English Paper : 16

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TYBA SEM. 5 Core Course in English (CCE 16)

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Course Title: Non-British Masters
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Course content:
Unit 1: Text: Catch-22 (Novel) - Joseph Heller
Unit 2 Text: A Doll’s House (Play) - Henrik Ibsen
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Semester end examination:
Q. 1 Long Answer Question (Unit 1) (1/2) 14 Marks
Q. 2 Long Answer Question (Unit 1) (1/2) 14 Marks
Q. 3 Long Answer Question (Unit 2) (1/2) 14Marks
Q. 4 Long Answer Question (Unit 2) (1/2) 14 Marks
Q. 5 (A) Short Notes Question (Unit 1) (1/2) 07 Marks
Q. 5 (B) Short Notes Question (Unit 2) (1/2) 07 Marks
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 Unit 1: Text: Catch-22 (Novel) - Joseph Heller

Summary:
Catch -22 is a satirical novel by American write Joseph Heller,
published in 1961. The work centers on Captain John Yossarian, an
American bombardier stationed on a Mediterranean island during World
War II, and chronicles his desperate attempts to stay alive. Yossarian
interprets the entire war as a personal attack and becomes convinced that
the military is deliberately tryong to send him to an untimely death. He
therefore spends much of the book concocting ever more inventive ways
of escaping his missions.
The "catch" in Catch - 22 involves a mysterious Army Air Forces
regulation which asserts that a man is considered insane if he willingly
continues to fly dangerous combat missions but that if he makes the
necessary formal request to be relieved of such missions, the very act of
making the request proves that is sane and therefore ineligible to be
relieved. The term catch -22 entered the English language meaning "a
problematic situation for which the only solution is denied by a
circumstance inherent in the problem."
Catch-22 exhibits a bewildering chronology, eith its beginning taking
place more than halfway through the events described, and it proceeds in
a series of looping flashbacks. Most of the novel takes place on the
Mediterranean island of Pianosa in 1944, where Yossarian is a
bombardier serving under the indecisive and ambitious Colonel Cathcart,
who continually raises the number of missions the men are required to fly
before their tours of duty are completed. Yossarian is promoted to captain
after a mission in Ferrara, Italy, in which, after missing a bridge, he flies
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back a second time and successfully destroys it, though a squadron
member is killed.
Yossarian shares a tent with Orr, who crashes his plane on every
mission but always survies, and with the belongings of Mudd, who was
killed in action two hours after his arrival on base but before being offcially
checked in. The mess officer, Milo Minderbinder, gradually turns his
mission to acquire food into an international black-market syndicate in
which he eventually enlists the enemy Germans, at one point even having
German planes (bearing the logo of his syndicate) bomb his own base
(resutling in Mudd's death). Other characters include the flight surgeon
Doc Daneeka and Hungry Joe, who suffers screaming nightmares except
when he has missions to fly.
The central event of the story is a raid on Avignon, France. During
the mission the incompetent copilot Dobbs seizes the controls from Huple,
the 15 year old pilot, and the radio-gunner, Snowden, is killed. His grisly
death has a profound effect on Yossarian, who appears naked at the next
formation and at Snowden's funeral. From that point on, Yossarian,
acutely aware of his mortality, strives to avoid death at all costs. In an
attempt to cancel a dangerous raid on Bologna, Italy, Yossarian
convinces Colonel Korn that the enemy has a weapon that can glue a
formation of planes together in midflight. Although the mission is
eventually approved, Yossarian, flying with pilot Kid Sampson and copilot
Nately, pretends that the intercom is broken in order to force them back to
base early. The rest of the squadron returns unharmed. On another raid
Yossarian's plane is hit, largely due to the incompetence of the illness in
order to take refuge in the hospital, a tactic he uses frequently to avoid
combat.

3
 During a mission to Leghorn, Italy, Yossarion suffers a leg wound
that results in his being hospitalized again. While there he and airman
Dunbar take on the identities of other patients. After putting his hand up
Nurse Duckett's skrit, Yossarian is sent to the hospital psychiatrist, who
concludes that he is crazy he was examining A. Fortiori, it is Fortiori who
get sent home.
After returning to his tent, Yossarian declines Orr's request to fly with
him, and on his next mission Orr crashes into the Mediterranean and does
not return. Cathcart then orders an attack on an undefended village in
order to produce pleasing photographs for General Peckem. Dunbar,
however, dumps his bombs a safe distance from the village. On a
subsequest training run Yossarian threatens to strangle the pilot McWatt
for performing dangerous aerial stunts. Later McWatt playfull buzzes the
beach in his plane and accidentally slices Kid Sampson in half; he then
deliberately crashes his plane a mountain. Because Doc Daneeka was
falsely listed on McWatt's manifest, it is assumed that he also died, and
he is thereafter unable to convince anyone, including his wife, that he
remains alive.
After four young recruits are assigned to Yossarian's tent, yossarian
escapes to Rome with Hungry Joe. WHile there Yossarian helps Nately
rescue a prostitute being held by some senior officers. Nately is in love
with the woman, and she now returns his affections. Later Nurse Duckett
tells Yossarian that she has overheard a plan to "disappear" Dunbar; after
that, Yossarian cannot find Dunbar. The number of required missions is
raised to 80 and both Dobbs and Nately are killed in combat. Yossarian
begins walking backward and refuses to fly more missions. He is sent to
Rome to rest. WHen he tells the prostitute about Nately's death, she
blames Yossaian and makes repeated attempts to kill him, even after he
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returns to Pianosa. However, when he learns that permission. He is
unable to find either the prositute or her younger sister, and Rome has
become shocking barbarous. He goes to the officers' apartment, where he
finds that Aarfy has raped and killed a maid. The military police arrive and
arrest Yossarian for being in Rome without a pass.
Facing possible court-martial, Yossarian is affered a deal by Korn
and Catchcart. They will promote him to major and send him home if he
pretends to be friends with the two officers and shows support for their
policies. Yossarian grees, but as he is leaving, Nately's prostitute,
disguised as a private, stabs him. In the hospital a mysterious man tells
Yossarian,"We've got your pal." Yossarian reflects that his only remaining
friend is Hungry Joe, but the chaplain tells him that he too has died.
Yossarian decides to renege onthe deal. The chaplain returns to tell him
that Orr has been found living in Sweden, and Yossarian decided to go
there. As he leaves the hospital, Yossarian evades another murder
attempt.
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10 LQ:
Q.1 Summarize 'Catch-22'. OR Give plot overview of 'Catch-22'.
Ans. During the second half of World War II, a soldier named Yossarian is
stationed with his Air Force squadron on the island of Pianosa, near the
Italian coast in the Mediterranean Sea. Yossarian and his friends endure
a nightmarish, absurd existence defined by bureaucracy and violence :
they are inhuman resources in the eyes of their blindly ambitious superior
officers. The squadron is thrown thoughtlessly into brutal combat
situations and bombing runs in which it is more important for the squadron
members to capture good aerial photographs of explosions than to
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destroy their tragets. Their colonels continually raise the number of
missions that they are required to fly before being sent home, so that no
one is ever sent home. Still, no one but Yossarian seems to realize that
there is a war going on; everyone thinks he is crazy when he insists that
millions of people are trying to kill him.
Yossarian's story forms the core of the novel, so most events are
refracted through his point of view. Yossarian takes the whole war
personally : unswayed that his life is in constant danger through no fault of
his own. He has a strong desire to live and is determined to be immoral or
die trying. As a result, he spends a gret deal of his time in the hospital,
faking various illnesses in order to avoid the war. As the novel progresses
through its loosely connected series of recurring stories and anecdotes,
Yossarian is continually troubled by his memory of Snowden, a soldire
who died in his arms on a mission when Yossarian lost all desire to
participate in the war. Yossarian is placed in ridiculous, absurd,
desperate, and tragic circumstances- he sees friends die and disappear,
his squadron get bombed by its own mess officer, and colonels and
generals volunteer their men for the most perilous battle in order to
enhance their own reputations.
Catch-22 is a law defined in various ways throughout the novel. First,
Yossarian discovers that it is possible to be dicharged from military
service because of insanity. Always looking for a way out, Yossarian
claims that he insane, only to find out that by claiming that he is insane he
was proved that he is obviously sane- since any sane person would claim
that he or she is insane in order to avoid flying bombing missions.
Elsewhere, Catch-22 is defined as a law that it is illegal to read. Ironically,
the place where it is written that it is illegal is in Catch-22 itself. It is yet
again defined as the law that the enemy is allowed to do anything that one
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can't keep him from doing. In short, then, Catch-22 is any paradoxical,
circular resoning that catches its victim in its illogic and serves those who
have made the law. Catch-22 can be found in the novel not only where it
is explicity defined but also throughout the characters' stories, which are
full of catches and instances of circular resoning that trap unwitting
bystanders in their snares- for instance, the ability of the powerful officer
Milo Minderbinder to make great sums of money by trading among the
companies that he himself owns.
As Yossarian struggles to stay alive, a number of secondary stories
unflod around him. His friend Nately falls in love with a whore from Rome
and woos her constantly, despite her continued indifference and the fact
that her kid sister contantly interferes with their romantic rendezvous.
Finallly, she falls in love with Nately, but he is killed on his very next
mission. When Yossarian brings her the bad news, she blames him for
Nately's death and tries to stab him every time she sees him thereafter.
Another subplot follows the rise of the black-market empire of Milo
Minderbinder, the squadron's mess hall officer. Milo runs a syndicate in
which he borrows military planes and pilots to transport food between
various point in Europe, making a massive profit from his sales. Although
he claims that "everyone has a share" in the syndicate, this promise is
later proven false. Milo's enterprise flourishes nonetheless, and he is
revered almost religiously by communities all over Europe.
The novel draws to a close as Yossarian, troubled by Nately's death,
refuses to fly any more missions. He wanders te streets of Rome,
encountering every kind of human horror- rape, disease, muder. He is
eventually arrested for being in Rome without a pass, and his superior
officers, Colonel Cathcart and Colonel Korn ofer him a choice. He can
either face a court-martial or be released and sent home with an
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honorable discharge. There is only one condition : in order to be released,
he must approve of Cathcart and Korn and state his upport for their policy,
which requires all the men in the squadron to fly eight mission. Although
he is tempted by the offer, Yossarian realizes that to comply would be to
endanger the lives of other innocent men. He chooses another way out
deciding to desert the army and flee to neutral Sweden. In doing so he
turns his back on the dehumanizing machinery of the military, rejects the
rule of Catch-22, and strives to gain control of his own life.
Q.2 Doc Daneeka. OR Character Portrayal of Daneeka.
Ans. Doc Daneeka is a fictional character in the 1961 novel Cotch-22 by
Joseph Heller. Doc Daneeka is the squadron physician and a friend of the
novel's protagonist, Yossarian. "Catch-22" itself is first explained in the
novel when Yossarian asks Doc Daneeka to excuse him from combat
duty. Doc Daneeka is also the title of Chapter 4 of the novel.
Doc Daneeka's main motivation throughout is fir his own welfare, if
that be making money or protecting his own life. He generally forgets his
moral duty as a physician except in the most extreme of circumstances.
Doc Daneeka's goal before he is drafted into the war is to make a
successful business out of his medical practice based in New York, he
has stated that "my most valuable medical tool is my cash register." He
lies to the drafting board about his health in an attempt to avoid the war
and become well-off, as the competition is drafted instead.
Once he is drafted, his main goal is to get through the war alive. He
is a phypochondriac who never gets ill, and is looking to avoid anything
that would increase the risk to his life. He sees ennecessary risks to
include displeasing his superiors for grounding crew and being shipped off
to the Pacific Ocean, water and its ability to drown a man, and having to
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fly in a claustrophobic aircraft, which he likens to "climbing back into the
womb."
Doc Daneeka is regularly explaining to his good friend Yossarian
why he cannot ground him, even though Yossarian helps him collect his
flight pay without having to fly. His fears and the constraints of military
bureaucracy prevent him from helping his friend. He shows unusual
compassion to Yossarian after the death of Snowden.
Doc Daneeka feels the military is responsible for his being drafted
into the war effort and put in harm's way, because they were distrustful of
him when he lied on his drafting papers about his health. He is constantly
scared of upsetting his superious South Pacific. Already he sees it as
military cruelty to have been assigned to the Air Corps even though he is
scared of flying.
Doc Daneeka, as squadron physician, is meant to supervise Gus and
Wes who run the medical tent, basically leaving the growing bureaucracy
to decide who is ill enough to be sent to hospital, without reference to
medical expertise. This climaxes when Gus and Wes pronounce Doc
Daneeka dead at the medical tent against the obvious fact that he is
standing alive in front of them.
Doc Daneeka finally foul of the bureaucratic processes that are
central to Catch-22 : when McWatt flies his plane into the mountain after
he accidentally kills Kid Sampson, Doc Daneeka's name is on McWatt's
crew manifest. Doc Daneeka was not on board the plane, but had an
arrangement with McWatt to falsely record his name on the manifest so
he could collect flight pay. Doc Daneeka attempts in vain to convince the
bureaucracy that he is alive, but the process has already started. He tries

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to convince his wife that he is not dead, but fails. His wife gives up on him
as his death leads to her financial benefit.
Doc Daneeka is forced to share a tent with Chief White Halfoat,
whom he is scared of. He is also concerned that he will catch pneumonia
from Chief White Halfoat, who is obsessed that he will soon die of
pneumonia.
During Milo's bombing of the airbase and the death of Snowden, Doc
Daneeka shows the compassion for others he lacks throughout the rest of
the novel. During the bombing, Doc Daneeka risks his life by attending to
the wounded inthe field while Yossarian and treats him for shock.
At the end, Doc Daneeka's bureaucratic death convinces him that
maybe he is, in fact dead. Corporal Whitcomb develops the idea of writing
and sending home form letters of condolence from Colonel Cathcart to
those who died or went missing in combat. To cover all circumstances,
the letter reads as a vague letter that could imply any type of death of any
form of relative. At home, Mrs. Daneeka receives one of these form letters
that her husband has died in combat. She later receives a cheque from
his GI insurance for $250 to finace his funeral. She then continues to
receive donations and other insurances that Doc Daneeka paid for. As the
proceedings continue to accumulate, she later appears to be pleased that
her husband is dead.
Doc Daneeka, enraged with thick headedness of the military, writes
hime two letters to his wife, Mrs. Daneeka, addressed by himself. His wife
feels uncertain after acquiring the first and asks if it is possible the military
made a mistake, but is assured that the letter is simply the work of a
"sadistic and psychotic forger". Doc Daneeka fitilelty composes his
second letter which she now believes to be a hoax. The book makes note
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that she and her children move to a new place; she leaves no forwarding
address, and no further reference of her existence throughout the rest of
the story.
Doc Daneeka's last appearance in the story is in his tent with
Yossarian and Chief White Halfoat, who is about to go up to the hospital
to die of pneumonia. His last speech implies that he has accepted that he
is bureaucratically a dead man : 'He's dead',Chief White Halfoat gloated,
with a horse laugh entangled in phlegm. That's really funny.'
'I don't even draw my pay any more.'
'That's really funny', Chief White Halfoat repeated. 'All this he's been
insulting my liver, and look what happened to him. He's dead. Killed by his
own greed.'
That's not what killed me,'Doc Daneeka observed in a voice that was
calm and flat. 'There's nothing wrong with greed. It's all that lousy Dr.
Stubbs' fault, getting Colonel Cathcart and Colonel Korn stirred up against
flight surgeons. He's going to give the medical profession a bad name by
standing up for principle. If he not careful, he'll be black-balled by his state
medical association and kept out of the hospitals.'
Yossarian and Chief White Halfoat ignore him, acting as if he is not
there. Doc Daneeka disappears from the story at his point.
Q.3 Discuss the character of Yossarian.
Ans. The protagonist of Catch-22 is Captain John Yossarian, age twenty-
eight, a bombardier in the 256th Squadron of the Twenty-seventh Air
Force, stationed on Pianosa during World War II. Critics often refer to
Yossarian as an antihero. By that, they mean that he is a leading
character who is unlike-perhaps the opposite of - classic heroes of
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mythology or legend, such as homer's Odysseus. Classic heroes usually
are endowed with exceptional physical trength, ability or natural beauty.
Odysseus for example, was a great warrior blessed by the gods and
strengthened, or physically altered, by them when necessary to his best
interests. When appropriate, he was made to appear as the most beautiful
of men. Such heroes usually belong to a ruling class, are birn to
greatness, and transcend their peers in courage and devotion to a cause.
War brings out the best in them; they love battle and relish in victory.
Some, like Odysseus, are especially wise or cunning; but they do not
devote much of their time contemplation. They are men of action, and
their actions are noble. They prefer death to dishonor.
This is not Yossarian. Yossarian may be a good friend, a lively
companion, even a lovable scamp. But he is no hero and would not want
to be one. In contrast, the captain not endowed with great strength, ability
or natural beauty. He is of common birth and certainly does not believe
that the gods are with him. As a warrior, he would just as soon be a
civilian. Yossarian considers concepts like "courage" and "heroism" to be
foolhardy at best and deadly in the end. Initially, the only cause he is
devoted to is his own survival; he needs to grow and develop as a
character before he thinks of others. He loves women, or at least sex,
much more than fighting. Victory, for Yossarian, would be a free ticket
home. The Captain can be cunning and clever, but he is not a man of
action so much as a man of avoidance. He worries a lot and freely admist
to being a coward. Yossarian prefers life over any attempt at glory.
Yossarian does grow and change as a character, but he is always an
antihero. Early in his military career, while stationed at Lowery Field,
Colorado, in 1942, he discovers the joy of malingering and the refuge of
the hospital. He fakes appendicitis, avoiding training as he begins a long,
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loving relationship with hospital life. A helpful English physician suggests
that Yossarian should fake a liver ailment rather than appendicitis, the
former being much more difficult to diagnose and treat.
Structurally, the novel opens and cleses with hospital scenes. The
hospital is Yossarian's home away from home and much more civilized
than the war front. People die in hospitals, but they do so with more
decorum. There is less screa,ing, and death is seldom a surprise. One of
Yossarian's happiest Thanksgivings is spent in the Lowery Field hospital;
it is so good that he considers spending every Thanksgiving in a hospital.
But by the time the protagonist is in cadet training, at Santa Ana,
California (1943), he is having an affair with his commanding officer's wife
on Thanksgiving, still indulging in behavior atypical of a classic hero.
Bombardier Yossarian arrives on Pianosa early in 1944. That spring,
he erforms a feat that might be considered heroic; he lives to regret it. The
squadron has been trying to destroy a bridge at Ferrara for a week
without success. On yet another raid, Yossarian is unable to release his
bombs on the first run. He orders his flight to take a second pass at the
target. This time, he succeeds in knocking out the bridge; but a young
airman named Kraft is killed. Kraft's death haunts Yossarian despite the
fact that Colonel Cathcart decides to promote Yossarian to Captain and
award him the Distinguished Flying Cross. Yossarian has ha enough of
heroics.
In the raids on Bologna and Avignon (in late June and July 1944),
Yossarian has no interest in medals. WHen the first Bologna mission is
announced, Yossarian manages to get it canceled by moving the red satin
ribbon on the easel map in the intelligence tent. This ribbon is the line,
indicating the farthest advance of Allied troops; no bombs are to be
dropped south of it, so Yossarian simply moves the line north of Bologna,
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confusing the commanding officers. The ploy eventually is discovered and
the Bologna mission rescheduled. By now, Yossarian is braver than he
was at Ferrara. He is so brave, the narrator tells us, that he avoids the
raid altogether. Yossarian convinces his pilot, Kid Sampson, that they
must turn back because of a faulty intercom. Surprisingly, the squadron
meets little resistance over Bologna that day; however, the mission must
by repeated because they miss the targets. On the second Bologna raid,
Yossarian is rewarded for his cowardice by flying lead bombardier. The
flak is merciless, and his plane is hit but not knocked down. Yossarian is
even more certain that he wants no more of war. During the Avignon
mission, Snowden is mortally wounded. This event haunts Yossarian to
tend Snowden's wounds in flight. He thinks he has performed adequately
until he discovers that Snowden's worst has not even been addressed.
When Yossarian is not hiding in the hospital, he seeks refuge in
Rome, the Eternal City. Much of his time in Rome is spent seeking
women. Yossarian's relationships with women are assuredly less than
heroic. He claims to fall in love with every bed partner, scar whom he
meets at a club in Rome, is the most romanticized of his lovers. Sheis an
earthy, exuberant, delightfully cryptic young woman with a sense of humor
and some class. Naturally, Yossarian rejects her soon after they make
love; they part, and he tears up her address with false bravado. Yossarian
regrets it but not enough to keep him from rutting with someone else
within twenty-four hours. His fidelity to Nurse Duckett is no more devout.
On one trip to Rome, he misses her so much that he goes searching
through the streets for other women and has meaningless sex with "a thin
streetwalker with a wet cough" and a chubby atranger he finds in his
apartment.

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 Yossarian's struggle with persona integrity is the result of Colonel
Korn's offer of a discharge under certain conditions. After Cathcart has
raised the required number of missions once too often, Yossarian refuses
to take part in any more combat flights. He goes AWOL to Rome, is
arrested, and is returned to Colonel Cathcart's office where Korn presents
him with the option of returning home if only Yossarian will become a
team player and support his commanding officers :"Be our pal," says
Korn. "Say nice things about us here and back in the States." Yossarian
selfishly accepts the deal even though he knows that he is betraying the
other airmen :" If they don't want to fly more missions, let them stand up
and do something about it the way I did. Right ?" Colonel Korn, of course,
concurs. But Yossarian is forced to reconsider.
After Nately's whore severely wounds Yossarian as he exits
Cathcart's office, the captain is once more in the hospital. While there, he
believes that he sees a strange who says to him,"We've got your pal,
buddy. We've got your pal." Yossarian reflects on all of his pals who have
been killed or who have disappeared during the war. He has a change of
heart. When Chaplain Tappman reports that Yossarian's former tent mate,
Orr, survived his crash in the sea and escaped to Sweden, Yossarian
decides to join him. He will first go to Rome and find Nately's girlfriend's
kid sister, together, they will somehow flee to Sweden.
Yossarian has changed-grown-during the course of the novel, but he
is still an antihero. If anything, he has grown to hate war and cliches
involving "heroism" even more than he did initially. He has grown brave
enough to admist that he is a "coward" in military terms. He doesn't care
about he medals or honor or glory. Yossarian just wants to live his life,
make a separate peace, and may be help one lost kid to have life also.
Although he could have accepted the easy road home, Yossarian feels
15
that he would have lost himself if he had gone along with the
establishment. The way to find himself is to escape the control of people
like Cathcart and Korn :"I'm not running away from my responsibilities," he
says, as he is about to flee the hospital. "I'm running to them." Dodging
one last assassination attemot by Nately's whore, Yossarian takes off for
Rome and a new life.
Q.4 Discuss the important themes of Catch-22.
Ans. Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas expiored in a
literary work.
1.The Absolute Power of Buureaucracy: One of the most terrifying
aspects of Catch-22 is the fact that the lives and deaths of the men in
Yossarian's squadron are governed not by their own decisions concerning
dangerous risks but by the decisions of an impersonal, frightening
bureaucracy. The men must risk their lives even when they know that
combat missions late in the novel even after they learn that the Allies
have essentially won the war. The bureaucrats are absolutely deaf to any
attempts that the men make to reason with them logically; they defy logic
at every turn. Major Major, for example, will see people in his office only
when he is not there, and Doc Daneeka won't ground Yossarian for
insanity beacuse Yossarian's desire to be grounded reveals that he must
be sane.
Several scenes of interrogation add to the bureaucracy's frustrating
refusal to listen to reason. In one such scene, Scheisskopf interrogates
Clevinger but will not let Clevinger state his innocence because he is too
busy correcting Clevinger's way of speaking. In another such scene, the
chaplain is taken into a cellar and accused of a crime, but the men
interrogating him do not know what the crime, but the men interrogating
16
him do not know what the crime is- they hope to find out by interrogating
him. In these and other instances, Yossarian's companions learn that
what they do and say has very little effect on what happens to them. All
they can do is learn to navigate their way through the bureaucracy, using
its illogical rules to their own advantage whenever possible.
2.Loss of Religious Faith: Even the chaplain begins to doubt his faith in
God by the end of Catch-22. His disillusionment stems in part from
Colonel Cathcart's constant attempts to the outward manifestations of
religion to further his own ambition. Heller's treatment of the subject of
God is most focused in the thanksgiving discussion between Yossarian
and Scheisskop's wife. Both are atheists : Mrs. Schesisskopf does not
believe in a just and loving God, whereas the God in whom Yossarian
does not believe is a bumbling fool. Yossarian points out that no truly
good, omnicient God would have created phlegm and tooth decay, let
alone human suffering. Yossarian has experiences so many terrible things
that he cannot believe in a God who would create such a wide array of
options when it comes to pain and death. But the loss of faith in God does
not mean a world without morals for the characters. instead, it means a
world in which each man must make his own morals- as Yossarian does
when he chooses to desert the army rather than betray his squadron.
3.The Impotence of Language: In the first chapter of Catch-22, we see
Yossarian randomly deleting words from the letters that he is required to
censor while he is in the hospital, At first, this act seems terrible : the
letters are the men's only way of communicting with loved ones at home,
and Yossarian is destroying that line of communication. As we learn more
about Yossarian's world, however, we see that the military bureaucracy
has taken the communicative power out of language. As Snowden dies in
the back of the plane, all that Yossarian can think of to say is "there,
17
there" over and over. He knows his words have no power to comfort
Snowden, but he does not know what else to do. Faced with the realities
of death and the absurdity of its circumstances, language seems unable
to communicate any sort of reassurance.
While language has no power to comfort in the novel, it does have
the power to circumvent logic and trap the squadron in an inescapable
prison of bureaucracy. Catch-22 itself is nothing but a bunch of words
strung to circument logic and keep Yossarian flying missions. Catch-22
even contains a clause that makes it illegal to read Catch-22,
demonstrating how absolutely powerful the concept of Catch-22 is.
Yossarian knows that since it is nothing but words, Catch-22 does not
really exist, but within the framework of the bureaucratic military, he has
no choice but to accept the illogical prison in which these words place
him.
4.The Inveitability of Death: Yossarian's one goal- to stay alive or die
trying- is based on the assumption that he must ultimately fail. He
believes that Snowden's gory death revealed a secret: that man is,
ultimately, garbage. The specter of death haunts Yossarian constantly, in
forms ranging from dead man in his tent to his memories of Snowden.
Furthermore, Yossarian is always visualizing his own death and is
absolutely flabbergasted by the total number of ways in which it its
possible for a human being to die. But Yossarian's awareness of the
inevitability of death is not entirely negative: it gives him a sense of how
precious life is, after all, and he vows to live for as long as possible. He
also lives more fully than he would without his constant conciousness of
life's frailty. He falls in love constantly and passionately, and he laments
every second that he cannot spend enjoying the good thing in the world.

18
Q.5 Write a note on Heller's use of satire in 'Catch-22'.
Ans. Catch-22 is usually called a comic satirical novel, but the category
may be too narrow. Traditionally, literary satire involves a topical work that
examines human folly, shortcomings, vices, abuses, or irrational behavior.
The author might use exaggeration, distortion, or irony to hold up
weaknesses for ridicule, derision, or just plain fun. Sometimes the result is
amusing; sometimes it's touching or even horrifying. The seventeenth-
century English poet, dramatist, and critic John Dryden distinguished
between two major divisions of satire-comic and tragic-basing his
categories on the contrasts in the works of Roman satirists Horace (65-8
b.c.) and Juvenal (a.d. 60-C. 140). Simply put, Horace's poetry was more
likely to invoke laughter in his audience; Juvenal more often moved his
audience to outrage or anger. At first glance, Heller's novel seems more in
the comic vein; but, as usual with Heller, it is misleading to stereotype his
work. Just as we find the stories of the men of the 256th Squadron
amusingly filled with outrageous antics, we're suddenly brought up short
by the horror of war. Heller's passionate indignation is directed initially at
military, political, and institutional targets experienced directly by the men
stationed on Pianosa. In the end, however, we come away with the also
exist beyond the squadron. Our inferemces are both comic and profound.
One category of satire is the confusion between appearance and
reality, in which the institution declares reality because of appearance and
the institution's own limited view. Examples abound, but three are
especially informative : the satin-ribbon bombing line, Doc Daneeka's
death, and the dead man in Yossarian's tent.
When the squadron is assigned to bomb ammunition dumps at
Bologna, the airmen know that the targets have the reputation of being
some of the most heavily guarded and dangerous in the a brilliant plan.
19
While others pray for reprieve, he remembers that the intelligence tent
display an easel map of Italy on which a strand od scarlet satin ribbon
indicates the farthest advane of Allied troops. Bombs are to be dropped
only on targets beyond (north of) that line, which now runs forty-two miles
south of Bologna. Reversing cause and effect, Yossarian sneaks to the
easel map one night and moves the red satin ribbon to a point north of
Bologna, indicating that the city has been taken. The mission must be
canceled, at least for the time, because the Allies apparently have
"captured" Bologna.Initially, no one bothers to check the reality of the
situation; for the estabishment, if the map says Bologna is captured, then
Bologna is captured. Heller has taken an insitutional truism and
exaggerated it, distorted it, so that we see the folly of the premise. The
institutional point of view is not always right. A littleflexibility and healthy
doubt might bring the leaders closer to the truth. In this case, the result is
not only harmless but helpful. Yossarian has extended some lives by
moving the ribbon. He'd like to extend his own life as much as possible,
but there are a lot of institutional minds on both sides that seem intent on
killing him. As he tells Cleavinger, who still believes in the system :"Open
your eyes, Clevinger. It doesn't make a damned bit of difference who wins
the war to someone who's dead.... The enemy is anybody who's going to
get you killed, no matter which side he's on."
Doc Daneek's "death" is humorous but even closer to serious events;
it also extends the satire beyond the war zone and into civilian life. Among
other self-contradictions, Doc is a flight surgeonwho hates to fly. For that
reason, McWatt usually adds Doc's name to the passenger list, filed with
his aviation plan, so Doc can draw his flight pay without having to board a
plane. When Mcwatt flies into a muntain after buzzing the beach and
killing Kid Sampson, Daneeka is actually standing on the beach, beside
20
Sergeant Knight, watching. Within the context of military logic, however,
he is on the plane, does not parachute out, nd therefore must be dead.
Forget the fact that he is still walking around, trying to convince people
that he is alive. According to militry procedure, he is officially dead. Back
in the States, his wife receives a War Department telegram stating that
her husband has been "killed in action". Heller has a little fun with the idea
that she grieves woefully for "almost a full week," hypocrisy being what it
is on both sides of the ocean. Despite letters from her husband, Mrs.
Daneeka is assured by the government that Doc is dead. Soon, her
prospects brighten. The money starts pouring in- more than $200,000 in
life-insurance policies alone- and men begin paying attention. When
another desperate letter arrives from someone vlaiming to be her
husband, to the widow Daneeka. After receiving one of Whitcomb's form
letters of condolence, she packs up the kids and heads for Lansing,
Michigan, leaving no forwarding address. Here, again, the result is more
comic than tragic- unless, of course, you're Doc Daneeka. The comedy
plays off the horrible deaths of Kid Sampson and mcWatt, but in contrast
rather than direct revelation.
The story of the dead man in Yossarian's tent is grimly ironic rather
than amusing. The distorted logic of the Army explains its mystery. Upon
arrival at the squadron, a replacement pilot named Lieutenant Mudd
arrival at the squadron tent, looking for the orderly tent where he planned
to check in. Because the squadron was temporarily short of men, the
lieutenant was immediately sent on a bombing mission. He was killed
over Orvieto within two hours of his arrival, his body blown to pieces and
never found. Because the lieutenant never officially signed in, the
military's position is that he was never there. The dead man's belongings,
not the dead man himself, are in Yossarian's tent. They canot be
21
processed because the young officer- and thus his possessions- never
officially arrived. The story is revealing and ironic bu t not even remotely
"funny". It is sobering,little frightening, and deadly serious.
Heller's satire often is comic. But sometimes it exposes the horror of
situations as well as their irony. Clevinger's trial before the Action Board
features some very entertaining dialogue; after we finish laughing, though,
we're left with the unamusing fact that he is found guilty because he is
accused. Yossarian's friends are dying because Colonel Cathcart keeps
changing the definition of a tour of duty. The numbers are abstract, but
the deaths are real. The author's passionate indignation reveals horror
and corruption and sometimes tragedy indignation reveals horror and
corruption and sometimes tragedy as well as comedy.
Q.6 Discuss the historical background of 'Catch-22'.
Ans. The United States of America entered World War II in December
1941, immediately after a Japanese air attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S.
naval base on the south coast of Oahu in Hawaii, near Honolulu. Most of
the action in Catch-22 is based on joseph Heller's experiences as a young
officer and bombardier stationed on Corsica, as island off the west coast
of Italy, with the Army Air Forces in1944. In the novel, Yossarian's
squadron is on Pianosa, a real but tiny island east of Corsica and a few
miles south of Elba. As Heller points out in a prefatory note," It is very
small and obviously could not accommodate all of the actions described.
Like the setting of this novel, the characters, too, are fictitious." The
setting for Heller's wa, however, was very real.
The reader should be aware of a few significant dates. On June 6,
1944, called "D-day", Allied forces, including the United States, entered a
massive invasionof western France. The Allies were already in southern
22
Italy, as referred to in the novel, and had captured Rome. On August 25,
1944, the Allies liberated Paris. On May 8, 1945, few months after the
end of the novel, the ALlies declared victory in Europe (VE-day). So most
of the novel takes place during approximately the last year of the war in
Europe.
Italy had entered World War II in June 1940, on the side of Nazi
Germany; the two formed a union known as the Axis (later joined by
Japan). Benito Mussolini (77 Duce, "the keader") was head of the Italian
Fascist pary and the country's dictator. His military preparations were
inept, however, and King Victor Emmanuel dismissed Mussolini on July
25, 1943, aligning of invading southern Italy. (This act of diplomacy
reminds the reader of the philosophy of the old man who argues with
Nately at the brothel, in Rome, in Chapter 23 of the novel.) The Allies
were then opposed primarily by German troops in Italy.
Despite its setting in World War II, it is important to remember that
Catch-22 was written in the 1950s. This was a decade of considerable
repression in America, exemplified by a U.S. senator from Wisconsin
named Joseph Raymond McCarthy. The loyalty oaths and political
paranoia in the novel reflect McCarthyism. In February 1950, McCarthy
accused the Department of State of employing 205 "known" Communists
(later reducing the number to fifty-seven). Although the accusations were
never proven, McCarthy became a national figure and the most infamous
leader of a witch-hunt rivaling that of Salem in 1692. In the early 1950s,
as head of Senate subcommitte on investigations, McCarthy expanded
his search for Communist influence, which contributed to what William
Manchester (author of The Glory and the Dream) titled "the age of
suspicion." Blacklists, which banned the accused from employment,
appeared across the country. State legislatures demanded that college
23
professors, for example, sign loyalty oaths pledging their allegiance to the
United States and disavowing any association with Communism. UCLA
fired 157 professors who protested that such an oath was
unconstitutional; in facr, the teachers pointed out, belonging to the
Communist Party was not, in itself, illegal. In the entertainment industry,
numerous writers, directors, and actors were blacklisted for years, their
careers ruined.
Catch-22 is set in World War II, but its tone is shaped by the events
of the 1950s and an attitude toward all wars, not just that one. Looking
back, Heller recognized that World War II was a relatively "popular" war
for most Americans, a factor in some critical rejection of the novel. Catch-
22 grew in popularity during the years of the Vietnam War, when the
general population became more attuned to Yossarian's point of view.
Q.7 Opening of the novel and setting. - Discuss.
Ans. As the novel opens, its protagonist, captain John Yossarian, is in the
squadron hospital, on the island of Pianosa, during the latter stages of
World War II. Yossarian has a temperature of 101 degrees and complains
of liver pains. The doctors suspect that he suffers from jaundice, but
because they can't estabish that, they treat Yossarian for constipation. If
they are able, hospitalized officers are required to devote a certain
amount of time to censoring enlisted men's letters home, a boring task
that Yossarian makes more interesting in inventive ways. The author uses
these first chapters to introduce some of the characters, most notably
Yossarian, Chaplain Tappman, the "solider in white," the Texan, Dumbar,
Clevinger, and Appleby.
The setting of the novel is of special significance. In reality, Pianosa
is a tiny island in the Mediterranean, a few miles south of Elba, between
24
mainland Italy and Corsica. In the novel, it is fictionally enlarged to include
the location of Yossarian's 256th Squadron of the Army Air Forces in
World War II. Setting the tone early, Heller has Yossarian refer to the
squadron as the "two to the fighting eighth power." The squadron's
assignment is to bomb enemy positions in Italy and eastern France.
Yossarian is a bombardier in the squadron. H occasionally seeks escape
from the madness and moratality of war by having himself admitted to the
hospital, which, imperfect thought it is, becomes a symbol of refuge.
Although the hospital is a haven, it is reflective of the military with its
emphasis on institutional routine and sometimes absurd formality.
Heller's use of time is also important and can be confusing. Most of
the novel takes place in 1944 but flashbacks to 1942 and 1943 occur
without warning. Briefly, Yossarian was in basic training at Lowery Field in
Colorado in 1942. There, he first discovered the haven of an Army
hospital. In 1943, Yossarian went through cadet training in Santa Ana,
California. He arrives at Pianosa early in 1944. The novel ends in
December of 1944. The French author Louis-Ferdinand Celine (1894-
1961), especially through his novel Journey to the End of Night, greatly
influenced Heller's aapproach to structure and time. After reading Celine,
the author of Catch-22 chose to compose in a different realm of reality in
which truth is more important than fact and essence more important than
literal sequence. For the confused reader, a helpful guide to time in
Catch-22 is the number of missions assigned by Colonel Cathcart or
completed by Yossarian. The novel opens in the middle of the story
(scholars use the Latin term in medias res,"in the midst of things."). It is
August 1944, and Yossarian has completed forty-four missions. It is also
at this time that he first meets the chaplain, which helps us date the
scene. (Stephen W. Potts provides a thorough and well-documented
25
chronology to the events of the novel in Catch-22 : Antiheroic Antinovel.)
Time is purposely out of joint in the book, and that is crucial because
Heller's method of telling the story is episodic and relies heavily on his
depiction of character.
The central character, Yossarian is often called an "antihero"
because his values appear to contrast with those of the standard heroic
figure. But within the context of the novel, he is courageous and inventive,
as Heller demonstrates from the beginning. Yossarian has the courage to
confront the madness of war and to struggle against the bonfines of
institutional order. At the hospital, he fights boredom by censoring the
enlisted men's letters in creative ways. One day, he blocks out all adverbs
and adverbs and adjectives. Another, he takes out every mention f the
articles a, an, and the. Another time, he blackens the entire message
except for the salutation. "Dear Mary," and closes the letter, as if it is from
the group's chaplain :"I yearn for you tragically. A.T. Tappman, Chaplain,
U.S. Army." On some letters, he signs Washington living's name as
censor or, when that wears thin, Irving Washington. Yossarian is contrary
to the point of paradox. When appleby is introduced as a "fair-haired boy
from Iowa who believed in God. Motherhood and the American Way of
Life." a fellow whom everyone likes, Yossarian's respones is,"I hate that
son of a bitch."
One of the aspects of Heller's style is a disjointed logic familiar to
viewers of comic routines popular during World War II, such as the Marx
brothers' dialogues or Abbott and Costello's "Who's on First?" An early
example is the exchange between Yossarian and Clevinger in Chapter 2.
Yossarian complains,"They're trying to kill me." "Who's they?" asks
Cleavinger. "Who, specifically, do you think is trying to murder you?"
Yossarian answers,"Every one of them." The dialogue continues :
26
"Every one of whom?"
"Every one of whom do you think?"
"I haven't any idea."
"Then how do you know they aren't?"
Part of Yossarian's problem is that he quite justifiably, quite sanely
thinks that the enemy gunners shooting at his plane are trying to kill him!
He takes it personally. Clevinger, who is very bright but a conformist,
accepts the madness of war as reasonable.
Other characters introduced in these chapters are of varying
importance. The Texan is a very pleasant, very ignorant bigot who
maintains that "people of means- decent flok-should be given more votes
than drifters, whores, criminals, degenerates, atheists, and indecent flok."
Yossarian can't stand him. After ten days, the Texan's disgusting charm
has cleared the ward, sending is briefly introduced as one of Yossarian's
favorites; we'll hear much more from him as the novel develops. Dunbar is
one of Yossarian's best friends. Dunbar has a theory that he can extend
his life by exposing himself to as much boredom as possible, thus making
time seem to pass more slowly.
Perhaps representing the anonymity of the individual i the
institutional military, the "soldier in white" is especially important to the
grave tone in the background of the opening chapters. The enigmatic
soldier in white was smuggled into the ward in the middle of the night and
is "encased from head to toe in plaster and gauze." The soldier's four
limbs are pinioned in air by lead weights. No one knows for sure if the
soldier is black or white, male or female, or even is there is a body inside
the casing. The closest anyone ever comes to seeing the actual soldier is
a frayed blak hole over its mouth. The soldier in white is fed intravenously
27
from ajar hanging above its casing; the soldier's urine drips through a tube
into another jar, on the floor. When the feeding jar is empty, it is simply
switched with the collecting jar so that the soldier apparently is "fed" its
own urine. After Nurse Cramer's thermometer registers no temperature
from the soldier in white, she declares the soldier dead. Yossarian and
Dunbar accuse the bigoted Texan of murding the soldier because the
soldier is black; the Texan denies in 1944, and black soldiers would be in
a different ward. Within the convoluted logic of the novel, in which cause
and effect get confused, it is actually Nurse Cramer who has "murdered"
the soldier; if she had not taken its temperature, the soldier would not
have been declared dead.
Q.8 Describe the character portrayal of Captain Black.
Ans. Captain Black is delighted when he hears that Colonel Cathcart has
volunteered the squadron for an apparently treacherous raid on Bologna,
which terrifies most of the airmen. The whole affair reminds Black of the
fun he had scaring people with the Glorious Loyalty Oth Crusade. The
airmen who must go on the run to Bologna are desperate to find a way to
avoid the mission. Yossarian temporarily succeeds by exploiting the
military's propensity for confusing cause and effect. Ex-P.F.C.
Wintergreen, now a mail clerk at Twenty-seventh Air Force Headquarters,
attempts to compete with Milo on the black market, selling Zippo lighters
stonlen from the quartermaster.
Analysis : Captain Black is one of the more despicable
characters in the novel. He is vengeful, mean-spirited, envious, and
sadistic. Black's joy overflows when Colonel Cathcart volunteers the men
for the dangerous Bologna assignment :"Oh, boy! I can't wait to see those
bastards' faces when they find out they're going to Bologna. Ha, ha ha !...
Eat your livers, you basterds. This time you're really in for it." The Captain
28
hasn't been this happy since Major Duluth was killed, briefly leaving open
the position of squadron commander which Blade fell should be his
despite the fact that he is not even on combat status. Insted, the job wait
to Major Major- primarily because Colonel Cathcart had one too many
Majors in his outfit Vengeance against Major Major precipitated Captain
Black's Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade; he accused Major of being a
Communist and then insisted that everyone sign numerous loyalty oaths-
except for Major, who was not allowed to sign any, thus putting his loyalty
in question.
Although the setting of the novel is World War II, it was written during
the 1950s, a decade of political repression and Cold War paranoia
regarding Communism. U.S. Senator Joseph Raymond McCarthy, from
Wisconsin, became a national figure as the infamous leader of an anti-
Communist witch-hunt. (See "Historical Background" in the "Introduction
to the Nover for more on this topic") The satirical treatment of the Glorious
Loyalty Oath Crusade reflects Heller's contempt that people must be guilty
if they were accused. In the novel, investigators maintain the same
reasoning in Cleavinger's trial and in the application of loyalty oaths. As
Captain Black says, people who are loyal "would not mind signing all the
loyalty oaths they had to." They need to sign more and more as the fervor
mounts. initially, Black orders that all combat personel sign one loyalty
oath to receive maps to qualify for a ride from the squadron to the airfield.
Soon the men must sign oaths just to get their food at the mess hall. They
must sign "The Star-Spangled Banner" to use the salt or pepper. They are
so busy showing their patriotism that they hardly have time to fight the
war. Heller seems to conclude that the best way to stop such a tide of
venom is for each individual to take a stand against it. Major____ de
Coverley, recently returned from Rome, ends the crusade by simply
29
refusing to sign a loyalty oath before being allowed to eat at the mess
hall. "Gimme eat," he orders. Despite de Coverley's apparent absence of
articulation, he is an impressive and respected figure with his majestic
white hair and Captain Black of the Loyalty Oath Crusade; he hasn't seen
such fear in the squadron since those glory days (in the spring of 1944).
Death, which has served as a backdrop to the whimsy and mayhem
of most the novel to this point, now becomes a central theme. Cleavinger,
who is declred dead at the beginning of Chapter 10 (August 1944), is still
alive during the flashback to the Bologna raid (late June 1944). Despite
his trial the previous year, Clevinger still believes in the military system.
Yossarian does not "Open your eyes, Clevinger," Yossarian snap. "It
doesn't make a damned bit of difference who wins the war to someone
who's dead. .... The enemy is anybody who's going to get you killed, no
matter which side he's on."
Bologna has the reputation of being heavily guarded by intense flak.
Yossarian has no desire to fly that mission. While others pray for a
reprieve, Yossarian sees a possibility. The intelligence tent displays an
easel map of Italy. On it, a scarlet strand of satin ribbon indicates the
farthest advance of Allied troops. Bombs are to be dropped only on
targets beyond that line, which runs forty-teo miles south of Bologna. In a
brilliant reversal of cause and effect, Yossarian sneaks to the easel map
one night and moves the red satin ribbon to a point north of Bologna,
indicating that the city has been taken. The mission must be canceled
because the Allies have "captured" Bologna! Initially, no one bothers to
check the reality of the situation; for the commanders, if the map says
Bologna is captured, then it is captured. The only problem is to decide
who will receive a medal for the victory. It goes to General Peckem, the

