A Doll's House (Ibsen) Background

Ibsen’s Life & Works  Had a love child with a servant. He never saw the child but supported him financially. Ironically, in his works, the father shelters the children-there are no missing father figures.  Suffered financial hardships as a child, which is reflected in some plays. E.g. Nora had to loan money for Tovrald to travel to Italy. They also have conflicts over money within the household.  Self-exiled himself to Italy- Tovrald traveled to Italy for treatment. Italy has a temperate climate meanwhile Norway is extremely cold.  Later life: Plays explore emotional and mental state instead of denunciating society’s moral values/rejections of society/attack on society’s norms. They were more symbolic & physiological-char   Most successful work: Peter Grynt Ibsens’s Views on Drama & Writing  Thought of drama as a medium for making change. More specifically how women were trapped in traditional gender roles. Reception on a doll’s house How was your understanding of the cultural and contextual elements developed through the interactive oral? What you knew before and what you know now

The interactive oral presentations gave background to Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s house by providing background information on the author and the time period during which is was performed. Each presentation gave insight to a different aspect on topics such as Ibsen’s life and works, nineteenth century Norway society and the reception to A Doll’s house at the time and later on. As a modern audience member, it is difficult to perceive the amount of shock that those observing the play during the 20th century had experienced. When I first read the play, I did not take into consideration the social limitations in Norway at the time, which meant I did not view the actions of Nora with particularly strong emotions. It did seem irresponsible for Nora to be leaving her children but considering the oppression and bigotry she experiences throughout the play, it is hardly impossible for her to feel the need to escape. After the interactive orals however, I learned of the reactions from the 20th century audience realized the impact of her actions them. In 20th century Norway, women had a much lower social status than men meaning little rights and control over themselves and their family. They were expected to dedicate their whole lives to household duties and catering to their husbands every demand. Keeping this in mind, it is understandable as to why the audience had such a disproving reaction to the last scene where Nora leave’s her family for personal discovery. This was such a shock that not only was the audience outraged but the actress portraying Nora refused to take on the role unless Ibsen changed the ending to one where Nora gives Torvald a chance and stays. Critics today have many different views on the play. Some say it is outdated and cannot evoke the same emotions from the audience as it did during Ibsen’s time. The only shock factor would most likely be Nora walking out on her children and not the fact that she rejected the expectations from society on her as a woman. Others argue that the play still remains iconic, especially in countries still striving for women’s suffrage. Strangely enough, the play received positive reception in China, a country that is still relatively male chauvinistic. The female audience in China felt empowered by the message conveyed through Ibsen’s plays, leading to a Chinese remake focusing more the aspect of arranged marriage. Regardless of the different reviews, A Doll’s house still remains as an exemplary play in the area of realism.