end with the woman’s punishment
Sally Ledger
“Christine Linde acts as a catalyst for Nora’s rebellion”
rewriting of the ending in some productions
the ending was so far from being happy that in some countries, the being of the play was rewritten so that all is resolved and Nora stays
for instance, in Germany, Torvald finds Nora in Mrs Linde’s house, she asks if he has forgiven her and he pulls out a bag of macaroons as a symbol of forgiveness and redemption
in another German production, Nora is confronted with her children and chooses to stay
Michael Meyer (Ibsen’s biographer) - s
“A Doll’s House is no more about women’s rights than Shakespeare’s Richard II is about the divine right of kings”
first production of the play
immense pressures placed on women
in the first production of the play, one of the engravings on the Helmers’ wall was the Sistine Madonna (a painting of the Virgin Mary)
a Madonna is an idealised, virtuous and beautiful woman
the fact that this was featured in the first production reflects the burdens placed upon women like Nora to be perfect wives and mothers — she is simultaneously expected to be virtuous and pure but also beautiful and sexually attractive
arguably, this is a near impossible identity to adopt and severely restricts what women are able to become
Henrik Ibsen
ADH is often hailed as a work of feminist literature despite Ibsen himself denying that he worked “consciously for the cause of women” and that he is “not even quite clear what the cause of women really is”
Elizabeth Hardwick
Hardwick argues that the main emotions driving the action of Ibsen’s plays are “resentment and grievance”
this is certainly evident in ADH — happiness is certainly not a major emotion underlying the play
George Bernard Shaw
argued that the moment when Nora stops indulging in her emotions, sits down and demands a serious talk with her husband “conquered Europe and founded a new dramatic art”