30
commanding officer of the Special services corps, because he is the only
one who asks for it.
As death looms, there is still room for satire based on exaggeration
of military realities. Too often, the men acquiesce and display a herd
mentality. When loyalty oaths are in vogue, far too many comply. When
one airman panics and seeks two extra flak suits for the possible raid on
Bologna, the others stampede to follow his example. The commanders
also tend to believe whatever they are told. First, it is that Bologna has
been captured because a ribbon is moved. Next, it is that the Germans
have a new weapon. Yossarian convinces Colonel Korn that the Germans
have a new developed a 344-millimeter "Lepage glue gun [that] glues a
whole formation of planes in mid-air." In the bizarre satirical world of
catch-22, Colonel Korn passes on the information without hesitation of
challenge.
Q.9 Discuss the central theme of 'Catch-22'. OR Hypocrisy as the
central theme of the novel.
Ans. The central theme of these chapters is hypocrisy. Cathcart is a
political and military hypocrite. Although he pretends to act in the best
interest of his country and his service, he is really interested only in self-
promotion. That is the motive behind his repeated elevation of the number
of missions
(sixty by the end of Chapter 19) that a pilot in his shortage of pilots.
Replacements are readily available if requested. Reasonable rotation
probably would help the cause. But Cathcart thinks that his men's extra
missions make him look like a stronger leader; the apparent devotion to
duty is, he believes, a feather inhis cap.

31
 Cathcart is also a religious and social hypocrite. In the Saturday
Evening Post, a popular and influential weekly magazine of the day,
Cathcart reads an article about an American bomber group in England
that prays before each mission. He asks Chaplain Tappman to try the
same tactic in order to get Cathcart some positive publicity. The Colonel is
not at all concerned about God, spirituality, or religion. In fact, Cathcart
prefers to have the chaplain keep those topics out of the service :"I'd like
you to keep it light and snappy, something that will send the boys out
feeling pretty good. Do you know what I mean? I don't want any of this
Kingdom of God or Valley of Death stuff." Cathcart eventually decides that
something humorous would be best- or something practical, especially if
the chaplain could "pray for a tighter bomb pattern." The elitist Cathcart's
paln falters, however, when the chaplain points out that they really ought
to include Ibe enlisted men in the prayer services because they will be
going along on the missions. Cathcart is dismayed: "They've got a God
and a chaplain of their own, haven't they?" "No, sir."
"What are you talking about? You mean they pray to the same God we do
?"
"Yes, sir."
"And He listens?"
"I think so, sir."
"Well, I'll be damned."
Lieutenant COlonel Korn is an amoral, cynical hypocrite who
pretends to be Cathcart's loyal, indispensable ally but seceretly feels
contempt for Cathcart and manipulates his commander. Korn is the more
clever and more sinister of the two; he sees Cathcart as an offcious fool
who can, nonetheless, help Korn achieve his own ends, which include
32
greed and comfort as well as self-promotion. korn is more secure than
Cathcart in his feelings of superiority and enjoys taunting the chaplain- by
calling him "father", for example, with a look of "bland innocence". Even
though Korn knows that the chaplain is an Anabaptist and the appellation
is inappropriate. Korn has ordered the chaplain to live in a tent in the
woods, well removed from the troops. Tappman is even more afraid of
Colonel Korn than he is Cathcart.
Corporal Whitcomb is the chaplains hypocritical assistant- more a
nemesis than aide-and the only person who lives near him in the woods.
Whitcomb makes no pretense of belief in God or loyalty toward the
chaplain. His deception is that he pretends to seek spiritual fulfillment for
the men and their families but is really only interested in promoting
religion as if it were a sales product. He is openly rude, a disgruntled
subordinate who is certain that he could do the chaplain's job better than
Tappman. Whitcomb repeatedly critizes the chaplain, listing Tappman's
flaws contemptuously. Among his promotions, the Corporal sends form
letters to the families of casualties.
The chaplain himself is one of the most decent characters in the
novel. He is sincere, kind, and introspective. He wonders about larger
questions (even if there is a God), is never hypocritial, and is a much
more admirable person than the bullies who intimidate him. Although he is
ineffective, he does try to get Cathcart to stop raising the number of
missions. Unlike the other characters featured in these chapters, the
chaplain is capable of change. He grows from a timid, ineffectual,
somewhat foolish soul to a bold and assertive force by the end of the
novel. Throughout, he is a good man. No wonder Yossarian loes him.

33
Q.10 "Pedantry, military logic and romance contrast with horrors of
death."- Comment.
Ans. Pedantry, military logic, and romance contrast with the horrors of
death in these chapters. The first two can be amusing; the romance is
touching; but death is never far away.
Peckem likes to think of himself as a superior intellect, and he does
have some education, which should not be confused with wisdom. He
likes to be precise with words are to Peckem what parades are to
Scheisskopf. Peckem never writes "memorandums," for example,
because "memoranda" should be the proper plural. He likes to "augment,"
not just "increase." Events in his command are "upcoming," never just
"coming" or "approaching". He is fastidious about insignificant matters,
quick to see fault in others, and blind to his own failings. He finds the
prose of other officers to be laughably "turgid, stilted, or ambiguous." They
are likely to say "verbal" when, of course, they mean "oral"; Peckem is
never so sloppy. He quotes glibly from Nietzche, Montaigne, or warren G.
Harding and is especially pleased with himself for inventing the term tight
bomb pattern.
Heller satirizes military logic once more, this time regarding a raid on
a small Italian village, which happens to be uphill from a road that the
Germans supposedly will use to transport two armored divisions from
Austria to Italy. The plan is to have debris from the village slide down on
the road, blocking it. The villagers pose no threat and are all civilians.
Dunbar argues that they won't even take cover; they will run into the
streets to wave at the pilots. The bombs will just be killing "childern and
dogs and old people." The village will be reduced to rubble, but the road
will be cleared in a couple of days anyway. The raid would be more
effecient if the bombs were spread out along the hills, away from the
34
village, blocking more of the road; but that will not do. Colonel Cathcart,
always trying to impress General Peckem, calls for a tight bomb pattern
"for me, for your country, for God, and for that great American, General
P.P.Peckem."
Love and death are juxtaposed on Pianosa. Apparently overlooking
Yossarian's rude assault on her private parts i the hospital, Nurse Duckett
has become quite enamored of the complicated captain. Joining a long
line of misled lovers, she thinks she can "cahnge him." They are enjoying
a romantic interlude on the beach when McWatt, up to his usual tricks,
suddenly buzzes the area. He heads for the raft where Kid Sampson,
naked and clowning, jumps up a little as if to touch the plane as it skims
by. Perhaps that is just enough to cause the problem. Perhaps it is a gust
of wind, lowering the plane slightly. Perhaps McWatt simply miscalculates.
At any rate, the plane's propeller slices Kid Sampson in two. His legs and
hips stand on the raft for what seems like a full minute while the rest of
him rains upon the swimmers and those on the beach. McWatt's plane
begins to climb. Two passengers parachute to safety. The aircraft goes
into a high, oval spiral, dips its wings in salute, and flies directly into a
mountain. Colonel Cathcart is so upset that he raises the number of
missions to sixty-five.
========================================================
11 Short Notes:
Q.1 Self-interest, autism and morality in the theme of Catch-22.
Ans. Many characters in Catch-22 undergo moral crises, wherein they
must decide between self-interest (a concern for their own safety and
wellbeing) or altruism (a concern for the wellbeing of others). The
chaplain, initially a morally-upright and religious man, flirts with immorality
35
by pretending to have a fake disease authority without actively revolting
against his superiors. Many commanding cathcart's job, cathcart wants to
become a general, and Dreedle and Peckem constantly fight for control of
the other's office.
But it is Yossarian's personal development, his progression from self-
interest to altruism that defines the moral arc of Catch-22. In the
beginning, Yossarian is content to firge the chaplain's signature, resist his
bombing runs, and otherwise either devise stratagems to avoid
responsibility or "go with the flow" in his time with Army. But as his friends-
including Clevinger, Orr, Nately, and Dunbar- either die or disppear,
Yossarian's attitude changes. He loses Luciana and Nurse Duckett; he
learns that Aarfy has committed rape and murder; he sees scenes of total
destruction in Rome, and of great human suffering. He realizes, like
Dunbar, that he can no longer bomb innocent civilians for no reason, just
to please his superiors.
Yossarian's personal development reaches a climax in his full
recollection of Snowden's death. In a bomb-run over Avignon, a man
name Snowden is hit by flak in the back of the plane, and Yossarian,
caring for a smaller leg wound, misses Snowden's large chest wound.
When Snowden finally shows this second wound to Yossarian, his insides
spill into the cabin of the plane, horrifying Yossarian and causing him to
see, firsthand, the frailty of human life.
Later, Yossarian is called on to make a moral choice. He can either
accept Cathcart and Korn's deal, leaving the Army and abandoning his
fellow soldiers, or continue flying missions. Yossarian accepts neither
alternative. He does not choose total altruism-he does not continue to
work with his fellow soldiers- and he does not take a deal that would send
him home immediately. Instead, Yossarian flees Pianosa, thus
36
recognizing the horrors and immoral-ities of warfare while maintaining his
independence, and refusing to compromise on his decision to stop flying
bombing missions. Yossarian, ultimately, takes a moral stand against war,
and what it does to the individuals who are forced to fight in it. In the end,
Yossarian is en route to Sweden, fittingly a neutral country, where he will
wait out the war's remainder.
Q.2 Symbols of Catch-22 and Rome.
Ans. (a) Catch-22 is a particular kind of paradox first described to
Yossarian by Doc Daneeka. This catch is desribed as follows: Any soldier
sane enough to hate warfare is sane enough to have to participate in the
war, whereas any soldier crazy enough to like war is too crazy to fight it.
Yossarian recognizes this catch as a particularly inescapable case of
logical paradox. The Catch-22s can lead to instanes of humor, as in
chains of miscommunication among military bureaucrats. But Cathcart's
desire to increase the number of required missions, a part of Catch-22,
also results in the death of nearly all of Yossarian's closest comrades.
Yossarian manages to find a way out of this catch by deciding, at the
novel's end, to flee for Sweden. Thus he no longer has to fly missions, nor
must he accept a deal, offered in unsavory fashion by Cathcart and Korn,
allowing him to go home. By running to Sweden, Yossarian preserves his
independence and leaves behind the military and its "catches."
(b) Rome symbol Analysis: Most of the characters of Catch-22-
Yossarian, Nately, Orr, Aarfy, McWatt, Hungry Joe and Major de
Coverley- fly to Rome for rest leave at some point in the novel. Rome
represents the kind od privileges and excitements not possible on
Pianosa in wartime. It's full of women and sex (many of the women whom
the soldiers spend time with are prostitutes). The soldiers can go to night-
37
clubs, dance, drink copiously and meanwhile, imagine that the war is
happening "somewhere else."
This Roman paradise does not remain stable, however, as the novel
progresses. Yossarian finds that, after many of his comrades have died in
combat, Rome takes on a sinister air. The streets appear lawless,
patrolled by immoral police officers, and many men, women, and children
wander about, ill-clothed and ill-fed. Rome seemed like an escape from
the war, but it was a false escape, an illusion of escape- the war comes
for Rome, in the end. The final disintegration of Rome as a place for "rest"
occurs when Yossarian finds out that Aarfy has just raped and murdered
a woman, throwing her out the window of the Americans' shared
apartment. Yossarian believes Aarfy will be punished for his crime, but
instead it is Yossarian who is arrested by military police and tajen back to
pianosa. after these events, Sweden becomes the new paradise- a place
that is actually neutral in the war, where Yossarian cannot just frivolously
imagine that the war is someplace else, but where he might in fact break
off all connection with the military and escape the war completely.
Q.3 General Peckem.
Ans. Catch-22 is the modern novel written by Joseph Heller in the
backdrop of the second world war. Heller himself was a part of army and
successfully completed many missions. Catch-22 indicates a mission,
which holds number 22. There is a wide range of characters in the play.
General Peckem is one of them.
General Peckem is a pseudo- intellectual pedant who cares lesss
about his men or the civilians who have fallen victim to the war. He is
more caring about his own career and not about his team. Colonel
Scheisskopf who was formerly a lieutenant Scheisskopf, whose wife
38
entertained Yossarian on memorable thanksgiving, joins Peckem's
command and seems to fit in well. Both the men are concerned with
appearances. Scheisskopf wishes to schedule Sunday Parades, barring
that, he insists on being in charge of cancelling the Sunday Parades that
do not exist in the first place. Peckem is in charge of special services but
thinks he should run the war and he is jealous of General Dreedle, the
combat officer. A raid is planned on a small, defenceless Italian village.
Yossarian, Dunbar and McWalt protest bombing innocent civilians but the
mission is carried out.
Here, we can see the pedantry, military logic and romance in
contrast with the horrors of death in these chapters. Romance is touching
but death is never far away.
Peckem thinks of himself as highly intellectual. He is little educate
but that doesn't prove his wisdom. He is precise in his words. For Peckem
words are important as for Scheisskopf parades are; Peckem never writes
"memorandums" e.g. because 'memoranda' is the plural. Events for him
are 'upcoming' not coming. Peckem is fastidious about insignificant
matters. He is quick to find faults in others. Peckem is never sloppy. He
quotes glibly from Nietzche, Montaigne or Warren G. Harding and is
specially pleased with himself for inventing the term 'tight bomb pattern'.
Q.4 Character analysis of Aardvark (Aarfy).
Ans. Aarfy may be the most despicable character in the novel. At first he
seems merely incompetent, a navigator who somehow manages to direct
his plane into the worst flak on a mission that is supposed to be so easy
that it's called a "milk run". Or perhaps he is just inadvertently in the wrong
place at the wrong time; he has an annoying habit of getting in
Yossarian's way during times of crisis. Maybe he isn't just harmiess.
39
During the second raid on Bologna, as flak concussions slam against the
plane, Aarfy invades the bombardiers space and frustrates Yossarian's
movement, refusing to leave. The air fills with sweet clouds of blue
smoke, and Yossarian is certain that he is about to die, until he notices
that the smoke comes from his "griming, moon-faced navigator" who is
enjoying his pipe. Aarfy is no help in a crisis. Whenever anyone calls to
him for help. Aarfy mysteriously cannot hear.
If Aarfy ever has doubts, he doesn't show them. Although he has
never had a real relationship with wooman, he is a self-proclaimed expert
on romance. He is also sadistic, cruelly mocking Nately for his devotion to
the prostitute in Rome. Aarfy announces that he would never lower
himself to the level of such "filthy trollops."
Aarfy's problems with women are serious. he delights in telling about
his colloege days when he and his fraternity brothers tortured and raped
two captive high-school girls :"Boy, we used to have fun i that fraternity
house" Aarfy boasts nostagically. But his most serious offence occurs late
in the novel. As Yossarian returns from his dark night of the soul on the
streets of Rome (Chapter 39), he finds a crowed surrounding a dead body
on the pavement beneath the officers' apartment. It is Michaela, the
officers' shy, unassuming maid. Aarfy has raped her, held her prisoner in
a closet for two hours, then tossed her out a window. When Yossarian
confronts him in the apartment, Aarfy is sure that he has not done much
wrong. "I only raped her once," he says. Aarfy explains that he raped the
girl instead of hiring a prostitute because he has "never paid for it in [his]
life" and would not sink so low. He killed the maid because he couldn't
have her going around saying bad things about him. Aarfy is certaain that
the police will not arrest him- "Not good old Aarfy"- and they do not.

40
Consistent with the disjointed values of the world in which Yossarian finds
himself, the police arrest him for being A WOL and allow Aarfy to go free.
Q.5 Discuss the character sketch of Milo Minder binder in short.
Ans. Milo is a man with a brilliant talent but no conscience. Initially a friend
of Yossarian's, the mess fficer is a genius as an entrepreneur, creating a
syndicate that controls the black market. But as a human beig, he is
almost exclusively interested only in his own best interests.
Milo is masterful but corrupt, parlaying his position as mess officer (in
charge of the dining hall) into personal direcrtion of M & M Enterprises,
controlling all sort of goods and services, from fresh eggs to prostitutes.
Before long, his business is international; planes arrive daily from such
markets as Liberia. London, and karachi. He deals with everyone except
the Russians, eschewing their trade because they are Communists.
Nonetheless, he has no problem doing business with america's primary
European enemy, Nazi Germany. Milo even profits from specific battles.
When the Allies plan to bomb a highway bridge at Orvieto, Milo arranges
to conduct the attack for them. But he also agrees with the Germans to
defend the same bridge with antiaircraft fire, bargaining for cost plus six
percent from each side, plus a "meirt bonus" of $1.000 from the Germans
for each plane shot down. Having arranged all their own men and
equiprment. He thus makes a nice profit by signing his name twice. This is
the raid on which Mudd, the "dead man" in Yossarian's tent, is killed. Even
more despicable than the Orvieto deal is Milo's arrangement with the
Germans to bomb his own squadron when the syndicate's cash flow runs
low, due to excessive investment in Egyptian cotton. This time it appears
that Milo may hae gone too far. newspapers and politicians back home
denounce the attack on American airmen. Heller's satire is especially
biting as he points out that all is forgiven after Milo demonstrates that the
41
raid turned a healthy profit. Milo concludes that all wars sould be
conducted by private enterprise- so long as the goverments pick up the
expenses. For Milo, the chief business of the American people should be
business :his business. Acontract is a contract - so long as it favors Milo.
Milo likes to say that everyone owns a share of M & M Enterprises, but
Milo seems to take most of the profits.
Q.6 Discuss the character of Chaplain Tappman.
Ans. Chaplain Tappman may be the most decent character in the novel.
He is consistently a friend to Yossarian :the first line of the novel indicates
that Yossarian immediately cares a great deal for the chaplain as well.
The chaplain grows from a timid, ineffectual fool to a bold and assertive
force for reason and justice as the novel progresses. Throughout, he is
kind and introspective.
If Tappman ever were going to fold, it would be furing his
interrogation. Up to then, we have found him to be a very timid man.
Easily intimidated, frightened of loud voices and aggressive types. Even
Tappman's assistant, Corporal Whitcomb bullies him. He frequently point
out the chaplain's "faults" (according to Whitcomb) and has Tappman on
the defensive, apologizing rather than directing his assistant. Despite all
this, we have seen that the chaplain has courage. He wants to do the right
thing and attempts to speakto his superiors, such as Colonel Cathcart,
about legitimate grievances from the men. But the interrogation in the
cellar (chapter 36) plays into all the chaplain's insecurities.
Tnstead of caving in, the chaplain becomes stronger and more
assertive under pressure. He is whisked off to the celler with no
explanation of the charges against him, controlled by frightening figures
whom he cannot identify. There, the chaplain is subjected to a harsh and
42
arbitrary inquisition about matters that seem insignificant: a letter forged
by Yossarian, a plum tomato given to Tappman by Cathcart. The chaplain
has no representation and no chance. When he tries to defend himself, he
is accused of lying. In the end, he is found guilty simply because he was
accused. Although the captors release him, Tappman is warned that he
will be "under surveillance twenty-four hours a day." Still, the first thing he
does upon his release is to challenge Colonel Korn about the deaths of
the twelve men, including Nately, on the mission over La Spezia that
morning. Later, as he is saying goodbye to Yossarian just before the
protagonist flees the hospital, the chaplain reveals that he is a new man.
He volunteers to remain behind and make life miserable for the
authorities:"I'll persevere. I'll nag and badger Colonel CAthcart and
Colonel Korn every time I see them. I'm not afraid." He is even ready to
take on his assistant, Whitcomb. Chaplain Tappman has become a
fighter.
Q.7 Motifs in Catch-22.
Ans. Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that
can help to develop and inform the text's major themes.
One version of Catch-22 keeps Yossarian flying combat mission after
combat mission :Doc Daneeka cannot ground him for insanity unless he
asks, but if he asks to be grounded, then he must be sane. In this sense,
Catch-22 is piece of circular reasoning that keeps Yossarian trapped in a
paradox that determines whether he lives or dies, even though it is made
only of words. But Catch-22 has many other permutations, most notably in
the final, general principle stated by the old Italian woman in the ruined
brothel: "they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing."
This description of Catch-22 proves what Yossarian has nown all along :
Catch-22 does not really exist. It is just a name made up for an ilogical
43
argument that justifies what is really going on. Behind Catch-22 stands an
unswerving principle : might makes right.
Catch-22 also manifests itself even when it is not explicitly named.
Both the doctor and the chaplain have been caught up in their own
versions of Catch-22, since war drastically undermines the premises of
their professions and yet calls upon them to practice way a Catch-22; the
dialogue leaps haphazardly from one comment to another, often arriving
at a point exactly opposite of that which the person speaking is trying to
express.
-Number of Missions : Colonel Cathcart wants to be promoted to
general; to gain promotion, he constantly raise the number of missions
that the men are required to fly before they can be discharged. The
number of missions increases as time goes on, providing us with one of
the few ways we have of keeping track of the chronology of Catch-22. The
number of missions is also the primary trap from which the men in the
squadron are unable to escape:each time Hungry Joe completes his
missions or Yossarian comes near completing them, the number is raised
yet again. The utter futility of trying to get out of the system the honest
way, by flying the required number of missions, is what prompts Orr and
Yossarian to seek alternative methods of escape.
-Washington Iirving : First signed as a forgery by Yossarian in the
hospital, the name Washington Irving (or Irving Washington) is soon
adopted by Major major , who signs the name because the paperwork
with living's name on it never comes back to him. Washington Irving is a
figment of the imagination who is, in a sense, the perfect person to deal
with bureauracy : because he does not exist he is ideally suited to the
meaningless shuffle of paperwork.

44
Q.8 Symbols in Catch-22.
Ans. Symbol are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent
abstract ideas or concepts.
Chocolate-Covered Cotton: Aided by Yossarian, Milo comes up with the
idea of selling chocolate-covered cotton to the government after he
discovers that there is a gult of cotton in the market and that he cannot
sell his own cotton. Milo's product hides the lack of substance beneath an
enticing exterior, showing the way in which bureaucracy can be fooled by
appearances and is unable to measure actual substance or real merit.
The Soldier in White: The soldier in white, a bandage-wrapped,
faceless, nameless body that lies in the hospital in the first chapter of the
novel represents the way army treats men as interchangeable objects.
When, months after his death, he is replaced by another, identical soldier
in white, everyone assumes it is the same person.
aerial Photographs: When the men go on bombing missions, they often
later learn that the real purpose of the mission was either to make an
explosion that would be beautiful when it showed up on aerial
photographs or to clear out foliage so that better aerial photography will
be possible. The photographs themselves, then, stand for the way in
which the dehumanization of war- in this case, the detachment of the
upper levels of military bureaucracy from the tragedy of war- allows for its
horror to be seen merely for their aesthetic effects.
Q.9 Context of Catch-22.
Ans. Joseph Heller was born in Brooklyn in 1023. He served as an Air
Force bombardier in World War II and enjoyed a long career as a write
and teacher. His best-selling books include. Something Happened, Good
as Gold, Picture This, God Knows, and Closing Time, but his first novel,
45
Catch-22, remains his most famous and acclaimed work. He died of a
heart attack in December 1999.
Heller wrote Catch-22 while working at a New York City marketing
firm producing ad copy. The novel draws heavily on his Air Force
experience and presents a war story that is at once hilorious, grotesque,
cynical, and stirring. The novel generated a great deal of controversy
upon its initial publication in 1961. Critics tended either to adore it or
despise it and those who hated it did so for the same reasons as the
critics who loved it. Over time, Catch-22 has become one of the defining
novels of the twentieth century. It presents an utterly unsentimental vision
of war, stripping all romantic pretenses away from combat, replacing
vision of glory and honor with a kind of nightmarish comedy of violence,
bureacracy, and paradoxical madness. This kind of irony has come to be
expected of war novel since the Vietnam War, but in the wake of World
War II, which most Americans believed was a just and heroic war, Catch-
22 was ahocking. It proved almost prophetic about the Vietnam War, a
conflict that began a few years after the novel was originally published,
and the sense of disillusionment about the military that many Americans
experienced during this conflict.
Unlike other antiromantic war novels, such as Erich Maria
Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, Catch-22 relies heavily on
humor to convey the insanity of war, presenting the horrible
meaninglessness of armed conflict through a kind of desperate absurdity
rather than through graphic depictions of suffering and violence. Catch-22
also distinguishes itself from other antiromantic war novels through its
core values: the story of Yossarian, the protagonist, is ultimately not one
of despair but one of hope. He believes that the positive urge to live and
to be free can redeem the individual from the dehumanizing machinery of
46
war. The novel is told as a series of loosely related, tangential stories in
no particular chronological order. The narrative that emerges from this
structural tangle upholds the value of the individual in the face of the
impersonal, collective military mass; at every stage it mocks insincerity
and hypocrisy, even when such calues appear triumphant.
Despite its World War II setting, Catch-22 is often thought of as a
signature novel of the 1960s and 1970s. It was during those decades that
American youth trully began to question authority. Hippies, university
protests, and the civil rights movement all marked the 1960s as a decade
of revolution, and Heller's novel fit in perfectly with the spirit of the times.
In fact, Heller once said,"I wasn't interested in the war in Catch-22. I was
interested in the personal relationships in bureaucratic authority." Whether
Heller was using the war to comment on authority or using bureaucracy
as a ststement about the war, it is clear that Catch-22 is more than just a
war novel. It is also a novel about the moral choices that every person
must make when faced with a system of authority whose rules are both
immoral and illogical.
Q.10 Communication and miscommunication as a theme of Catch-
22.
Ans. The novel opens with Yossarian censoring letters-blocking out
important military information- while lying in the hospital. He begins
signing his name as Washington Irving or Irving Washington. This
introduces a theme of communication, and garbled communication, that
runs throughout the text.Appleby, a soldier and superlative Ping-Pong
player, is told by Orr that he has flies in his eyes, but hears that he has
"sties in his eyes." aarfy claims not to be able to hear. Yossarian when
they're flying, even though Yossarian makes plain, via body language,
what he desires (usually, to get out of the plane's crawl-space). Orr
47
consistently leads Yossarian in linguistic circles when the two are tent-
mates. The chaplain is never able to communicate with his fellow officers,
many of whom, like Whitcomb and Cathcart believe he is strange and
militarily unnecessary. Whitcomb desires that form-letters be sent by the
chaplain to families of bereaved soldiers, but when these letters are sent
they are so general as to seem mocking and absurd- they indicate no
personal knowledge of the soldier at all. And a good, deal of the novel
takes place during the soldiers' "rest leave" in Rome, where they must
communicate with Italians in a hodge-podge of English and other
languages, often with comedic effect.
While funny, the outcomes of these miscommunications are
occasionally quite serious. because Yossarian has signed one of his
censored letter with the chaplain's name, the chaplain is nearly tortured
and imprisoned by military police. Yossarian seems never to escape from
this web of miscommunication, but his decision to flee to Sweden at the
end of the novel indicates a willingness to sever all communicative ties
with the Army and with his native country.
Q.11 Gallows humour.
Ans. Much of the humor in Catch-22 is gallows humor (or black humor)-
the kind that takes on serious subjects without sacrificing its funniness.
Some of the novel's characters use gallows humor good-naturedly;
others, less so. McWatt, for example, is always "buzzing" the camp, flying
low over it, but one day he flies too low and accidentally kills Kid
Sampson. Captain Black and Corporal WHitcomb make fun of the
chaplian constantly, because they find his religious beliefs and non-
combat assignment to be inherently funny. This bullying nearly drives the
chaplain to abandon his beliefs altogether. Many of the novel's
subordinates make fun of their commanders, including Korn, who spends
48
much of the novel reaching to Catchart's stupidity and vanity. Major de
Coverley's strange abilities-horseshoe-playing and the renting of
apartments in recently-liberated cities-are celebrated among the soldiers,
De Coverley finds these apartments for the men despite the many
dangers associted with flying to these far-flung locales. The soldier in
White and the Soldier Who Saw Everything Twice, two wounded men who
ventually die, supply comic relief for Yossarian and others- until the
presence of these injured soldiers make Yossarian and his friends fear
that they, too, will succumb to injuries and not survive the war.
========================================================
Unit 2 Text: A Doll’s House (Play) - Henrik Ibsen
13 LQ:
Q.1 Discuss 'A Doll's House' as a problem play. OR
Would you say that 'A Doll's House is a feministic play' ? OR
Can we consider 'A Doll's House' as a feministic play? OR
Discuss the theme of marriage as presented in Ibsen's 'A Doll's
House'. OR Discuss Ibsen as a dramatic of social realities keeping in
mind 'A Doll's House'. OR Does a Doll's House talk about the rights
of women ? Give reasons. OR Does Ibsen focus on the cause of
women and urge liberation and Emancipation ?
Ans. A Doll's House is famous drama written by Ibsen. This drama was
published on December 4, 1879 in Copal Eigen. 'A Doll's House' is a
problem play. Dramatist discusses the problem but leaves solution to the
readers. The problem so discussed here is what is the position or status
of a women? This drama expresses the sad consequences that woman
who are worried are subordinates. They are controlled by their husbands.
49
The play talks about the married life of a middle-class couple. It means
marriage is in the focus. A Doll's house is not a feministic play. Let us
discuss some important points:
(1) Problem- A wife's relationship with her husband: 'A Doll's house'
focuses on the relationship between husband-wife in the middle class
family and how a woman is controlled by her husband. Marriage is the
theme of the play. It talks about conjugal life and the predicament of a
married woman. Ibsen appears as a dramatist of social realities. He has
depicted the character of Nora in such a way that we sympathize with her.
(2) Women's Indepedence: Ibsen was interested in the indepedence of
women. There was a clear background against which Ibsen wrote A Doll's
House. This play was like a bomb shell. Nora defies her husband and
make him look smaller. The play awakens a sense of individual
responsibility among women. Nora leaves husband but it arose debate
whether she was right or wrong. Readers may feel that Ibsen thinks too
much about a woman's right and less about her duties. But Ibsen's
purpose was clear. He wanted to show that if a women is allowed to
estabish her own identity and develop her own individuality, she would not
be actually happy. If Nora had continued to live with Helmer, she would
have felt wretched and miserable Nora's action may appear destructive
but Ibsen's aim was to show the weakness of society.
(3) Helmer's behaviour towards Nora: Helmer treated Nora like a pet. Her
husband is fond of her but his expressions show that he regards her as
his pet. When she hums a tune, he calls her "little skylark", chirping. He
does love her but he loves her as a superior for somebody lower in rank.
His attitude towards her is that of a superior. He interferes even in the
household and asks her to be economical in spending money on

50
household needs. He is gentle and loving but he is firm in tone. He
preaches her as if he is a moralist.
(4) Devotion of Nora towards Helmer: nora is devoted wife to Helmer.
When he fell ill, she managed all the situations and took him to Italy for
medical treatment. For that, she had to borrow money using forged
signature of her father. She did not think that it could be considered as
crime but she did out of her love and devotion towards her husband. She
did not even tell Helmer about her efforts of saving him so that his self-
respect doesn't get hurt.
(5) Helmer's possessiveness for Nora: Helmer's possessiveness is one of
the reasons that brings trouble between Helmer and Nora. Helmer
considers Nora as his property. He is highly possessive about her. He
believes that she belongs to him and that is why he treats her as a pet
while expressing his love for her and appreaciating her beauty, he syas
that she is entirely his possession.
(6) The collapse of Helmer's moral values and his love: The second
reason for the breakdown of the marriage between Helmer and Nora is
when he went through Krogstad's incriminating letter, he becomes furious.
Nora wanted to protect him from taking blame of forgery but Helmer's
reaction is absolutely selfish. On the contrary, he shows patronizing
attitude towards Nora again. He considers her "helpless little thing." Here
we can see that both his love and moral values love collapsed.
(7) Nora's desire to seek her own identity: After knowing about Helmer's
reality and his real character, Nora decides to leave Helmer. She tells him
on face that she was wronged by him. She says that she always had to
follow ideas, tastes of her husband. She was treated like pet but now she
realizes that she had her own mind. SHe wants to estabish her own
51
identity. In order to create her own identity she had to educate herself.
She realied that she had duties to herself also. She realized that she is a
wife and a mother but she is an "individual" too. She felt that she was not
valued by him and so she take back her wedding ring and steps out of the
house, slamming the door. She leaves Helmer.
(8)Feministic approach expressed: 'A Doll's House' is a feministic play, as
it favours the rights of the women particularly wives and their relation with
husbands. Ibsen doesn't agree that it's a feministic play but as readers we
do feel that it talks about woman's identity and emancipation. Here Nora
wins our sympathy.
Q.2 Discuss the end of 'A Doll's House'. OR Comment on the way 'A
Doll's House' ends.
Ans. At the end of the play, the heroine Nora leaves her husband, children
and home without knowing what lies on her way. Helmer becomes
desolate while Nora enters into the practical, real world. The end was
shocking to the audience of that time. It aroused hot discussion mong the
critics. Majority of the critics poines that ending was indecent and
inappropriate. But with the passing of time it was treated as appropriate.
Let us discuss the ending and its different aspects.
(1)Violation of existing practice by Ibsen: Actually, ending should be
logical. It doesn't depend on only sentiment. It requires artistry. Dramatist
doesn't have to focus on the interest of audience and their liking only.
Real artist focuses on moulding public taste. Ibsen did divert from the
prevailing practies. Ibsen violates the public taste and accepted practice.
(2)Events in the play: In order to see whether the ending is approprite or
not, let us throw a glance at the course of events in 'A Doll's House'. Nora,
in order to save her husband's life borrowed money and forged signature
52
before eight years. This action of Nora makes us estimate her future
action. The creditor Krostad finds job in the bank and when threatened he
seeks Nora's help. But Nora is not able to help him. As a result, Krogstad
reveals her forgery to helmer. Nora was a devoted wife and thought
Helmer too would be ready to sacrifice for her. She thought her husband
will take up the blame on himself. She also thought that her husband had
courage to manage Krogstad. But Helmer fails compeltely. Nora get
completely disillusioned. She had also decided to sacrifice her life in order
to save him. But seeing lack of moral courage of Helmer, Nora gets
disillusioned. She also thought of committing suicide to protect her
husband from the disgraced. She feels hpeless. She feels that she is
treated by her husband as a pet. She realizes that she is a puppet in the
hands of her husband. She discovers her own identity. She ralizes tht she
has got her to leave her house, husband and even children. Helmer is
ready to compromise with her but she leaves slamming the door behind
him.
(3) Dramatic necessity, The tragic ending: Events of the play have been
described in such a way, dramatist has two options. Whether Nora should
compromise with her husband or forsake her home and the family? If
Nora compromised, the end of the play would sound weak. Impact, of the
play on the audience would become weaker if the drama ends happily. It
would be useless to make the stature of Nora grow if she descides to
remain weaker. Nora proves herself emancipated only by leaving her
home. She can be free from the restraints and shackles of social customs.
Society cannot advance on staying back, she would appear weak. When
she leaves her children, readers are shocked but later, they accept it.
(4) The Slamming of the door: Many a times, we feel that Ibsen tries to
give drama a happy end. There are many compromises in the course of
53
drama. Helmer's hope that Nora would come back from the stairs, but
Nora leaves. She slams door behind her. This slamming of the door
comes as a shock to the audiences.Ibsen was the dramatist of ideas and
drama should not end without any message. By slamming the door he
passes on a message of woman's liberation.
This ending shocked the audience during that time. Many actresses
refused to play the role of Nora as they found the ending too much. Ibsen
was forced to write a different ending. As per it Nora was supposed to see
her children and change her decision. But Ibsen remain firm in his
decision and by making Nora leave her home, he expresses emancipation
of women.
Q.3 Discuss the title of the play 'A Doll's House'. OR Is the title 'A
Doll's House' appropriate? OR Explain the significance of the title of
'A Doll's House'.
Ans. Let's first talk about the world "Doll". Doll means a women who has
no brain of her own. 'A Doll's House' means a house in which such a
woman lives who is completly tamed and is treated like a pet. In this play,
the world 'Doll' impies to Nora. She is compared to doll because during
the eight years of her conjugal life, Helmer treated her like pet. Nora
remained passive and submissive wife. When her husband Helmer fell ill
she forged her father's signature and took her husband for treatment.
Here she appears like brave wife. Gradually, she shows her stronger fact.
She repays instalment to Krogstad during 8 years when her husband was
recovering. Here also, we can see that Nora is not a doll. In other than
these incidents she appears like a doll follows all the wishes of her
husband. Let us discuss some other points in detail.

54
(1) Nora, the pet of Helmer: In the beginning of the play, we find Helmer
treating his wife as a pet. He addresses her as 'little skylark' and Nora
also responds to his addresses like a tame. For Helmer, its very normal to
treat her so. She isn't conscious about her role as a pet. She finds it very
normal too. Even if she argues, she appears submissive. She surrenders
to the wishes of her husband who is aware about his control and power
on her. Helmer's attitude to Nora is authoritative mingled with love but
there is predomination of authority.
(2) Authoritative attitude of Nora: Helmer is already authoritative in his
attitude towards his wife but his authoritative attitude became more
emphatic when he rejects Nora's recommendation done for Krogstad.
Helmer appears such a stern moralist that Nora gets upset and
frightened. If she had been strong and brave she would have openly
talked to Helmer and could have taken firm attitude and opposed his
arguments on the countrary. Nora becomes weaker and instead of
adopting a firm attitude, Nora starts thinking of suicide. Once again, she is
threatened by Krogstad and she gets more demoralized. Again Helmer
rejects the recommendation.
(3) Nora's decision of suicide: By the end of Act II, Nora seems to be
completely dependent on her husband. Even while choosing her dress for
fancy-dress ball party, she asks for advice of her husband. She tells
openly that she can't jabe a single step ahead without his help. She also
asked for his help even in the rehearsals of the Tarantella. Nora stands as
a most devoted wife. She loves her husband so much that she is ready to
face public disgrace in order to save her husband. She becomes ready to
commit suicide.
(4) Nora, A doll like wife: Nora is living like a doll in her house without
being aware of it. But she gets warned by the reactions of her husband on
55
Krogsatd's letters. Helmer rebukes her severely. Later he forgives her but
Nora realises that she never following all the orders and wishes of her
husband obediently. So that Helmer remains happy and satisfied. When
she finds that her husband had no moral courage to face Krogstad and he
did not even love her, her love for him reduces. Now she discovers that
she too had an individuality. She also feels that she has rights to life and
all these years, she was suppresses. Through all these years with
Helmer, she had no identity of her but now she is ready to walk on her
own path. She walks out of the doll's house slamming the dorr behinf her.
(5) The Ending of the play: At the end of the play, Nora is not a doll
anymore. She has her own individuality and own rights too. She discovers
her potentiality. SHe is ready to face her uncertain future and she is full of
confidence for the new life. She is matured. She is grown mentally and
morally. The title 'A Doll's House' is absolutely appropriate as it signifies
the kind of life that Nora led for eight years in her husband's house.
Q.4 Discuss the character sketch of Nora. OR WHich are the
weaknesses and strengths of the character of Nora Helmer in 'A
Doll's House'. OR Estimate the character of Nora. OR Critically
evalute Nora as a central figure of the play 'A Doll's House'.
Ans. Nora Helmer is the heroine of the play 'A Doll's House' written by
Henrik Ibsen. SHe is the doll in the house of Helmer. Let us discuss in
detail the character of Nora. Let's dicuss a few important characteristics of
Nora's personality.
(1) Her complexity: Nora's characterization by Ibsen is one of the finest
pen picture. SHe is the most outstanding character in the play. Ibsen has
successfully depicted her character in such a way that they play has
become highly popular. Nora is the heroine of the play though she is not
56
an ideal woman in any way. Ibsen has not glorified hee character. She is
a bundle od strenghts and weaknesses both. SHe is a complex character
as it is very difficult to understand her. Actually, in traditional sence, we
can't consider her as heroine because she has several weaknesses too.
The only heroine deeds of hers are she saves her husband's life for eight
years and her action of leaving home at the end of the play. But she is not
able to maintain her heroic facet throughout the play. Her future after
leaving her husband's house is not predictable.
(2) Her first impression: In the beginning of the play, the first impression of
Nora is not very strong. SHe appears to be passive, contended and
happy. She is happy about her husband's job. SHe likes being tame, pet
with her husband.
(3) Nora's sacrifices for her husband: Nora does a great sacrifice in order
to save her husband who was severely ill. She makes efforts to save him
for eight long years. Not only that she borrows money in order to take him
to Italy for climate change. For this, she forged her father's signature
without knowing that it was a serious crime. She kept this forgery a secret
from her husband thinking that he will support her in future. She goes
onpaying monthly installments to the creditor whose name is Krogstad.
This shows her devotedness towards her husband. Though she knows
that her husband considers her his pet and treats as if she is his
pressession she never protects or objects. SHe is happy with that.
(4) Guilt and misery of Nora: Nora tells Mrs.Linde about self-sacrifice and
self-denial. SHe expresses her joy and pride for saving the life of her
husband but she is shocked when the creditor Krogstad threatens her.
Helmer criticizes Krogstad which arouses guilt in her. She starts feeling
miserable. She feels like a wretched being.

57
(5) Nora's lies and trickery: In the very beginning of the play, we come to
know about weakness in Nora's personality. She is a pet of her husband
and deceives herself and others. She has inherited thes tendencies from
her father who was irresponsible fellow. Nora's dishonesty is seen in her
forgery of father's signature. Later, we find her telling lies to different
people. She also tries to tamper with the letter box in order to steal
incriminating letter by Krogstad. Trickery is visible in her nature. She tricks
Dr. Rank by showing her stockings and when he tries to show his feelings
for her, she refrains herself from asking him for money. Though she is
loyal and tamed wife, these are instances of trickery seen in her nature.
(6) Her disillusionment with her husbadn and her bold decision at the end:
Nora is fully devoted to her husband. She is so much attached to her
husband that she enjoys being treated like a pet by Helmer. But later she
stops loving her husband when she discovers that he is not what she
used to think of him. He come out to be different. She used to think that
Helmer was kind of a moral hero as he always talked of moral values but
he turns out to be different. Nora is deeply disappointed by him. She
realized that her life with her husband went in vain. She felt her life to be
futile. At the end of the play, she openly says that her husband and her
father had wronged her. Both treated her like a doll. She realizes that she
needs to get herself educated and lead an independent life. She realizes
that she has duty towards herself also. According to Helmer she was
weak and fragile but she discovers her true identity and decides to leave
the house. She takes away her wedding ring and slamming the door
behind, she leaves her husband's house.
(7) A tragic heroine: Nora is one of the most famous characters depicted
by Ibsen. She has many weaknesses but she rises and stand as the
heroine of the drama. She finds a way out from her prison like life. She
58
leaves her husband's house which is like her declaration of independence
to all the women in the world. People may find fault in her action of
leaving her house, husband and children but the message of
independence is clearly sent by her to the world. In the beginning acts of
the play, she appears to be weak and helpless but at the end of the play,
she comes out as a bold, strong, liberated woman.
Q.5 Discuss the character sketch of Torvald Helmer. OR
Bring out the weaknesses and strengths of the character of Helmer
in the play. OR How far do you agree that Torvald Helmer represents
patriarehal psychology? - Discuss.
Ans. Helmer is the main characte in the play 'A Doll's House' written by
Ibsen. He is multifaceted. Let's discuss Torvald Helmer's character in
detail.
(1) A loving husband: Torvald Helmer is by profession a lawyer. In the
very beginning of the play, we come to know that he is offered the post of
a manager in the bank. He is very fond og his wife. he treats her like a pet
and addresses her with names like 'my little skylark', 'my little squirrel'. His
behaviour is patronizing. He speaks to her as if he is on a higher level and
she is below her in stature. He tries to impress her upon her need of thrift.
he is against borrowing money. Of course,Helmer is not a miser, but he
goes on preaching Nora about the value of thrift. He gives Nora more
funds for celebrating Christmas. He behaves like a mentor to her.
(2) A moralist: Helmer talks like a moralist now and then. He is strict with
his wife Nora concerning his moral principles. But later we come to know
that he gives more importance to his ego and interests. Very often he
scolds his wife mildly. He considered Krogstad guilty and immoral. He

59
says that Krogstad was spreading moral disease in his household. He
creates guilt even in Nora's mind.
(3) Egoism in Helmer: Helmer dismisses Krogstad keeping in mind his
criminal record. This is the apparent reason for the dismissesal of
Krogstad but the real reson is different. The real reason for his decision
appears when he tells his wife that Krogstad had been a friend of his
during his early age. Keeping in mind this closeness with him, talks to him
in a familiar way and creates embarrassment for him. Here, the
hollowness of his moral principles is exposed. When Krogstad calls him
by his Christian name in front of others, his ego gets hurt.
(4) Patronizing behaviour towards his wife: Helmer is egoistic. Behind his
decisions, there is his ego. He gives very little importance to his wife. He
treats her like a pet and loves her as if she is a tamed pet. Even when she
tries to speak in favour of Krogstad, Helmer asks her how she got that
courage to raise the issue. He promises Nora to guide and instruct in her
rehearsal for the dance performance. This too shows his patronizing
behaviour.
(5) An Ardent Lover: Helmer appears to be a man of head and not heart
but he is romantic in nature. He speaks in a romantic and poetic manner
expressing his love for Nora. He eagerly makes love with Nora. He looks
at her amorously. He thinks that he is the owner of her loveliness. he
speaks like an ardent, youthful lover.
(6) Failure as a husband: Though Helmer loves Nora and is fond of her,
he treats her as his pet. he treats her as if possesses her. Nora has no
identity in his eyes. He moralizes and preaches her. He wishes that his
wife shall follow all the rules layed by him. He often says that he will
protect Nora in any situation and if necessary will risk his life in order to
60
save her but in reality he fails miserably. He fails as a husband and even
as a moralist because he fails to preserve his own moral values. When his
reputation is in danger, he forgets all his love for Nora.
(7) Not able to handle the crisis: Helmer fails in handling crisis which
Krogstad's letter created in his life. He addresses his wife as a hypocrite
and a liar. He blames her saying that she had no religion, no morality, no
sense of duty as she had inherited all those things from her father. He
thinks that she is not a good mother. He is worried about people's
criticism. He wants to hush up the things. It proves that Helmer's moral
values were quite superficial. He is unable to face the crisis in his life.
(8) His poessessiveness towards Nora: Helmer's attitude to his wife, Nora
is highly possessive. His manners are patronizing. He talks to her like a
mentor and protector. He advises and guides her even after his failure, he
again behaves as if she is her possession. He shows as if he had given
Nora a new life.
(9) A pathetic figure: Throghout, we can see that Helmer treats Nora as a
pet. He is possessive about her. He loves her too much but fails in life and
at the end of the play appears to be a pathetic figure as Nora leaves his
house and him. Helmer requests and tries to stop Nora from leaving, but
his efforts go in vain. He offers different suggestions and wants to help
her but she rejects all his requests firmly. His possessiveness, ego, wrong
notions of relationship brings punishment to him and he has to face the
wreck of his worried life.
Q.6 Discuss the character sketch of Krogstad in 'A Doll's House'. OR
Nils Krogstad and his role in 'A Doll's House'.
Ans. Nils Krogstad is one of the characters in the play 'A Doll's House'
written by Ibsen. Initially his career started as a clerk of solicitor in a small
61
town. He came in contact with Christine and fell in love with her. He
wanted to marry Christine but she broke relationship with him. It was a
great shock to him. He then married another woman and had several
children by her. But later his wife died and he became a widower. Let us
discuss some important characteristics of his personality.
(1)Unscrupulous: In the opening of the play, we see his practicing as a
lawyer but then he gets job in a bank. Besides this, he is also a money
lender. Before eight years, Nora had borrowed money from him on
interest. She used to pay her monthly installments for the loan. Krogstad
is utterry unscrupulous. He had forget a signature in order to make
money. His forgery was discovered but luckily no case was filed against
him in the court. He escapes punishment by employing a trick, Of course,
his record gets spoiled because of that criminal act. When Helmer comes
as the manager of the bank, Krogstad is dismissed. In order to save his
job, he blackmails Nora. He writes a letter to Helmer sharing Nora's
secret. In return he demands that Nora should convince her husband to
keep him in the job. Not only this, he demands that Nora should ask her
husband to promote him to a higher post. When Nora shows her inability
to do so, he drops the letter in Helmer's letter box. Thus, he threatens
Nora and puts her into trouble.
(2) Rank and Helmer's opinion about him: Dr. Rank and Helmer both hold
adverse opinions against Krogstad's character. Dr. Rank calls him corrupt
and rotten to the core. While talking to Nora, Helmer says that man like
Krogstad is a criminal, tells lies and puts false appearance even infront of
his family. According to Helmer, Krogstad spreads moral disease and
spoils the household with immorality.
(3) The change in Krogstad: Later on, Krogstad marries Mrs. Linde.
Because of her, he improves morally. When she proposes him to marry,
62
he changes at his heart. He becomes ready to withdraw the letter
apologizing for the distress he had caused to her. He apologizes for his
threats. Thus, we can see a transformation in the character of krogstad.
(4) His role in the play: krogstad plays a crucial role in 'A Doll's House'. he
is like a villain.He blackmails Nora. Even his previous record was not
good. Nora had forged her father's signature but her motive was not bad.
Without realizing she did it. On the other hand, Krogstad intentially
committed forgery in order to make money knowing that, it was absolutey
illegal. Krogstad drops an incriminating letter in Helmer's letter box. He
brings complications in the play. He is revengeful. As a result of his
action, Nora decides to leave her husband.
(5) A Contrast to Helmer: krogstad also has another role to play in the
drama. he stands as contrast to two other characters Helmer and Doctor
Rank concerning moralism. Krogstad doesn't follow moral values at all. It
is only after his marriage with Mrs. Linde that he changes. He becomes
completely different after his marriage with Mrs. Linde. Bsically, Krogstad
was not wicket. Its because of circumstances, that turns wicked.
Q.7 Discuss- 'A Doll's House' as a modern tragedy. OR
Can we regard 'A Doll's House as a tragic play' - Discuss the reason.
Ans. 'A Doll's House' has been regarded as a tragedy. We may also call it
a modern tragedy. The whole play contains a serious atmosphere. Of
course, there are certain glimpses of comedy in the flirting scenes
between Nora and Doctor Rank. In the beginning, we find her jubilant
woos, when Nora is playing with her children. But apart from this, whole
play has a serious note. The main action of the play is tragic and even the
ending is sad Nora wins our sympathy being a tragic character. Let us
discuss some other aspects of the play and its tragic side.
63
(1)Nora's Pang: The play becomes serious when we come to know that
Nora had borrowed money in order to save her husband. In order to
protect her husband, she forged a signature on promissaory note. She
used to pay monthly installments to Krogstad who had lent her money.
Nora led a life of self-denial. Krogstad threatens Nora and she properly
during Christmas. Her peace of mind gets disturbed because of the
threats of Krogstad. When her husband condemns Krogstad for his word
lapses, Nora feels more upset. At the end of Act-I, she feels that she may
corrupt her childern and disturb the whole household.
(2) Nora's decision of committing suicide: Nora becomes more and more
depressed. Her distress deepens. During her talk with the nurse, we come
to know that she is thinking of committing suicide. Helmer, when her
husband sends the order of dismissal to Krogstand. She is too ancious.
Her decision of committing suicide is really tragic. She creates pity in our
heart.
(3) Nora's painful renunciation at the end of Act-III: Nora is greatly
shocked when she has to face her husband's outburst after Krogstad's
incriminating letter. She is disillusioned about her husband. She had
though that Helmer will try to protect her in her difficult situation but
Helmer doesn't do so. She realizes that she has always been treated by
her husband as a pet. She is like a properly, his possession for her
husband. She decides not to live in that Doll's house anymore. She had
passed eight long years. She went on bearing his whims and obeyed
every wish of his. She realized that she has her own right on her life. She
decides to leave not only her house but home and children too. Its such a
tragic situation that a mother has to leave her children. She is ready to
face unknown future.

