A Doll’s House
Henrik Ibsen
Conventions of Drama
• KEEP IN MIND: Plays are written for the stage- to be
acted out, not just read like a novel.
• Dialogue is going to be the main vehicle for the playwright
to get his/her motivations across to the reader/viewer.
• Tone of voice, facial expressions, and gestures are also
important in creating meaning in a play.
• Character action/interaction, props, the configuration of
the stage itself, lighting, and sound are all used to produce
an effect on the audience.
Emotional Investment of the Audience
• Audience members’ emotional investment can be manipulated by
the playwright to great effect
• Dramatic irony can be used to heighten the emotional investment
of the audience and create tension & suspense.
• The audience knows more than the characters do
• Audience members anticipate the revelation of truth as the play
continues to move forward
• Dialogue is a major cause of dramatic momentum, increasing
tension between characters and pushing plot development.
• Keep in mind the WAY a character delivers a line is just as
important as the line itself.
• Silence can also be just as important & meaningful as dialogue.
Important Details To Note
• Stage directions
• Lighting
• Music
• Positions of the characters on the stage relative to each other
• Construction of the set (props & physical positions of those
items…everything is intentional!)
• Colors & shapes
• Costumes
• Sound devices
Character Interaction
• Blocking: physical positioning of characters on a stage can show
you a lot about the characters.
• Does the use of questioning have a specific function? Does the
use of questioning establish tension? Does one character ask
more questions than another?
• Does the character move away from the other character when
asked a question? Do they turn toward them or away from them?
What are they saying when they change position? Movement
matters!
• Does one character dominate a scene? Ask yourself why.
• Pay attention to when a character enters or exits a scene, or when
a character is off stage but is mentioned in a scene.
Look for all the things!
• Gender-What defines masculinity? Femininity?
• Children- When are the Helmer children present in the play?
Which characters are treated like children?
• Light- enlightenment & understanding
• Dresses & costumes- the clothes Nora wears, who she wears
them for, and when she changes them are all significant.
• Possession & ownership
• Corruption as something to be inherited
• Religion, morality, and honesty
• Respect and reputation
More things!
• The Home- the play takes place mostly in one room of the house, and
Nora is in almost every scene.
• Marriage- What makes a good one?
• Lies and deceit- Nora’s big secret creates the tension in the play and
makes her a huge liar.
• Love- Which characters actually experience love? What kinds of love do
we see in the play? Where is love lacking?
• Money- What is the relationship between money and power in the play?
• Power- Who has it, who doesn’t, and how can you get it?
• Freedom
• Letters
Let’s Read!
• We have class sets in the back of the room!
• Get your journals out!
• After we read the opening stage directions, we are
going to sketch out the scene in our journals. (This is
part of your journal assignment later, so get it done
now!)
The Evolution of Play Structure
• 1863 German dramatist and novelist Gustav Freytag
created his “Pyramid” to explain the predictable
order for the unfolding of a typical play. It has
changed dramatically since then!
In medias res
• Some playwrights choose to drop their audience right into
the middle of the action of the play without explanationknown as in medias res.
• Latin for- “into the middle of things”
• Provocative, tense, and gives the audience little time to ease
into the action of the play.
• Audience feels startled or confused, but has to actively
engage in order to figure out what’s happening.
Realistic Drama
• Invites audiences to view the world on the stage as a realistic one that
they can relate to.
• The actions, the culture, the timeframe are all approachable as opposed to
alienating to bring in the audience.
• Character emotions are familiar so the audience is to some degree
sympathetic.
• Psychological distance between the audience and characters is
minimized.
• The audience experiences more emotion and participates actively behind
the fourth wall.
• The audience doesn’t need to suspend disbelief because the world in front
of them is real & relatable, thus offering emotional intensity and release.
The “well-made play”
• Modified version of Freytag’s 5 part pyramid structure
• The plot involves a character withholding a secret.
• Through a series of events and actions, tension and suspense build
steadily to the moment of climax when the secret is revealed and the
character’s fear of ultimate loss is transformed into gain.
• Death and destruction give way to freedom and understanding,
resulting in a new life for the character.
• Characteristics include: mistaken identity, misplaced documents, a
battle of wits, well-timed entrances and exits, and a logical
denouement.
• A Doll’s House has the structure of a well-made play, but Ibsen tweaks it
slightly.
The Problem Play
• Emerged during the 19th century as part of the wider
movement of realism in the arts.
• Dealing with social issues through debates between the
characters on stage, who typically represent conflicting points
of view within a realistic social context.
• The problem play followed the innovations of Henrik Ibsen,
whose work combined penetrating characterization with a
strong emphasis on social issues, usually concentrated on the
central character.
• A Doll’s House is a prime example of a problem play because it
deals with the restriction of 19th century women’s lives.
What makes a striking
theatrical experience?
• When the curtain comes down, and the lights fade
out, or you turn the last page, what thoughts and
feelings do you carry with you?
• This experience is often encapsulated by a single
moment, or even a single image onstage, that holds
insight into understanding the self.
• If what you just saw stays with you for one reason or
another, the playwright has done their job.
Considering Time in Drama
• How does the playwright choose to show the passage of time in
their play?
• Some use the scenes themselves to indicate that time is passing,
similar to chapters in a book. Closing a curtain or blacking out the
stage between scenes implies that time is passing or there is a
change in location on the set.
• The audience can anticipate some sort of change with a new
scene.
• Pay attention to how props are used on stage. They can also
indicate time passing: ie. Lighting a lamp, clocks, etc.
• Time is the antagonist in A Doll’s House, because time is working
against our main character, Nora. Ibsen slows scenes down or
speeds them up to create tension to drive the play forward.
A Doll’s House Stations!
Bring your journals with you and your text! ~15 minutes
per station. I will tell you when to rotate!
• 1. Heinz Dilemma
• 2. Opening Scene & Reactions
• 3. Connections to Women Writers
• 4. Wordle Commentary Practice
NOTE: There are 2 of each station, so don’t all crowd
around 4 of them! Split up!  ~6 of you per group.
A Doll’s House Act I
Act I Setting Sketch
• Go back to the very beginning of Act I and sketch
the setting for the opening scene in your journals.
Characterization Chart
Character Name
Nora
Torvald
Mrs. Linde
Krogstad
Dr. Rank
Analysis
Evidence
Homework Over Break
• Read Act II!
Gatsby IOP Reminder
• Meeting 9:00am THIS Wednesday in the block room!
• You must have an idea whether or not you want to do
an analytical presentation or a character monologue.
• If you’re doing an analytical presentation, you should
have some topics in mind for your presentation.
• If you’re doing a character monologue, have a list of
possible characters that you would like to choose.
Act I & II discussion questions
• 1. