Citics

Question 1

Ronald Grey (1977)

Answer 1

•“Nora’s character lacks substance and is a villainous portrayal of a melodramatic female”
•“Nora shows no sign of having seen the kind of man Helmer is”
•“Torvald’s character is too exaggerated to be taken seriously”

Question 2

Joan Templeton (1989)

Answer 2

•“Speaks the truth of the human soul”
•”Play used as a form of propaganda for feminists”
•”Embodies the comedy as well as the tragedy of modern life” (Nora)

Question 3

Reactions on early performances

Answer 3

•Early European responses focused on ending
•Progressive interpretations praised it’s accurate depiction on thousands of families
•See Ibsen’s resolution as hopeful
•Traditional interpretations saw Nora’s character as less than noble and maternal “unrealistic”
•Perceived as an attack on marriage

Question 4

Reactions by Ibsen

Answer 4

•”Marriage must by wholly cancelled”
•Didn’t write the play “consciously for the cause of women”

Question 5

Smallwood

Answer 5

“Everyone in Ibsen’s play suffers under the binding ties of patriarchy”

Question 6

Jesse Green

Answer 6

“Ingenious plot demonstrates that marriage is not the only cage”
-Who tries to discover herself as a full unan will meet with disaster

Question 7

Michael Billington

Answer 7

“Timeless study of the need for domestic honesty and spiritual liberation”