64
(4) Nora, the heroine of a modern tragic drama: If we keep in mind the
quality of modern tragedy, Nora stands as a tragic heroine. Nora grows in
stature. She gets purgated by her suffering. She proves victorious. She
feels a wreckage yet she emerges as a strong and independent woman at
the end, she is liberated at the end. In this sense, she is modern, tragic
heroine.
(5) Bourgeois middleclass characters: If we glance at the techniques used
by Ibsen in 'A Doll's House', it is a modern tragedy in respect of
technicality. Tragedies were mainly written in verse. Prose was the
medium of comedy but tragedy was supposed to be written in verse. 'A
Doll's House' can be considered as a modern tragedy as it is written in
prose. Characters in the drama are ordinary middle class or it is a modern
tragedy. Before Ibsen, tragedies were woven around kings, queens,
princes and princesses or generals of army but major characters of 'A
Doll's House' belong to Bourgeois middle class.
(6) A few striking characteristics of the modern techniques: If we talk of
the technicality of the play, it is said that it has most powerful and moving
effects as it contains highly untraditional methods like simplicity and
economy of language. There is no bloodshed, no high dramatics. Ibsen
successfully maintains the interest of readers with the help of major five
characters. The drama has naturalness of dialogue, situation, no artificial
devices etc. Thus, we can agree that 'A Doll's House' is a modern
tragedy.
Q.8 Discuss the craftsmanship of Ibsen reflected in 'A Doll's House'.
OR Bring out the technical excellence of 'A Doll's House'.
Ans. (1) Untraditional method: 'A Doll's House' carries a revolutionary
message for the public as far as conjugal life and relationship between a
65
husband and wife is concerned. Because of this powerful presentation,
the technical originality remained unnoticed at that time. Ibsen proves
himself far ahead of his time as far as craftsmanship is concerned. 'A
Doll's House' contains highly untraditional methods like simplicity and
economy of language. Ibsen has used literary cubism. Eminent critics of
the time, praised this play for its technical originality. Ibsen showed
exceptional mastry. According to that critic, the dramatist has succeeded
with the help of only five characters and kept the interest of readers intact.
(2) Realistic plot: Beside economy and simplicity of language, Ibsen also
uses tense that wasn't used before his time. There are some situation
which remind us of the intrigue drama,guilt secret, the veil around the
secret and complications created by Krogstad's incriminating letter. Here,
we find a touch of old melo-dramatic element but on the whole the plot
remains simple and realistic. Helmer's critical illness, wife's borrowed
money, forgery by Nora for getting money to treat her husband, Nora
keeping secret for eight years, exposure of the facts, the husband's anger
and reaction all these circumstances and conviction. The end shocks the
audience of time but such end was necessary for the dramatist in order to
change. The realistic plot and the portrayal of characters exoress great
technical achievement of Ibsen.
(3) Three unities : Ibsen has followed the three unities. The whole action
of the play takes place in one place and that is the apartment of Helmer.
Following time, the action extends over a period of only three days. The
unities of place, time and action have been largely followed. There is a
minor sub-plot only but it doesn't harm the unity of action in the play.
There is a hint of past love affair of Krogstad and Mrs. Linde in the
opening act but they marry in Act-III. Two persons involved in the sub-plot

66
are very closely connected with the main plot. The observation of three
unities makes the structure of the drama impactful.
(4) Retrospective method for conveying events: Ibsen uses retrospective
method of conveying the situation the character-portrayal. He begins the
play just before catastrophe. He uses dialogue in order to reveal the
preceding events retrospectively instead of presenting them directly on
the stage. Nora's secret is slowly exposed. It is here that we come to
know about the real complexity of Nora's nature.
(5) The Device of Parallel situation: Ibsen has used one more technique in
the play and that is the device of parallel situation. In order to reveal the
central predicament of Nora, by introducing Mrs.Linde, he establishes a
sharp contrast with Nora. Mrs.Linde seves as a confidante to Nora. She
brings out Nora's girlish excitability into a clear focus. There are other
parallel situations too. Krogstad had committed forgery earlier which has
brought him less of reputation. In the same way, Nora too had committed
the act of forgery and faces horrible crisis but there is a difference in both
the situation. Krogstad had committed illegal act knowingly while Nora did
it without any realization. She did it in order to protect her husband's life.
(6) unhappy ending to emphasize the seriousness of theme: Ibsen has
also used some of the plot devices known as well-made play. He
introduces the plot of the characters to lengthen the audience's
expectation and to resolve the complications in the story. Like Nora, we
too think that her husband will favour her but it is not so. on the arrival of
Mrs.Linde, we feel that Nora will get support but that too preves wrong.
There is a continuous reversal which make us ready to accept the
seriousness of the end. Ibsen covers the veil over the tragic seriousness
of the known condition.

67
(7) Climax: There are no sensational situations in the play but there is lot
of dramatic element in it. Each act ends with a kind of climax. We feel
suspense and anticipate what will happen next. Nora goes away leaving
Helemer in spite of his attempts to stop her.
(8) The use of symbols and dramatic irony: Ibsen has also certain other
technical devices which prove Ibsen to be original. In the very opening of
the play, the description of the room shows how integral it is n the play as
a setting. He has used realistic details to set the stage ready for the play.
Not only this, he has made use of symbols in the paly.The Christmas tree
symbolizes celebration and happiness of a family. The tree with
decoration symbolizes and happy family. Ibsen had also used dramatic
irony. All these techniques make the play more powerful.
Q.9 Discuss 'A Doll's House' as a naturalistic paly. OR
Write a note on Ibsen's realism with reference to his play 'A Doll's
House'.
Ans. (1) In the time of the dramatist, the dramas in Europe were written
following old romantic tradition. The new trend represented was known as
the "Well-made play". This trend was estabished by the French dramatist
Eugene Scribe. In romantic drama, there used to be depiction of unreal
situations where in characters were royal. The tragedies were written in
rhymed verse. The "Well-made play" appears more realistic. The subject
matter is common with everyday life.
(2) As an anti-romantic or Naturalistic play: Ibsen can be considered as
one of the pioneers of naturalistic and realistic plays. It was like a rebel
against both romantic drama and even "Wellmade play". In Ibsen's hands,
the theatre began to move ahead towards naturalistic style which was far
away from romanticism. In Ibsen's hands, drama became more
68
intellectual as he dealt with social issues and problems. "A Doll's House"
is a successful naturalistic problem play as it is anti-romantic. Looking at
its technique and subject matter, we can say that 'A Doll's House' is a
naturalistic play.
(3) Naturalistic but in limited sense: In 'A Doll's House' though it is
naturalistic play, there are still certain elemnts of the romantic drama and
"Well-made play". the characters of 'A Doll's House' match with the
characters of romantic drama. The main situations in 'A Doll's House' are
like those of "Well-made Play". The play is an anti-romantic play in limited
sense.
(4) Few characters and parallel situations: As 'A Doll's House' is a
naturalistic play concerning techniques and theme. Author has
implemented several devices to create realistic effect. He has followed all
three classical unities of time, place and action. The whole action takes
place at one setting and that is Helmer's apartment. The action covers the
period of three days. The play has one single main plot. But a major sub-
plot also. Author has introduced only five chain characters. This creates a
realistic play. One more device used by Ibsen is that of parallel situation.
(5) Retrospective method: Ibsen has used the retrospective method of
situation and even character sketch. The drama begins just before the
catastrophic dialogues are used to make us aware about preceding
events. Ibsen has carefully explored the influence of the past, present and
the future.
(6)Serious theme: Ibsen has used well made play device in order to
match with the realistic acts. Audience feels that Nora's problems will be
solved but the end is unexpected as Nora leaves her husband and home.

69
The drama beomes serious and tragic at the end which is beyond
expectations of the audience.
(7) Use of symbols: Ibsen has used the device of symbolism in order to
add to the real effect. The stove symbolizes warmth and security.
Christmas tree is another symbol which stands for renewal of life and
happiness in the family. The macaroons symbolizes good things. Even
the doors stand as symbols.
(8) Realistic theme: The problem depicted in the play is that of a married
women who struggles to save her husband putting herself aside. Nora
always behaved as per her husband's wish.He treats her like his pet. She
is completely devoted to her husband but when she realizes that her
husband doesn't stand with her, she feels as if she was a doll in her
house. She forsakes her husband and home. Thus the theme too is
realistic in nature.
(9) Romantic love, an illusion: Yet an another reatistic feature in this play
is that it shows romantic love as illusion. Nora used to think that her
husband will protect her and would even sacrifice his life for her. She
hoped that if needed, Helmer will take the lame of forgery on him but she
is completely disillusioned. Helmer's love proves to be illusory.
(10) Credibility of events: The plot of 'A Doll's House' is absolutely real
and ordinary. There is nothing fantastic about it. The plot is naturalistic.
(11) Realistic character sketches: The most important quality of Ibsen's
realism in 'A Doll's House' is the characters portrayal. Helmer is highly
advancing character in the play.
Nora's character is also convincing. She is one of the most
memorable characters in the drama. Nora's character has made the
drama highly popular.
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Q.10 Discuss the circumstance and character sketch of
Mrs.Christine Linde in 'A Doll's House'.
Ans. Mrs.Christine Linde is one of the important characters in 'A Doll's
House' written by Henrik Ibsen. We met her for the first time, when she
comes to see Nora in the very first act. She plays a major role in the
development of the play. Lets discuss some important aspects of the
character of Mrs. Christine Linde.
(1) Her sacrifice: Mrs.Linde is an old friend of Nora. She meets Nora, her
old friend and tells Nora about her past life and circumstances. Here, we
come to know about her love for Krogstad. She promised him to marry but
could not marry as she was forced to marry a rich man as her mother was
ill and had two younger brothers to look after. She sacrifices her wish of
marrying her love because she had to carry the responsibility of her
family.
(2) As a widow: Mrs. Linde lost her husband soon after her marriage. She
lost not only her husband but his business too. SHe had no children and
had to start her life on her own.She opened a small shop initially and then
started a school. Later she became independent after her mother died
and her brothers grew up.
(3) Her need for job: Mrs. Linde meets Nora and shares her problems.
She feels that her life was without purpose. She wants to be busy with
some work. NOra recommends her husband to get her a job. Mrs.Linde
feels very thankful to Nora for this. By chance Christine meets Krogstad
on that occasion and she recognizes him as her former lover. She also
comes to know that Krogstad is a widower.
(4) Her offer of help to Nora: In the second act, we find that NOra had
borrowed money from Krogstad. She comes to know that Nora had forged
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signature but now Krogstad had written an incriminating letter about Nora
to her husband. Krogstad had dropped the letter into his letter box.
Mrs.Linde think that she could influence Krogstad. She offers help to Nora
saying that she would talk to Krogstad. Of course, she couldn't help her as
Krogstad had left.
(5) Her proposal of marriage to Krogstad: In the beginning of Act-III, we
meet Mrs. Linde again. She goes to meet Krogstad. Mrs.Linde had a
close conversation with the man who was once in love with her but she
had cheated him in order to marry a rich men. She wants to come to
terms with him. She proposes to marry him as he too is a widower with
three children to look after. Both of them feel wretched and she had no
purpose of life and by marrying him she would get an opportunity to rear
his children and feel the joy of motherhood. Krogstad happily accepts her
offer.
Q.11 DIscuss Ibsen's art of characterization in 'A Doll's House'.
Ans. 'A Doll's House' is a well known play by Henrik Ibsen. It's a story of a
women who spends her eight years with her husband like his pet. Nora,
the heroine is completely devoted wife to her husband Helmer. But at the
end of the play, she realized the reality and her illusion is removed. So
she decided to leave her husband and his home. Ibsen has introduced
five major characters. The drama is realistic and so are the characters
too. Let us discuss in detail the character-delineation in 'A Doll's House'.
(1) Realistic Portrayal: The main point of this play is the character
portrayal of Ibsen in 'A Doll's House'. Character portrayal is realistic. He is
great master of characterization. His knowledge of human nature reflects
in his characterization. Ibsen's mastery of character portrayal is seen in 'A
Doll's House'. Characters are vividly depicted. Character portray is

72
convincing. Main two characters- Nora and Helmer show his victory in
characterization.
(2) Average human characters: Ibsen has not introduced characters of
kings, queens, princes or princesses. He has delineated ordinary
characters belonging to the middle class. Such average character appeal
to the audiences. Ibsen portrays ordinary characters like Nora, Helmer,
Dr.Rank. His character portrayal shows his deep understandiing of human
nature. There is psychological depth and subtlety in his character
portrayal.
(3) Revealing characters: ALl the situations in the play written by Ibsen
are recalld from the past and situations which are actually presented on
the stage in the present hekp revealing character. In the Act-I, Ibsen has
used the retrospective method through which revealation of characters
and their situations are reflected. Nora is living a happy life but Mrs. Linde
an old friend of Nora comes and they share everthing about each other's
life. Nora's old wounds bring about catastrophe. The conversation
between the two friends clearly reflects their nature lives.
(4) Characters of Nora and Helmer: Dialogues written by Ibsen reveal the
characters. His dialogues are intellectual. 'A Doll's House' dialogues turn
into discussion very often. The play opens with such discussion. It is with
conversation between Nora and Helmer, the couple. The whole situation
reflects their nature, their relationship. Helmer treats Nora like her pet and
controls her. he goes on advising and ordering her. Nora had dedicated
her full eight long years in order to protect her husband in his illness. For
him, she forged her own father's signature. She thought in time of trouble,
her husband will stad by her but at the end, Helmer doesn't do so. Nora is
deeply troubled when Krogstad express her forgery in front of Helmer

