A Doll's House Brief Notes

A Dolls House: Characterization
Nora
- Does not have the key to her own house
- Called by petnames/animal names by her husband
- Treated like a dolldressed up
- Treated as if she were a childLinde and Helmer
- Manipulative
- She is conscious of her choice to be a doll, put on the mask, around
Helmer
- Takes pride in working
- Represented by the Christmas Tree
- Good Mother
- Rascal (by Rank)
- Sex symbol: Torvald wants me to go as a Neopolitan fisher lass and
dance the tarantella
Helmer
- Proud
- Concerned with image and reputation
- Commands authority
- Possessive
- Superficial
Linde
- Lower statustravelling clothes
- Pragmatici
Krogstad
- Wants to regain reputation
- Motivated by family and reputation
Society
Becomes personified and a character/villain through Ranks line Do
you know in fact what Society is?
- Heartless The law takes no account of motives
- Cold and unforgiving Fur coat, over-shoes, and a fur cap
Relationships
- Nora & Torvald: Dont communicate enough/properly
- Linde & Krogstad: True love
- Nora & Rank: Flirtatious, open, honest, intimate
- Nora & Nursemaid: Open, Honest
Characteristics of a Well-made Play

Clear Protagonist
Clear Antagonist (Villain)
Clear roles
Reveals what happened before the start of the play during the play
Props are used (E.g. the letter reveals Noras secret)
Happy ending
Ibsens play starts out as a well-made play with a clear villain

(Krogstad). However, it deviates from the well-made play when
Krogstad shows a change of heart and audience finds out more about
Krogstads past and motives for threatening Nora. Society and its
values become the villain.
- Do you know in fact what Society is? rank
- Krogstad is established as the villain the strange man wont do
anything to Mummy
Cultural Setting and Context
- A wife cant borrow without her husbands consent
- Money is power It was almost like being a man
- Dont borrow money from someone close (Nora to Linde about Rank)
- Patriarchial society A mans better at coping with these things than a
woman
- When you are gone, you are soon forgotten (Nora; Contrast with
Handmaid)
On the other hand, A Dolls House is a play penned by Henrik Ibsen
and was completed in 1879. The play is set in Norway, encompassing
European cultured values of both the playwright and the society at
time of writing. Henrik Ibsen also believed that husband and wife
should both be of equal status, going against the European Christian
belief at the time. The three-act play tells the story of Nora Helmer,
wife to Torvald and the mother of three children.
Themes:
Freedom
Realism
Ibsens A Dolls House follows the structure of a well-made play that
includes a clear protagonist, a clear villain, the antagonist, Krogstad,
props such as the letter that reveals the truth, and plot that has
happened before the time/setting of play being explained through
carefully crafted exposition through characters lines. However, the
illusion of the play being a well-made play is shattered when Nora,
instead of accepting Torvalds forgiveness and ending the story with a
happy ending (deemed happy during the time of writing), instead
leaves her children and husband to pursue her duty to self.
Atwoods Handmaids Tale incorporates realism through the eyes and
descriptions of Offreds daily life under the fictional Gilead regime. The
novel is more of a psychological realism, which explains the motivation
behind actions, especially through Offreds thoughts where she reasons
with herself.
Doubling
Linde is a foil to Nora
Offred is a foil to Serena Joy
Moira is a foil to Offred in terms of the way they resist
Offred and Commander VS Nora and Torvald
Gender Roles
Power
Role of an individual in societyIf the question were to ask about

FREEDOM, it is the best possible question to answer for the two book
cause both books look into the different kinds of freedom whether it be
for offred; away from the oppressive society or for nora it being away
from torvald and finding herself. so you can explore the different
dimensions of freedom within society for the various characters.
SIDE NOTE: mainly for the 2 works, it a lot of characterization, the
reason why i thought there were little similarities cause i was looking
at the general theme which is not where it overlaps. to find similarities
you have to look at the imagery used and how the characters develop.
eg: nora swearing and eating of macaroons behind torvald back = to
the thoughts that run through offred head.
janine can be said is accepting of her reality = (in a way) to Torvald in a
doll's house. as they both are willing to submit to society and follow in
society's rules.
you can compare and contrast a lot of the relationships like:
Nora and Torvald VS. Luke and Offred.
the imagery lies a lot in how the stage is set in a dolls house and how
description of gilead through offred eyes such as how she describes
the lawns, quite like stepford wives. ( important to note that she is an
unreliable narrator)
if a question of power and reputation is to come up:
the idea of money = to the notion of having a child in gilead.
the reason why themes is hard to integrate is because even though
they are social commentaries; ibsen one is more of just a criticisms
where as atwood's involves a more broad message. plus the idea of
religion despite being MASSIVE in handmaid's has barely any mention
in a doll's house.
if you really wanted themes; the theme of human rights is still there to
be talked about which is fairly obvious in the handmaid's tale.
like the reputation and the different classs of women (unwomen sorta
like mrs linde)
oh and one more thing; in my opinion not really sharples cause he
doesn't really see it but if the questions comes up about the sequences
of events, its a pretty good one to do despite there is little similarities
but there is a lot to talk about.

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A Dolls House: Characterization

Characteristics of a Well-made Play

Ibsens play starts out as a well-made play with a clear villain

Role of an individual in societyIf the question were to ask about

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