An Analysis of A Doll’s House and the beginning of modern realism
The identity of women is a socialistic issue that is still being discussed to this day. The issue is brought to life in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. In this analysis I will discuss and compare the qualities of a well-made play, the examples of heredity, environment, economics, and the relationship to money as it applies to the play, realism and naturalism, in the form and style, of the play, and the ways in which Ibsen is viewed as a radical thinker. In the late eighteen hundreds, Eugene Scribe popularized the “well-made play” formula. The formula consisted of various points that Scribe described as needed for a well written play. The first point being that the plot is …show more content…
An example of realism would be the family dynamic that is portrayed and written into A Doll’s House. There is a father, Helmer, a mother, Nora, and the presence of children. Another example comes in the style of the script, in the various titles that Helmer uses to call Nora. One point he says, “Has my little spendthrift been making all the money fly again?” (Ibsen 3). Ibsen wrote the script, to have Helmer use these pet names, to show the problems with the social standard of women. There are other instances, however, when Helmer has something to gain over Nora, like authority for example, where he called her by her actual name. Ibsen was careful to not allow nonrealistic devices, such as asides and soliloquies, and motivate all of his expositions. Examples of this in A Doll’s House comes when Nora confides in Mrs. Linde about the situation that she has created for herself with the borrowing of the …show more content…
The naturalist movement pushed theatre into a direction, whereas the action in scripts and on stage should be an exact replication of how people would react and live in real life. A prime example of naturalism comes in the opening stage directions of A Doll’s House. The directions say, “A room comfortably and tastefully, but not expensively, furnished. In the background, to the right, a door leads to the hall,” (Ibsen 2). The directions then go on to state the places for the various pieces of furniture, as well as other doors and windows, which are found in the
The identity of women is a socialistic issue that is still being discussed to this day. The issue is brought to life in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. In this analysis I will discuss and compare the qualities of a well-made play, the examples of heredity, environment, economics, and the relationship to money as it applies to the play, realism and naturalism, in the form and style, of the play, and the ways in which Ibsen is viewed as a radical thinker. In the late eighteen hundreds, Eugene Scribe popularized the “well-made play” formula. The formula consisted of various points that Scribe described as needed for a well written play. The first point being that the plot is …show more content…
An example of realism would be the family dynamic that is portrayed and written into A Doll’s House. There is a father, Helmer, a mother, Nora, and the presence of children. Another example comes in the style of the script, in the various titles that Helmer uses to call Nora. One point he says, “Has my little spendthrift been making all the money fly again?” (Ibsen 3). Ibsen wrote the script, to have Helmer use these pet names, to show the problems with the social standard of women. There are other instances, however, when Helmer has something to gain over Nora, like authority for example, where he called her by her actual name. Ibsen was careful to not allow nonrealistic devices, such as asides and soliloquies, and motivate all of his expositions. Examples of this in A Doll’s House comes when Nora confides in Mrs. Linde about the situation that she has created for herself with the borrowing of the …show more content…
The naturalist movement pushed theatre into a direction, whereas the action in scripts and on stage should be an exact replication of how people would react and live in real life. A prime example of naturalism comes in the opening stage directions of A Doll’s House. The directions say, “A room comfortably and tastefully, but not expensively, furnished. In the background, to the right, a door leads to the hall,” (Ibsen 2). The directions then go on to state the places for the various pieces of furniture, as well as other doors and windows, which are found in the