73
through an incriminating letter. FInally, Nora changes and decides to
leave her husband.
(5) Nora, Krogstad revealed through dialogues: The dialogues between
nora and Krogstad plunges in to discussion in the opening act. This
discussion throws light on the characters of Nora and Krogstad. Krogstad
is guilty of a criminal act but escaped punishment as the matter goes to
the court. WHen he gets a threat that he will lose his job, he blackmails
Nora to protect his own interests. Here we come to know that Nora had
forged her father's signature but she had not understood the seriousness
of her criminal act of forgery. In fact, we can say that she did it
unkonwigly. She did it in order to save her husband from illness. SHe did
so to get money so that she can get her husband treated. Nora was
absolutely ignorant of the legal issues related to it. Once again when
Krogstad meets Nora, we come to know that Krogstad raises his price for
keeping her forgery a secret while Nora was already thinking of
committing suicide. Krogstad shows himself to be unscrupulous while
Nora is calm outwardly but uneasy within. After Krogstad's dropping of
letter exposing Nora's forgery, she is highly under stress. Later she tells
Mrs.Linde that her husband will take the blame on his own shoulder. But
her expecttion goes in vain.
(6) Nora and Dr.Rank: In the dialogue between Nora and Dr.Rank, Nora's
light heartedness is reflected. Though she is deeply under stress because
of Krogstad's threat, she talks to Dr.RAnk without any hint of her mental
disturbance. She has decided to borrow money from Dr.Rank so that she
could pay to Krogstad and bring an end to her stress. For this, she flirts
with Dr,Rank but her plan fails as the doctor reveals that he is in love with
his secretary. Nora outwardly treats Dr.Rank as her friend ut in fact she is
aware about his passion for her. But flirting strategy of Nora fails.
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(7) Revelation of character: Very important discussion takes place
between Nora and Helmer at the end of the play. Nora is disillusioned
about the character of her husband and on realizing the fact, she strongly
reacts. She decides to leave him and even her children, in order to find
her own identity. In the final conversation between the two, Helmer's
character gets revealed. He becomes furious with Nora for forgery. Again
on knowing that he has been saved, his attitude becomes partronizing.
But Nora tells him an face that he is not the man she had thought of she
says that he has betrayed her and declares that she doesn't want to
continue her life like a doll. She doesn't want to be treated like his
'possession'. She rebles and decides to leave her husband and home.
(8) Helmer, not a static character: Helmer's character remains as static.
He doesn't undergo any change or development. He remains
undeveloped from beginning to the end. His real character shows different
from what he is. In the beginning he appears to be a strong believer of
moral principle. He says that he will save Nora but in crisis, his moral
principles collapse and even her love for Nora dies. He doesn't sacrifice
anything for his wife. But at the end again becomes the same old version.
He again talks like a guardian of Nora.
(9) Realistic depiction of human relations: Ibsen is excellent at the
depiction of human relationships. His description is true to life. Ibsen has
focused not only the characters of Nora and Helmer, he has skillfully
depicted relationship between Nora and Mrs.Linde, Nora and Dr. Rank,
Mrs. Linde and Krogstad, Helmer and Krogstad, Nora and old nurse.
Q.12 Discuss the life and important works of Helmer of Henrik Ibsen.
Ans. Henrik Ibsen was born in 1828 in a small town of Norway. His father
was a businessman who did import, export and trading in variety of
75
goods. When Ibsen was only seven years old, his father suffered great
loss and was reduced to poverty. Poverty and bankruptcy became a
haunting thought to Ibsen throughout his life.Let's discuss a few aspects
of Ibsen as a playwright.
(1) Illegitimacy: Ibsen was an illegitimate child. As per people's talk, he
was the child of his mother who mother who met a member of parliament
before her marriage and Ibsen was the outcome of their illegitimate
relationship. But there is a doubt about this information because Ibsen
looked very much like his own father. But he had to suffer this stigma of
illegitimacy.
(2) Hard working and his interest in painting and poetry: Ibsen left school
at the age of fifteen and got employed at an apothecary's shop. He did
that job for six years. He worked very hard. He also did other work at the
post office. He could sleep only for four hours but he also found time to
study for his matriculations exams. He studied Greek and Latin. Besides
this, he interested in painting and also wrote verse. He wanted to become
a painter.
(3) His affair: When he was he is a small town of Norway, he felt sheer
loneliness. This drove him towards a servant girl who was ten years older
than Ibsen. Later the girl became pregnant which forced him to pay
regular compensation for fourteen years. She gave birth to an illegitimate
child.
(4) Employed at a theatre: Ibsen tried hard and passed matric exam. he
joined Christiania University. He still wished to become a painter but failed
at it. He also wanted to become a doctor as he had a good knowledge of
medicine. At this time, he wrote a tragedy in verse. It was 'The Warrior's
Barrow'. He got more and more interested in theatre. In bergen, the
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second largest city of Norway, a national theatre had been established.
No one was ready to finance it. Government also rejected that proposal.
Students of the university resented but Ibsen's force was the strongest
among them. Ole Bull, the musician came to know about Ibsen's interest
in theatre. He also came to know that ibsen had written a few plays. So,
he offered job to Ibsen at the National Theatre.
(5) His early failure: The authorities of Bergen theatre sent Ibsen for
training of theatre business. Ibsen got a chance to watch performances of
Shakespeare's plays. He was energized to see them. He spent six years
there but he failed. His early plays were failure, there was nothing
noteworthy in his earlier plays.
(6) His marriage with a Pastor's daughter: In 1857 Ibsen was working as a
director at the National Theater in Christiania. He was thirty years old. At
Bergen, he came in contact with Clergyman. He met Paster's ninteen
years old daughter-Susannah. The girl wasn't too pretty. She was like a
tombay. Ibsen got married to her.
(7) Addictions and disappointments: Ibsen was not very successful as a
dramatist still. He wrote a play 'Love's Comedy' which was about
incompatibility of love and marriage. This play of Ibsen was rejected by
his own theatre. He was disappointed because of his failure. As a result
he started drinking. He became addicted to alcohol. He was often found
lying drunk and utterly helpless in the gutter.
(8) Self-exile: In 1864, Ibsen was thirty six years old. He for the first time
felt successful. 'The Pretenders' was his first successful play. This drama
brought him pension which he had been longing for. It wasn't a big
amount but at least he and his family could survive. He decided

77
something strange at this stage. His talent had not been recognized by his
own theatre and country. So, he decided to leave Norway.
(9) Fame of Ibsen: 'The Pillars of Society' made Ibsen famous in
Germany. 'A Doll's House' also made him famous in whole Western World
'Ghost' was also recognized and it was performed in Sweden for two
years. 'An Enemy of the people' was a made also highly successful.
(10) Other plays by him: "This Wild Duck" was written by Ibsen in 1884. It
was different from his other plays. 'Rosemersholm' was written in 1886.
'The Lady from the sea' was written in 1888. Other plays written by ibsen
are 'Hedda Gabler' 'The Master Builder', 'Little Eyolf', 'John Gabriel
Borkhan' and 'WHen We Dead Awaken'.
(11) His end: After completion of 'When we Dead Awaken' or while the
book was under process, Ibsen had the first attack of paralysis making
him incapable. Last five years of his life he spent paralyzed. He was not
able to write. He died in 1906 at the age of seventy-eight.
Q.13 Discuss the main themes of 'A Doll's House'.
Ans. In 'A Doll's House', Ibsen draws the picture of sacrifice and role of
women of all economic classes in the socirty. Female characters
examplify. Nora's assertion that even men refuse to sacrifice their
integrity. Nora, in order to support her mother and two brothers sacrifice
her life and lives in dedication to her husband. EVen Mrs. Linde found it
necessary to abandon her own child to support herself by working as
Nora's caretaker. Let us discuss some important themes of the play.
(1) parental Obligations: Nora, Torvald and Dr. Rank each express the
belief a parent is obligated to be honest and upstanding as a parent's
immorality is passed on to his or her children like a disease. Dr. Rank
implies that his father's immorality- his many affairs with women- led him
78
to contract a disease that he passed on to his son causing Dr. Rank to
suffer the results of his father's mistakes. WHen Torvald learns about
Nora's deceit, he is worried about his children and thinks that they will
became corrupt. Ibsen doesn't pass judgement but focuses on idea that a
child's debt to her parent creates complexity.
(2) Unreliable appearances: In the play, appearance prove to be
misleading. It masks the reality of the characters and even situations. Our
first impressions of Nora, Torvald and Krogstad change later on. Nora
appears to be silly, childish but later she proves to be intelligent,
motivated, strong and independent. Torvald is strong, benevolent but later
proves to be cowardly and selfish. Krogstad also expresses himself as
more sympathetic and merciful than what he really is. The climax of the
play is largely a matter of resolving identity confusion.
(3) Gender roles: In the play, Ibsen portrays a stereotype gender holding
characters with Torvald and nora and then shows how characters male
and female both suffer due to the roles society expects them to play. Nora
and Mrs. Linde reveals constrictive nature of gender roles. They were
expected to marry in those days, have children and take care of
household. If a woman did job and earned it was like 'being a man',
women were supposed to rely on their husband or fathers. Mrs. Linde had
to find a rich husband to get support. Women missed opportunities of
growth.
The men in the play also suffer unkowingly because of the gender
roles they unhold. Torvald is not able to see Nora as a person. He would
not like to get help from any woman. Torvald is not able to break free of
gender roles.

79
(4) Deceit: Throughout 'A Doll's House', deceptions are presented as
masks. Truth is concealed behind the masks. krogstad as ill reputed, he
says that Krogstad did not take punishment and used cunning trick. He
had to wear a mask in front his family, wife and children. Nora too
deceives. In front of Torvald she wears the mask of a little, cute, innocent
creature and happily accepts nick names like 'squirrel' and 'skylark' as she
wants things from Torvald.
(5) Reputation: For Nora and Dr. Rank, their reputations depened on the
reputation of their parents. Dr. Rank's father enjoyed physical pleasure
which passed on as a venereal disease to his son. This brings death to
his son. Though Dr. Rank is a member of high society, he is punished for
his father's ill reputation. In the same way Nora too has inherited her
father's reputation in view of her husband.
According to Torvald, a person's reputation should be inherited
through the mother but throughout the play the opposite is shown to be
the case. As a child gets his father's name he also gets his father's
reputation. Ibsen points out the influence of misogyny in the society.
(6)Marriage: Marriage is also one of the important themes in the drama.
Nora and Helmer represent a conventional marriage. Nora stays at home
and takes care of the house and children and Torvald earns and provides
financial support. Nora tells lies and like a conventional husband Torvald
drives Nora away but then feels that he can control his wife and that is his
right, but Nora becomes ready to leave him and his house putting him in a
shock. Their marriage falls apart.
Contrasting them is the relationship between Krogstad and Mrs.
Linde. Mrs. Linde earns and works outside the home. The couple talked to

