Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Johan Ibsen was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playwrights of his time. His major works include Brand, Peer Gynt, An Enemy of the Peopl…
What is the significance of the title Doll and house?
There are two important aspects of the play, which the title directly points to: the doll and the house. The doll represents Nora the central character, and the house stands for the house of Helmer where Nora lives.
Why did Ibsen name the play a doll's house?
Ibsen names his drama A Doll's House because Torvald treats his wife Nora as a toy. Nora is Torvald's prized possession. He treats her as a child; therefore, the title is befitting. Torvald has childish nicknames for Nora, and she responds to his game as if she is actually his doll, a toy in which gives him pleasure:
Is ‘a doll’s house’ based on a true story?
Before we offer an analysis of A Doll’s House, it might be worth recapping the ‘story’ of the play, which had its roots in real-life events involving a friend of Ibsen’s. The play opens on Christmas Eve. Nora Helmer has returned home from doing the Christmas shopping.
What is the setting of a doll's house?
The home of the Helmer family in an unspecified Norwegian town or city, circa 1879. A Doll's House (Bokmål: Et dukkehjem; also translated as A Doll House) is a three-act play written by Norway's Henrik Ibsen.
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What is the doll house based on?
Real-life inspiration. A Doll's House was based on the life of Laura Kieler (maiden name Laura Smith Petersen), a good friend of Ibsen. Much that happened between Nora and Torvald happened to Laura and her husband, Victor.
What is the setting of the play A Doll's House?
Modern tragedy. Setting. The home of the Helmer family in an unspecified Norwegian town or city, circa 1879. A Doll's House ( Danish and Bokmål: Et dukkehjem; also translated as A Doll House) is a three-act play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.
Why did Ibsen write a doll's house?
Ibsen wrote A Doll's House when Laura Kieler had been committed to the asylum. The fate of this friend of the family shook him deeply, perhaps also because Laura had asked him to intervene at a crucial point in the scandal, which he did not feel able or willing to do.
What was the most performed play in 2006?
It aroused a great sensation at the time, and caused a "storm of outraged controversy" that went beyond the theatre to the world newspapers and society. In 2006, the centennial of Ibsen's death, A Doll's House held the distinction of being the world's most performed play that year.
When was the play "A woman cannot be herself in modern society" written?
Ibsen started thinking about the play around May 1878, although he did not begin its first draft until a year later, having reflected on the themes and characters in the intervening period (he visualised its protagonist, Nora, for instance, as having approached him one day wearing "a blue woolen dress"). He outlined his conception of the play as a "modern tragedy " in a note written in Rome on 19 October 1878. "A woman cannot be herself in modern society," he argues, since it is "an exclusively male society, with laws made by men and with prosecutors and judges who assess feminine conduct from a masculine standpoint!"
When was A Doll's House first performed?
A Doll's House received its world premiere on 21 December 1879 at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, with Betty Hennings as Nora, Emil Poulsen as Torvald, and Peter Jerndorff as Dr. Rank. Writing for the Norwegian newspaper Folkets Avis, the critic Erik Bøgh admired Ibsen's originality and technical mastery: "Not a single declamatory phrase, no high dramatics, no drop of blood, not even a tear." Every performance of its run was sold out. Another production opened at the Royal Theatre in Stockholm, on 8 January 1880, while productions in Christiania (with Johanne Juell as Nora and Arnoldus Reimers as Torvald) and Bergen followed shortly after.
Who played Nora in A Doll's House?
Nora (played by Vera Komissarzhevskaya) dresses the Christmas tree, 1904. A Doll's House questions the traditional roles of men and women in 19th-century marriage. To many 19th-century Europeans, this was scandalous. The covenant of marriage was considered holy, and to portray it as Ibsen did was controversial.
What is the significance of the title of a doll's house?
The Significance of the Title A Doll's House. The title of A Doll's House is symbolically significant as well as highly suggestive of the message that Ibsen seems to have intended to convey through the play. There are two important aspects of the play, which the title directly points to: the doll and the house.
What is the doll in Nora the play?
There are two important aspects of the play, which the title directly points to: the doll and the house. Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) The doll represents Nora the central character, and the house stands for the house of Helmer where Nora lives. If we read the play carefully and understand it critically, we feel that the word "doll" has been used in ...
How long has Nora been Helmer's doll?
As Nora says at the end of the play, she had been her father's doll until her marriage and she has been Helmer's doll for eight long years since her marriage. The word 'doll' suits Nora if we look at her with the traditional or uncritical eye, as Helmer or Mrs. Linde would look, or rather as they would like Nora to be.
What does the doll mean in Nora?
"Doll" signifies passivity, beauty, and the basically feminine nature which is seen in Nora when we look at her from outside. Indeed, from the viewpoint of Helmer, who is basically a traditionally possessive ...
What is the difference between "home" and "home"?
The word "house" also has symbolic suggestions and thematically significant connotations. "House", as contrasted to "home", means 'a structure or shelter to live in' , unlike "home" which means 'a house where one's family lives and one gets love and care". "Home" is an emotively charged word, whereas "house" is not.
Is Nora's house a home?
Indeed, for Nora, the house of Helmer has never been a home; it has been a house. As we see her in the beginning, Nora is mainly satisfied with her living place, her house; so, it is her 'home' indeed.
Is the house of the dolls a house?
Another ironic indication in the use of the word "doll's" is that the house does not belong to the doll. Nor is it made or maintained for her. The house, not home, is Mr. Torvald Helmer's. In one sense, he possesses the house, along with the doll! The house, therefore, seems to belong to the doll; but actually it is her cage.
