A Doll House Drama Analysis

Obedience and authority are seen as a priority in the plays” Antigone, A Doll’s House, and Trifles”. In the three plays women disobey men authority following their beliefs. In each play men enforce their authority over women; women are treated as if they were less than men. Antigone a woman with strong beliefs and morals revels against her uncle Creon. In A Doll’s House Nora was treated as pet by her husband Helmer until she opens her eyes. He always refers to her with nicknames as “little sky-lark, little squirrel, little singing bird, little sweet tooth” (148-149). He compares Nora with defenseless animals and tiny things. In

Our society’s gender roles are constantly evolving and changing, all in the name of “progressive thinking”, though not all for the good. With a new “social norm” appearing every few years or so, it comes as a surprise that it

In the 19th and 20th century, realism in theatre was a common occurrence. Realism is presenting a person, thing, or event in its true colors (“Realism”). Even throughout the Great Depression, Broadway and theaters managed to stay afloat. Its popularity began to surge, and there were 200 to 275 new shows coming out per year (Early 20th Century Theatre). Most of these shows were strictly for entertainment. Themes were often romantic, about happy endings and true love. However, some productions began to turn away from the stereotypes of shows during this time. In the 1920s and ’30s, shows became more extravagant and helped influence some of the most iconic American productions (Theatre of the 20th Century and Beyond). As a result, shows like

Ibsen's drama "A Doll's House", serves as an example of the kind of issue-based drama that distinguishes Ibsen from many of his contemporaries. The play's dialogue is not poetic, but very naturalistic, and the characters are recognizable people. Given the sense of modernity which the play possesses it seems unusual to compare it to a Greek tragedy produced more than two-thousand years previously.

According to Ibsen’s statement, he states that moral laws are divided into two, one for women and the other for men. He’s claiming that the “moral laws” that society has implanted has double standards. Ibsen and Wilde present gender roles through morality, marriage, food delicacies, dance and wealth. These four factors affect how the characters in both plays are viewed by society. Both writers present the expectations society has for both genders. They highlight the obscurity, the society

Marriage is a lot of work for two individuals who do not have the qualifications mastered. A marriage must be full of steady communication and cannot contain a spouse to be selfish. The attitudes portrayed among the couple determines a lot in their relationship. Throughout A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, readers can see how the lack of communication and honesty tore a marriage apart. Throughout the entire play, Torvald is treating Nora as if she is a child. He viewed her as nothing more than a beautiful yet fragile women. Torvald saw himself as the “king leader” of the household resulting in him not having much communication with his dear wife. The story gradually shows the fate in their marriage as Nora begins to

Simon Stephens’ modern adaption of the 1879 play by Henrik Ibsin, A Doll’s House, has allowed for audiences to experience the intense play in modern times. With Carrie Cracknell’s effective use of realism conventions and elements of drama, she has successfully displayed themes of deception to the audience. The play follows the story of Nora Helmer, and all the interactions between 6 other characters that follow while she maintains a major secret from her husband Torvald. The director demonstrates combined use of elements of drama along with realism conventions to effectively portray the themes of betrayal such as roles and relationships, use of the fourth wall, and personal objects. Her effective use of these conventions has led to a brilliant adaption of the classic play A Doll’s House.

A Dollhouse by Henrik Ibsen is the story of one woman’s struggle to free herself

A Midsummer Night’s Dream & A Doll’s House, written by William Shakespeare and Henrik Ibsen respectively, are plays that have a varying number of themes. These two plays are centuries apart yet, they share a strikingly similar approaches in regards to the themes that are scattered throughout both plays. Such themes consists of love and marriage, deceit and honesty and most noticeably the relationship between men and women. Though they share many of the same thematic elements, their stories are completely different from one another.

As act I of “A Doll’s House” begins, the scene is set to impress the audience “with vivid descriptions of a room “furnished with taste, but nothing too extravagant”. (Ibsen) The first to enter is Nora. Nora walks in with her arms full of bags after shopping, and her husband, Torvald calls from another room to make sure it is her he hears coming through the door. Torvald sets limits on Nora’s spending; he treats her as both a child and a doll. The way in which the characters in the play treat, and react to one another, shows the selfish intentions in which the expectations of society hold of them.

In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House, the play is framed around symbolism and its irony.

In “A Doll House” by Henrik Ibsen was created during 1800s time period. This play helps shine a light on the gender roles of the 1800s while also creating a twist that was uncommon for this period. During this time period, women were left home to oversee the domestic duties, while men went to commuted to work (Hughes). Men were seen as physically superior but morally inferior to women; which is also portrayed within this book (Hughes). This play marks the beginning of Henrik Ibsen’s realist period, which he explored the ordinary lives of small-town people (Kirszner and Mandell 881). This “modern tragedy” helped make Ibsen famous internationally because of the real-life story it captured (Kirszner and Mandell 882). Henrik Ibsen uses an array of literary devices to help keep the reader captivated from beginning to end. Three of the most prominent literary devices used by Henrik Ibsen are symbolism, foreshadowing, and an array of themes. These literary devices help transform a basic play into a complex story of lies and deception.

Through the development of characterisation, Lawler’s text acts as a mirror for an emerging society. Whilst the play encompasses many significant themes relevant to an Australian 1950’s society, the disillusionment of growing old is a concept which is addressed through characters Roo and Olive, who evidently find their discoveries both confronting and provocative. Lawler demonstrates reluctance to grow old through Roo, Olive’s love interest who has been consistently travelling to Melbourne for the lay-off season every 5 months with his friend, Barney. Roo a dominant, masculine cane cutter who after seventeen years is reluctant to address that he has aged significantly, is adamant to believe that he still possesses the same strength and endurance that he once did. It appears that he is blinded by the excitement of the lay-off season to accept that seventeen years later, he is not the same person that he once was. Roo’s disillusion is notable in Act 3 Scene 1 when he demonstrates a defensive tone when responding “Nobody tells me I’m old. I’m as good as a man now than I ever was”, when confronted by Emma. Through Roo’s distinctive voice, Roo’s reluctance to accept that he has aged is significant in understanding Roo’s response to his unwanted discovery.

A Doll’s House uses literary devices throughout its entire three acts to tell a story about not only marriage, but the hardships that happen in life. Not only is Nora and Helmer affected in this play, but everyone else is also affected in the play as well. A Doll’s House tells the story of a simple family that lives a life that many people do today. This play illustrates how a once wonderfully happy family can fall apart at the blink of an eye. Now, throughout this essay new criticism will be applied to A Doll’s House and discuss all the different literary devices, followed by what they add to the story.

Ibsen also employs the use of many smaller themes within his play, A Doll House. Respect and reputation, love, lies and deceit, and money are just a few of these smaller themes. Respect and reputation are something that the men of this play are obsessed with. Some of the men have good standing in society and would do anything to keep it. While other men have lost their good name and would go to great lengths to get it back. Even though the play is set in a private home, the reader knows that the public eye is constantly peeking in. Another important theme that Ibsen puts in to this play is love. He uses the