80
each other frankly. They had nothing to hide. They see each other as
equals.
========================================================
8 Short Notes:
Q.1 Plot of 'A Doll's House'.
Ans. A Doll's House opens on CHristmas Eve. Nora Helmer enters her
well-furnished living room-the setting of the entire play- carrying several
packges. Torvald Helmer, Nora's husband, comes out of his study when
he hears her arrivve. He greets her playfully and affectionately, but then
chides her for spending so much money on Christmas gifts. their
conversation reveals that the Helmer have had to be careful with money
for many years, but that Torvald has recently obtained a new position at
the bank where he works that will afford them a more comfortable
lifestyle.
Helmer, the maid, announces that the Helmer's dear friend Dr.Rank
has come to visit. At the same time, another visitor has arrived, this one
unknown. To Nora's great surprise, Christine Linde, a former school
friend, comes into the room. The two have not seen each other for years,
but Nora mentions having read that Mrs. Linde's husband passed away
died, she was left with no money and no children. Nora tells Mrs. Linde
about her first year of marriage to torvald. She explains that they were
bery poor and both had to work long hours. Torvald became sick, she
adds, and the couple had to travel to Italy so that Torvald could recover.
Nora inquires further about Mrs. Linde's life, and Mrs. Linde explains
that for years she had to care for her sick mother and her two younger
brother. She states that her mother has passed away, though, and that
the brothers are too old to need her. Instead of feeling relief, Mrs. Linde
81
syas she feels empty because she has no occupation; she hopes that
Torvald may be able to help her obtain employment. Nora promises to
speak to Torvald and then reveals a great secret to Mrs. linde- without
Torvald's knowledge, Nora illegally borrowed money for the trip that she
and Torvald took to Italy; she told Torvald that the money had come from
her father. For years, Nora reveals, she has worked and saved in secert,
slowly repaying the debt, and soon it will be fully repaid.
Krogstad, a low- level employee at the bank where Torvald works,
arrives and proceeeds into Torvald's study. Nora reacts uneasily to
Krogstad's presence, and Dr.Rank, coming out of the study, says
Krogstad is "morally sick". Once he has finished meeting with Krogstad
Torvlad comes into the living room and says that he can probably hire
Mrs. Linde at the bank. Dr.Rank, Torvald and Mrs. Linde then depart,
leaving Nora by herself. Nora's children return with their nanny, Anne-
Marie, and Nora plays with them until she notices Krogstad's presence in
the room. The two converse, and Krogstad is revealed to be the source of
Nora's secret loan.
Krogstad states that Torvald wants to fire him from his position at the
bank and alludes to his own poor reputation. He asks Nora to use her
influence to ensure that his position remains secure. When she refuses,
Krogstad points out that he has in his possession a contract that contains
Nora's forgery of her father's signature. krogstad blackmails Nora,
theatening to reveal her crime and to bring shame and disgrace on both
Nora and her husband if she does not prevent Torvald from firing him.
Krogstad leaves, and when torvald returns, Nora tries to convince him not
tofire Krogstad but Torvald will hear nothing of it. He declares Krogstad an
immoral man and states that he feels physically ill in the presence of such
people.
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 act two opens on the following day, Christmas. Alone, Nora [aces her
living room, filled with anxiety. Mrs. Linde arrives and helps sew Nora's
costume for the ball that Nora will be attending at her neighbors' home the
following evening. Nora tells Mrs. Linde that Dr. Rank has a mortal illness
that he inherited from his father. Nora's suspicious behavior leads Mrs.
Linde to guess that Dr.Rank is the source of Nora's loan. Nora denies
Mrs.Linde's charge but refuses to reveal the source of her distress.
Torvald arrives, and Nora again begs him to keep Krogstad employed at
the bank, but again Torvald refuses. When Nora presses him, he admits
that Krogstad's moral behavior isn't all that bothers him- he dislikes
Krogstad's overly familiar attitude. Torvald and Nora argue until Torvald
sends the maid to deliver Krogstad's letter of dismissal.
Torvald leaves. Dr,Rank arrives and tells Nora that he knows he is
close to death. She attempts to cheer him up and begins to flirt with him.
She seems to be preparing to ask him to intervene on her behalf in her
struggle with Torvald. Suddenly, Dr.Rank reveals to Nora that he is in love
with her. In light of his revelation, Nora refuses to ask Dr.Rank for
anything.
Once Dr.Rank leaves, krogstad arrives and demands an explanation
for his dismissal. He wants respectability and has changed the terms of
the blackmail: he now insists to Nora that not only that he be rehired at
the bank but that he be rehired in a higher position. He then puts a letter
detailing Nora's debt and forgery in the- Helmer's letterbox. In a panic,
Nora tells Mrs.Linde everything, and Mrs.Linde instructs Nora to delay
Torvald from opening the letter as long as possible while she goes to
speak with Krogstad. In order to distract Torvald from the letterbox, Nora
begins to practice the tarantella she will perform at that evening's costume
party. In her agitated emotinal state, she dances wildly and violently,
83
displeasing Torvald. Nora manages to make Torvald promise not to open
his mail until after she performs at the party. Mrs.Linde soon returns and
says that she has left Krogstad a note but that he will be gone until the
following evening.
The next night, as the costume party takes place upstairs, Krogstad
meets Mrs.Linde in the Helmer's living room. Their conversation reveals
that the two had once deeply in love, but Mrs. Linde left Krogstad for a
wealthier man who would enable her to support her family. She tells
Krogstad that now that she is free of her own familial obligations and
wishes to be with Krogstad and care for his children. krogstad is
overjoyed and says he will demand his letter back before Torvald can
read it and learn Nora's secret. Mrs.Linde, however, insists he leave the
letter, becuse she believes both Torvald and nora will be better off once
the truth has been revealed.
Soon after krogstad's departure, Nora and Torvald enter, back from
the costume ball. After saying goodnight to Mrs. Linde, Torvald tells Nora
how desirable she looked as she danced. Dr.Rank who was also at the
party and has come to say goodnight, promptly interrupts Torvald's
advances on Nora. After Dr.Rank leaves, Torvald finds in his letterbox two
of Dr.Rank's visiting cards, each with a black cross above the name. Nora
knows dr.Rank's cards constitute his announcement that he will soon die,
and she informs Torvald of this fact. She then insists that Torvald read
Krogstad's letter.
Torvald reads the letter and gets angry. He calls Nora a hypocrite
and a liar. He says that she has ruined his happy life. He orders her to
leave house and not to rear his cildren. But then a letter comes from
Krogstad declaring that Krogstad had returned Nora's contract. Helmer's
mood changes. he tries to discuss his past insults but his harshness had
84
affected Nora so much that she declares that she had been treated like a
Doll in the house despite her sacrifies and devotion of eight years and so
she decided to leave her husband. She declares that she must make
sense of herself. She walks out slamming the door behind her.
Q.2 Discuss different aspects of 'A Doll's House'.
Ans.Let's discuss a few important aspects of Ibsen's 'A Doll's House'.
(1) The story: This play is a story about Nora and her husband. They have
been married for nine years and have three children. Nora had borrowed
money eight years ago from Krogstad in order to get her husband treated.
For this, she forged her father's signature. But later when Helmer comes
to know about this forgery, instead of protecting her wife or standing by
her side, he became furious and asks her not raise his children. Even
after all the devotion and dedication of years when the husband proves to
be self centred, Nora decides to leave him and his children.
(2) The significant title: The title of the play 'A Doll's House' is absolutely
significant. The word 'Doll' means a women without any will or brain of her
own, a passive and surrendering women. Nora was a passive, obedient
and sacrificing life for eight long years. SHe followed only her husband's
will without any wuestion. She was treated like a pet or property by her
husband. Thus, Nora lived like a doll in Helmer's house. So, the title is
absolutely true.
(3) As a modern tragedy: This play is called a modern tragedy by Ibsen. It
is a modern tragedy because it has sad ending. Nora leaves her home
and husband and even children. She decides to face an uncertain future.
It is a tragedy which talks of a collapse of a family and disintegration of
the domestic life of a couple. But it is a modern tragedy because it is
different in style. Earlier tragedies dealt with kingly characters of high
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strata. WHile in 'A Doll's House', characters are from middle class.
Besides this earlier plays were written in verse while this tragedy is in
prose. This play is modern as far as even the message is concerned and
techniques are concerned.
(4) The ending of the play: Nora's decision of leaving home and family
comes as a great shock to the audiences of Ibsen's time. People could
not imagine a women leaving husband and children. Audience was
accustomed to happy ending known as " well-wele" plays. But the ending
of this play is unconventional as per that time.
(5) Naturalistic or Realistic play: 'A Doll's House' is a realistic play. It is
anti-romantic in character, story and characters are convincing. There is
no imporbability or fancy. Nora's leaving characters properly, her action is
absolutely appropriate. Her action is authentic. The story is simple, free
from intricacies and it is absolutely naturalistic.
(6) Characterization: The play has five major characters and two or three
minor charaters like porter, the maid servant and the old nurse. The
characters have been portrayed convincingly. Nora's character is
complex. Every undergoes a certain development.
(7) Dramatic Irony: Ibsen uses dramatic irony in plenty. Dramatic irony
arises from a contrast between appearance and reality. It is found in
certain happening, which is reverse of what is expected.
(8) technique: Ibsen has followed the three classical unities of time, place
and action. There is a sub-plot too but it is closely woven with the maid
plot and it doesn't harm the unity of action. Author is highly economical in
materials. Another noteworthy feature is the use of analytic and
retrospective method using past and present. The play opens just before
the catastrophe.
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(9)Parallelism and contrast: In characterization Ibsen uses paralleleism
and contrast. He makes use of devices for the development of plot.
(10) Symbolism: Ibsen has also made use of symbols. Several symbols
have been used like Christmas tree, macaroons, the fancy dress and the
Tarantella. These symbols provides a deep significance to the situations.
(11)Themes: 'A Doll's House' certains a variety of themes. The most
important theme is the liberation of an individual from the chains and
restraints of customs and conventia. There are other themes like filial
duty, heredity, romantic love as illusion etc.
Q.3 Synopsis of 'A Doll's House'. OR Discuss the story of 'A Doll's
House'.
Ans. 'A Doll's House' is famous play by Henrik Ibsen. It's a story of a
couple, who breaks their relaitonship after eight long years. A dedicated
wife Nora leavs her husband Torvald and goes out into the world to find
her own identity.
(1) A story of woman's liberation: 'A Doll's House' is a play in which the
tone of the playwright gets reflected. Nora lives like a conventional wife
like a pet, property of her husband.. Helmer looks at Nora as a
possession. Even after such dedicated life of eight years, when her
husband fails to protect and support her. Not only that, he blames her. It's
here that Nora decides to leave her home, husband and even children. In
order to liverate herself, this women has to take an extreme step. SHe
leaves home and goes into the world to discover her own potentialities.
(2) Act of forgery: WHen Torvald is ill, he has to be taken to Italy for futher
treatment. In order to do this, she required money. So she borrowed loan
and forgerd her father's signature. She did this to save her husband and
with faith in her mind that her husband will understand her action. She
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entered into a transaction with Krogstad. She was compelled to forge her
own father's signature on the bond. Forging signature is a criminal act.
krogstad kept her secret as Nora was paying monthly installments
regularly.Nora thought her husband will take the blame on him but Helmer
behaved contrary to what Nora had expected.
(3) Mrs. Linde's visit to Nora's house: On the Christmas Eve, eight years
after Helmer's critical illness, Mrs. Linde , Nora's school day friend, who is
now a widow comes to meet her. Mrs. Linde wanted help from Nora who
would recommend her name for job to Helmer. Nora introduces her to
husband who promised to give her job in the bank.
(4) dismissal of Krogstad: Krogstad who had lent money to Nora was
already working in the subordinate position in the bank. Helmer and
Krogstad were great friends since their boyhod, but now Helmer doesn't
like Krogstad. Krogstad had spoilt his reputation by a dishonest act for
which he would have gone to the court, because Krogstad hadcommitted
forgery knowingly, deliberately. However, he luckily escapes punishment.
As Helmer know that Krogstad had committed crime, he decided to
dismiss him.
(5)Relationship between Mrs. Linde and Krogstad: mrs.Linde and
Krogstad loved each other in the past. They wanted to marry but Mrs.
Linde had to marry a rich man because she was burdened with the
responsibility of her mother and two younger brothers. Krogstad also
married another woman, who died after giving birth to three children.
Mrs.Linde is a widow, Krogstad is a widower who meet again and decided
to marry.
(6)Helmer's reaction, a shock to Nora: Helmer comes to know about the
incriminating letters written by Krogstad. he reads it and becomes furious.
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he blames Nora saying she is immoral as she did forgery which was
actually done by Nora to save her husband. Helmer starts scolding her,
uses strong terms, calls her a hypocrite, a liar and a criminal. Nora had
thought that Helmer would take entire responsibility on her. Instead he
proved a complete contradication. Nora is shocked to see his self-
centeredness.
(7) Nora's disillusion about her husband: Helmer calls Nora a criminal and
what not. But just them another letter come from Krogstad apologizing for
threatening Nora. This letter come means Helmer and nora are safe as far
as public reputation is concerned. Helmer changes his behavior and
becomes jubliant. He starts showing himself as a loving and doting
husband. He says that he will love her, forgive her, guide her through life
as he did in thepast. But Nora was disillusioned. She now discovered the
reality of her husband.
(8) Nora's exit: After all the eight long years of dedication and sacrifice of
Nora, when her husband proves a failure. She realizes that she was
disillusioned. She decides to forsake her house, husband and even
children. She leave home slamming the door behind and enters the real
world in search of her own identity.
Q.4 Give examples of Dramatic Irony found in 'A Doll's House'. OR
Illustrate from 'A Doll's House' Ibsen's use of dramatic irony and
what purpose it serves.
Ans. Dramatic Irony is a device commonly and very often used by the
dramatists. Irony arises from a contrast between appearance and reality,
between what seems to be the cause situation or the meaning and what
really is the case, situation or meaning. Irony is used in the play
consciously or unconsciously. The speaker can be called ironical when he
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makes a remark conveying the exact opposite of its surfacial meaning.
E.g. Nora at one point says to Helmer that in whatever he does, he is
always right, she is consciously ironical here. Infact she means that he in
never right. She actually means opposite of what she said. Helmer does
not understand her ironical remark literally and feels happy feeling that
she had paid a compliment. But as readers, we understad the irony. We
feel amused as the real meaning is that Helmer was rarely right in
whatever he does. In unconscious irony, speaker says something without
knowing or realizing what will be the opposite of what he said. It is in the
second reading that we become aware of such examples of unconscious
irony. This means irony arises from a contrast in what is said and what it
meant. It occurs when there is a contrast between what the characters
believe and what the readers know as the actual case. Irony may produce
a comic effect or a tragic effect.
There are several occasions on which we find Ibsen makes use of
the device of irony in the play. Early in the play, during the discussion
betweem Nora and Mrs.Linde, Nora tells her that she and Helmer had a
great luck because her husband had been appointed as a manager and
he would earn a big salary, lots of commisision. She says that Helmer
would live as per her wish now. She goes on saying that she is very
happy and free from financial worriers. WHile making these remarks, Nora
looks forward to a happy and prosperous future with her husband but
there is unconscious irony in what she says and what the reality is.
Something opposite to what Nora expects is going to happen. Nora's
conjugal life with Helmer will be completely shattered. But at this point,
she is unaware that, something opposite is going to happen. Even as
readers we don't know that the opposite of what Nora is saying will
happen. Nora tell Mrs.Linde that one day when she will grow old, she will
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expose her secret to Helmer. There is irony even here because she will
not grow with Helmer because very soon she is going to leave him
forever.
There are examples of unconscious irony even in the remarks of
Helmer. When Nora asks him if Krogstad had done something terribly
wrong. Helmer tells her that Krogstad had been guilty of forgery and he
also had tried to escap punishment using a cunning trick. Helmer then
moralizes saying that Krogstad goes an lying and wears a mask even in
front of his wife and children. This implies to Nora also as she too had
done forgery. Of course, Helmer doesn't know this but we have all the
ideas. Here there is contrast between appearance and reality. Helmer's
remarks mean something to him but something completely different to us
and Nora. He also says that Krogstad's criminal act will affect his children
and make them corrupt to. These words have great imapct on Nora
because she too has been guilty. She feels that she too is corrupting her
children.
When Nora meets Mrs.Linde, Nora tells her that her husband is a
loting lover and she is closest to him.This is yet an another example of
conscious irony. She doesn't know that Helmer's love for her is selfish.
Later when Helmer's love for her collapses, we are reminded of her
remarks.
A most striking example of dramatic irony, unconscious irony again is
seen in Helmer's boastful remark to Nora that he was brave enough. He
says he is strong and courageous and he also says that he is man
enough to take everything on himself, but consequently, in finding
Krogstad's letter exposing Nora's forgery, he starts scolding Nora saying
that she had ruined his happiness and damaged his career. He believes
opposite to what he said earlier. Nora also tells Dr.Rank thathe husband
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is deeply in love with her and would not hesitate to sacrifices his life for
her but later he prove self-centred.
Thus, there are many examples of unconscious and conscious irony in
the drama.
Q.5 Bring out the importance of Mrs. Linde's role in the play.
Ans. Mrs.Linde is a very important character in the play. She is an old
friend of Nora. She is a widow but earlier loved Krogstad. She married
another rich fellow because she had responsibility of her mother and two
younger brothers. She is one of the two characters in the subplot of the
play. Let us dicuss Mrs. Linde's rol in the play.
(a) Important character in the play: Mrs. Linde is quite an important
character whose role is important in the actions of the play. She is one of
the two characters in the subplot. She was in love with Krogstad and both
wanted to marry but Mrs. Linde in love with krogstad and both wanted to
marry but Mrs.Linde married another richman to fulfill her responsibilities
of sick mother and two younger brothers. Krogstad also got married with
another person. Later both of them lost hteir respective life partners. SO,
they got a chance to be together again. The subplot gets development at
the beginning of Act III. The subplot brings them together and connects
the action with the main plot.
(b) Medium for bringing about the catastrophe: Mrs.Linde also plays an
important role in the main plot of the play. When Krogstad creats
problems inNora's life, Mrs.Linde comes to help Nora in her crisis. She
tries to often help to Nora. She tries to prevent the trouble between Nora
and her husband preventing Krogstad to send the letter to Helmer
exposing Nora's forgery. She wanted to convince Krogstad to withdraw
his incriminating letter and save Nora. If she had done so, she would have
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been successful and Helmer would have reamind unaware about Nora's
secret. In such circumstance, these would have been no confrontation
between. Nora and Helmer, but the play would have ended differently.
Nora would not have decided to leave her husband, but readers would
effect too. Even Nora's character would not have developed much. She
would have remained a non-entity mrs.Linde thought that by making
Helmer aware of the whole secret, she would solve out the problem
between the couple. But tables are turned and Nora forsakes her
husband. Thus, without her own knowledge, Mrs.Linde brought about the
catastrophe in the play. After her marriage with Krogstad another situation
arises. Krogstad writes a second letter addressing Nora, apologizing for
her behaviour. This letter help expressing Helmer's character becuse on
going through the second letter, Helmer feels jubilant.
(c) As a contrast to Nora: Mrs. Linde also play another important role in
the play. She stands as a contrast to Nora's character. She ofers strong
contrast to Nora. When she first meets Nora at Nora's house. She is a
lonely lady and feels that her life is purposeless. She feels empty within.
She goes to Nora to seek help. So that she would recommend Mrs.Linde
for a job. She wants Nora to take her husband's help in getting a steady
job. Job would make her life meaningful. Nora at the itme was carefree
happy and connected in her life. SHe was completely devoted to well-to-
do but contrary to her, Mrs.Linde had lost her husband. She had no
children and then she had no home to live in. By drawing this contrast
between the lives of these two ladies, Ibsen emphasizes Nora's sense of
well-being. We can also see contrast between mrs.Linde's maturity and
experience of life and Nora's immutarity and girlishness. Mrs.Linde also
plays the role of an advisor to Nora and soon she urges Nora to end her
relationship with Dr. Rank. Another contrast that is highlighted is nora had
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kept her secret of transaction with Krogstad but Mrs.Linde informs
Krogstad that she wanted Helmer to know the reality. Thus, Mrs.Linde is
frank and open while Nora wnats to keep Helmer ignorant about her
deeds. At the end of the play yet an another different kind of contrast can
be seen. Mrs.Linde is going to marry Krogstad and establish her
houshold. SHe is going to start a life of security and certainty while Nora
decided to leave her home and husband. She is ready to face the
uncertainties of life. Thus, Mrs.Linde plays a major role to put forward
contrast to Nora.
Q.6 Discuss the motifs used in the play.
Ans. Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can
help to develop and inform the text's major themes.
Nora's Definition of Freedom: Nora's understanding of the meaning of
freedom evolves over the course of the play. In the first act, she believes
that she will be totally "free" as soon as she has repaid her debt, because
she will have the opportunity to devote herself fully to her domestic
responsibilities. After Krogstad blackmails her, however, she reconsiders
her conception of freedom and questions whether she is happy in
Torvald's house, subjected to his orders and edicts. By the end of the
play, Nora seeks a new kind of freedom. She wishes to be relieved of her
familial obligations in oreder to pursue her own ambitions, beliefs, and
identity.
Letters: many of the plot's twists and turns depend upon the writing and
reading of letters, which function within the play as the subtext that
reveals the true, unpleasant nature of situations obscured by Torvald and
Nora's efforts at beautification. Krogstad wirtes two letters: the first reveals
Nora's crime of forgery to Torvald; the second retracts his blackmail threat
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and returns Nora's promissory note. The first letter, which Krogstad places
in torvald's letterbox near the end of Act Two, represents the truth about
nora's past and initiates after inevitable dissolution of her marriage- as
Nora says immediately after Krogstad leaves it,"We are lost.' Nora's
attempts to stall Torval from reading the letter represent her continued
denial of the true nature of her marriage. The second letter releases Nora
from her obligation to Krogstad and represents her release from her
obligation to Torvald. Upon reading it, Torvald attempts to return to his
and Nora's previous denial of reality, but Nora recognizes that the letters
have done more than expose her actions to Torvald; they have exposed
the truth about Torvald's selfishness, and she can not longer participate in
the illusion of a happy marriage. Dr.Rank's method participate in the
illusion his imminent death is to leave his calling card marked with a black
cross in Torvald's letterbox. In an earlier conversation with Nora, Dr.Rank
reveals his understanding of Torvald's unwillingness to accept reality
when he proclaims,"Torvald is so fastidious, he cannot face up-to
naything ugly." By leaving his calling card as a death notice, Dr.Rank
politely attempts to keep torvald from the "ugly" truth. Other letters include
Mrs.Linde's note to Krogstad, which initiates her-life-changing meeting
with him, and Torvald's letter of dismissal to Krogstad.
Q.7 Write a note on symbols used in 'A Doll's House'.
Ans. Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent
abstract ideas or concepts.
The Christmas Tree: The Chirstmas tree, a festive object meant to serve
a decorative purpose, symbolizes Nora's position in her household as a
plaything who is pleasing to look at and adds charm to the home. There
are several parallels drawn between Nora and the Christmas tree in the
paly. Just as Nora instructs the maid that the children cannot see the tree
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until it has been decorated, she tells. Torvald that no one can see her in
her dress until the evening of the dance. Also, at the beginning of the
second act, after Nora's psychological condition has begun to erode, the
stage directions indicate that the Christmas tree is sorrespondingly
"dishevelied."
New Year's Day: The action of the play is set at Christmastime, and Nora
and Torvald both look forward to New Year's as the start of a new,
happier phase in thier lives. In the new year, Torvald will start his new job,
and he anticipates with excitement the extra money and admiration the
job will bring him. Nora also looks forward to torvald's new job, because
she will finally be able to repay her secret debt to Krogstad. By the end of
the play, however, the nature of the new start that New year's represents
for Torvald and nora has changed dramatically. They both must become
new people and face radically changed ways of living. Hence, the new
year comes to mark the beginning of a truly new and different period in
both their lives and their personalities.
Q.8 Discuss the context of the play 'A Doll's House'.
Ans. Henrik ibsen, considered by many to be the father of modern prose
drama, was born in Skien, Norway, on March 20, 1828. He was the
second of six children. Ibsen's father was a prominent merchant, but he
went bankrupt when Ibsen was eight years old, so Ibsen spent much of
his early life living in poverty. From 1851 to 1864, he worked in theaters in
Bergen and in what is now Oslo (then called Christiania). At age twenty-
one, ibsen worte his first play, a five-act tragedy called Catiline. Like much
of his early work, Catiline was written in verse.
In 1858, Ibsen married Suzannah Thoreson, and eventually had one
son with her. Ibsen felt that, rather than merely live toghether, husband
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and wife should live as equals, free to become their own human
beings.(This belief can be seen clearly in A Doll's House). Consequently,
Ibsen's crities attacked him for failing to respect the institution of marriage.
Like his private life, Ibsen's writing tended to stri up sensitive social
issues, and some comers of Norwegian society frowned upon his work.
Sensing criticism in Oslo about not only his work but also his private life,
Ibsen moved to Italy in 1864 with the support of a traveling grant and a
stipend from the Norwegian fovernment. he spent the next twenty-seven
years living abroad, mostly in Italy and Germany.
Ibsen's early years as a playwirght were noot lucrative, but he did
gain valuable experience during this time. In 1866, Ibsen published his
first major theatrical success, a lyric drama called Brand, He followed it
with another well-received cerse play, Peer gynt. These two works helped
solidify Ibsen's reputation as one of the premier Norwegian dramatists of
his era. In 1879, while living in Italy, Ibsen published his masterpiece, A
Doll's House. Unlike Peer Gynt and Brand, A Doll's House was written in
prose. It is widely considered a land mark in the development of what
soon became a highly prevalent genre of theater-realism, which strives to
portray life accurately and shuns idealized visions of it. In A Doll's House,
ibsen employs the themes and structures of classical tragedy while writing
inprose about everyday, unexceptional people. A Doll's House also
manifests Ibsen's concern for women's rights, and for human rights in
general.
Ibsen followed A Doll's House with two additional plays written in an
innovative, realistic mode: Ghosts, in 1881, and AN Enemy of the People,
in 1882. Both were successes. Ibsen began to gain international
recognition, and his works were produced across Europe and translated
into many different languages.
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 In his later work, Ibsen moved away from realistic drama to tackle
questions of a psychological and subconscious nature. Accordingly,
symbols began to gain prominence in his plays. Among the works he
worte in this symbolist period are the WIld Duck (1884) and Hedd Gabler
(1890). Hedd Gabler was the last play Ibsen wrote while living abroad. In
1891, he returned to Oslo. His later dramas include The Master Builder
(1892) and Little Etolf (1896). Eventually, a crippling sickness afflicted
Ibsen and prevented him from wiritng. He died at on May 23, 1906.
========================================================
UNI. Paper November - 2021
Q.1 'Catch-22' is an allegory of the common man v/s the bureaucracy of
Modern-day America. Discuss.
Q.2 Draw the character sketch of Yossarian.
Q.3 Discuss 'Catch-22' as an anti-war novel.
Q.4 Comment upon the style of the novel 'Catch-22'.
Q.5 Critically evaluate Nora as a Central figure of the play 'A Doll's
House'.
Q.6 Compare the relation between Mrs. Linde and Krogstad with that of
Nora and Torvald.
Q.7 'A Doll's House' is feminist play.- Discuss.
Q.8 How far fo you agree that Torvald represents patriarchal psychology?
Discuss.
Q.9 Write short note: (1) Krogstad (2) Dr. Rank
Q.10 Write short note: (1) Milo Minderbinder (2) Colonel Cathcart

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TEST PAPER - 1
Q.1 Discuss the plot overview of 'Catch-22'. OR
Q.1 Discuss the character portrayal of Yossarian.
Q.2 Write a note on Heller's use of satire in 'Catch-22'. OR
Q.2 Discuss the important themes of 'Catch-22'.
Q.3 Discuss the title of 'A Doll's House'. OR
Q.3 Discuss 'A Doll's House' as a naturalistic play.
Q.4 Discuss the main themes of 'A Doll's House'. OR
Q.4 Discuss the character sketch of Nora.
Q.5 (A) Write a short note : (any one)
(i) Motifs in 'Catch-22' (ii) General Peckem
Q.5 (B) Write a short note: (any one)
(i) Symbols used in 'A Doll's House'
(ii) Important of Mrs. Linde's role in 'A Doll's House'.
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TEST PAPER - 2
Q.1 Write a note on Helmer's use of satire in 'Catch-22'. OR
Q.1 Opening of the novel and settingof 'Catch-22'.
Q.2 Describe the character portrayal of Captain Black. OR
Q.2 Discuss the central themes of 'Catch-22'.
Q.3 Discuss 'A Doll's House' as a problem play. OR
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Q.3 Discuss 'A Doll's House' as a modern tragedy.
Q.4 Discuss the character sketch of Torvald Helmer. OR
Q.4 Discuss the main themes of 'A Doll's House'.
Q.5 (A) Write a short note:
(i) Discuss the character sketch of Chaplain Tappmen
(ii) Conext of Catch-22
Q.5 (B) Write a short note:
(i) Symbols used in 'A Doll's House' (ii) Plot of 'A Doll's House'
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