Monday, February 23, 2009
At what moment in the play do you understand why it is called A Doll’s House?
The Meaning of the Title: "A Doll's House"
At what moment in the play do you understand why it is called A Doll’s House?
Why does Nora dance in the Tarantella?
In a climactic scene, Nora literally dances to save her life. The Tarantella was an Italian dance named after the tarantula spider whose poison was once believed to induce an uncontrollable urge to dance. Oddly, the cure prescribed was for the poison victim to dance to exhaustion.
What is the most famous play of the nineteenth century?
Consistently it is the most performed of Ibsen’s plays and it was the most famous play – in any language – of the nineteenth century. From its first production, A Doll’s House has sparked debate. It is so well constructed that every scene puts more and more pressure on Nora until she’s pushed to the breaking point. If you didn’t encounter the play in high school or college it’s likely that your kids will at some point.
Is A Doll's House translated into Norwegian?
During his process of translating the play, Sean got to nerd out on research and learned that it was not written in modern Norwegian as he had previous thought, but in a 100 year old dialect called Dano- Norwegian. Since Norway was a colony of Denmark the dialect was spoken by the urban elite in Norwegian cities. This is Taylor’s second adaptation for the company as he did the adaptation for our 2006 production of Cyrano de Bergerac.
What is the significance of the doll house?
A Doll’s House is one of the most important plays in all of modern theatre. It arguably represents the beginning of modern theatre itself. First performed in 1879, it was a watershed moment in naturalist drama, especially thanks to its dramatic final scene. In what has become probably the most famous statement made about the play, ...
Who wrote the play A Doll's House?
A Summary and Analysis of Henrik Ibsen ’s A Doll’s House. A Doll’s House is one of the most important plays in all modern drama. Written by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen in 1879, the play is well-known for its shocking ending, which attracted both criticism and admiration from audiences when it premiered.
What is a well made play?
This conventional play, the plot of which A Doll’s House follows with consummate skill on Ibsen’s part, is a French tradition known as the ‘well-made play’. Well-made plays have a tight plot, and usually begin with a secret kept from one or more characters in the play (regarding A Doll’s House: check), a back-story which is gradually revealed ...
Is A Doll's House a classic example of a conventional play?
Indeed, these scenarios are well-known to anyone who’s read Ibsen’s play, because A Doll’s House is itself a classic example of this kind of conventional play. Yes: the shocking power of Ibsen’s play lies ...
Does Krogstad know Nora's secret?
But Krogstad knows Nora’s secret, that she forged her father’s signature, and he tells her in no uncertain terms that, if she lets her husband sack him, Krogstad will make sure her husband knows her secret.
Overview
A Doll's House (Danish and Bokmål: Et dukkehjem; also translated as A Doll House) is a three-act play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having been published earlier that month. The play is set in a Norwegian town circa 1879.
List of characters
• Nora Helmer – wife of Torvald, mother of three, is living out the ideal of the 19th-century wife, but leaves her family at the end of the play.
• Torvald Helmer – Nora's husband, a newly promoted bank manager, professes to be enamoured of his wife but their marriage stifles her.
Synopsis
The play opens at Christmas time as Nora Helmer enters her home carrying many packages. Nora's husband Torvald is working in his study when she arrives. He playfully rebukes her for spending so much money on Christmas gifts, calling her his "little squirrel." He teases her about how the previous year she had spent weeks making gifts and ornaments by hand because money wa…
Composition and publication
A Doll's House was based on the life of Laura Kieler (maiden name Laura Smith Petersen), a good friend of Ibsen. Much that happened between Nora and Torvald happened to Laura and her husband, Victor. Similar to the events in the play, Laura signed an illegal loan to save her husband's life – in this case, to find a cure for his tuberculosis. She wrote to Ibsen, asking for his recommendation of her work to his publisher, thinking that the sales of her book would repay he…
Production history
A Doll's House received its world premiere on 21 December 1879 at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, with Betty Hennings as Nora, Emil Poulsen as Torvald, and Peter Jerndorff as Dr. Rank. Writing for the Norwegian newspaper Folkets Avis, the critic Erik Bøgh admired Ibsen's originality and technical mastery: "Not a single declamatory phrase, no high dramatics, no drop of blood, not even a tear." Every performance of its run was sold out. Another production opened a…
Analysis and criticism
A Doll's House questions the traditional roles of men and women in 19th-century marriage. To many 19th-century Europeans, this was scandalous. The covenant of marriage was considered holy, and to portray it as Ibsen did was controversial. However, the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw found Ibsen's willingness to examine society without prejudice exhilarating.
Adaptations
A Doll's House has been adapted for the cinema on many occasions, including:
• The 1922 lost silent film A Doll's House starring Alla Nazimova as Nora.
• The 1923 German silent film Nora directed by Berthold Viertel. Nora was played by Olga Chekhova, who was born Olga Knipper, and was the niece and namesake of Anton Chekhov’s wife. She was also Mikhail Chekhov's wife.
Sources
• Brockett, Oscra G; Hildy, Franklin J (2002). History of the theatre. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. ISBN 9780205410507. OCLC 228061773.
• Dukore, Bernard F., ed. 1974. Dramatic Theory and Criticism: Greeks to Grotowski. Florence, KY: Heinle & Heinle. ISBN 978-0-03-091152-1.
• Innes, Christopher (2000). A sourcebook of naturalist theatre. London: Routledge. ISBN 0415152291. OCLC 896687433.