Ingrid Guardado

Ms Hanneman W2

IB English Literature

3 Apr 2017

Doll’s House IO Research Topic 6

1. “Ibsen is often thought of as the grandpappy of realist drama. Other playwrights wrote in

this genre—like Chekhov, Strindberg, Shaw, and O'Neill—but Ibsen was the pioneer” (A

Doll's House Writing Style).

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➔ Ibsen wrote Doll’s house and included Realism, one of the first people to include realism

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in writing which influenced all of these other writers.

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2. “Nora of A Doll's House has often been painted as one of modern drama's first feminist
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heroines. Over the course of the play, she breaks away from the domination of her

overbearing husband, Torvald. The playwright, Henrik Ibsen, denied that he had
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intentionally written a feminist play, preferring to think of it as "humanist" (A Doll's

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House Theme of Women and Femininity).

➔ Nora forges the signature in order to do something without a man’s consent.

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➔ Throughout play Nora builds up to break away from her husband and at the end, Nora

leaves her husband.

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3. “The Rise of Naturalism: Action on stage simplified and lifelike, characters

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psychologically motivated and physiologically correct in the way that looked and acted

on stage” (Tracey Sanders ACU).

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➔ Dialogue between characters is very realistic, a form of extreme realism. Shapes the way

Nora and other characters develop.

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 4. ‘“ Doll's House is the first full-blown example of Ibsen's modernism.’ Moi has selected a

series of plays to illustrate the development of Ibsen's thought and his theatre” (Byatt).

➔ A different style of writing, again Ibsen was one of the first to introduce.

➔ How Nora breaks her roles of being a “doll” or as only a “wife and mother”. More

contemporary issues

5. “A Doll's House is a play of social criticism in the sense that it has criticized the

traditional marriage, man-woman relationship and the domination of the female by the

male in the name of love or family” (A Doll's House as A Play of Social Criticism).

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➔ Doll’s House unlike many plays of its time, Ibsen’s writing style later influences more

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pieces like it.

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➔ Nora unlike many women of her time- questions her marriage and decides to leave her
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husband.

➔ Torvald does not question Nora until she no longer falls for the Illusion of love and even
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then, Torvald does not apologize for what he has done to Nora through the years.
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6. “One of the reasons why A Doll's House was often banned was because it was bluntly

criticizing the actual society of the time, and not because it was immoral or vulgar. No
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doubt, it criticized the lack of justice and humanity in the treatment of women like Laura

Kieler during the late 19th century” (A Doll's House as A Play of Social Criticism).
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➔ Contemporary play involving real life issues. Symbolism used with thee illusion of love
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and more, also reflects on the struggles of women then and now.

7. “But idealism was not just an important element in the reception of A Doll's House. It is
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also embedded in the play, most strikingly in the character of Torvald Helmer, a card-

carrying idealist aesthete if ever there was one. Moreover, Helmer's idealism and Nora's

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 unthinking echoing of it make them theatricalize both themselves and each other, most

strikingly by taking themselves to be starring in various idealist scenarios of female

sacrifice and male rescue.” (Moi).

➔ Idealism vs Realism, realism is explored as a style of writing in the novel but idealism is

more of the perspective or idea that is shown in the novel.

8. “Ibsen is considered to be the father of modern realistic drama. His plays attacked

society’s values and dealt with unconventional subjects within the form of the well-made

play (causally related)” (Introduction to Theatre -- Realism).

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➔ Goes along with the idea of social criticism and how Ibsen was the first to do many

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things while writing Doll’s House white influenced many other writers.

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9. “Later in life, Ibsen turned to more symbolic and abstract dramas; but his "realism"
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affected others, and helped lead to realistic theatre, which has become, despite variations

and rejections against it, the predominant form of theatre even today.” (Introduction to
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Theatre -- Realism).
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➔ Doll’s House is like many plays today - first of it’s kind during the time

➔ Ibsen influenced many

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10. “The moment of A Doll's House marks a clear shift in the increasingly intense cultural

battle between idealists and emerging modernists in Europe” (Moi).

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➔ Shows the shift in literature caused by Doll’s House and Ibsen’s unique writing styles
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Works Cited

“A Doll's House as A Play of Social Criticism.” A Doll's House as A Play of Social Criticism,
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www.bachelorandmaster.com/globaldrama/a-dolls-house-as-a-play-of-social-

criticism.html#.WOGGTIHyu00. Accessed 2 Apr. 2017.

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 Byatt, AS. “Review: Henrik Ibsen and the Birth of Modernism by Toril Moi.” The Guardian,

Guardian News and Media, 16 Dec. 2006,

www.theguardian.com/books/2006/dec/16/stage.asbyatt. Accessed 2 Apr. 2017.

“Introduction to Theatre -- Realism.” Introduction to Theatre -- Realism,

novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/spd130et/realism.htm. Accessed 2 Apr. 2017.

Moi, Toril. “"First and Foremost a Human Being": Idealism, Theatre, and Gender in A Doll's

House.” Modern Drama, University of Toronto Press, 1 Nov. 2006,

muse.jhu.edu/article/205457. Accessed 2 Apr. 2017.

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Shmoop Editorial Team. “A Doll's House Writing Style.” Shmoop, Shmoop University, 11 Nov.

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2008, www.shmoop.com/dolls-house/writing-style.html. Accessed 2 Apr. 2017.

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Shmoop Editorial Team. “A Doll's House Theme of Women and Femininity.” Shmoop, Shmoop
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University, 11 Nov. 2008, www.shmoop.com/dolls-house/women-femininity-theme.html.

Accessed 2 Apr. 2017.

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“Tracey Sanders ACU.” Tracey Sanders ACU, 2006,

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resource.acu.edu.au/trsanders/units/modern_drama/ibsen.html. Accessed 2 Apr. 2017.

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