IB English HL I

Malashewski

A Doll’s House
Wrap-up discussion

Instructions
Make a copy of this document, and follow the process below.

Individually: take 20 minutes to review your annotations, any notes you’ve made, or journal entries that
touch on these topics. Compile your thoughts under each question,

In small groups: take 30 minutes to pull together your evidence and accompanying analysis for both
questions. Discuss your thoughts and interpretations as a group. Aim to agree on 4-5 significant moments
from the text that help support your answer for both. Be ready to share out with the class.

Question 1
“Our home has been nothing but a playroom.” What is the significance of this statement by Nora?

Notes: Nora is putting her struggles into the form of a metaphor both for her husband and the audience
to better understand. She is a doll, as her children are or will continue to grow up to become. She is
property, a play toy passed down from man to man. She put on the show of being a doll, “playing” the
way her husband wanted or her father expected her to. When they are gone she is herself, doll-less but
unable to leave the playroom. The final scene shows her ending the constant cycle of being passed
from man to man, for she is not a doll. She is not a metaphor, she is a person.

Question 2
Nora was right to leave. Agree or disagree? Explain using evidence from throughout the text.

Notes: Nora was trying to end the cycle in which she was passed down from man to man. However, in
such a time it is unlikely her leaving will do any good for her or her family. Her husband will be looked
down on, as will her children who will also experience the loss of their mother. She will have little to no
money to support her and overtime will grow to become like Mrs Linde who, by the end of the play,
gave up on her solitary journey.

I would like to point out how as Nora develops, Ms Linde does as well, keeping with the concept that
she is a foil of the protagonist. When Nora is happy in her home, Ms Linde is not. But when Nora grows
uncertain of her “happy” life, Ms Linde finds a way to remarry and take the place of a mother and wife.
They contrast each other and match each other's arcs by going in two opposite directions.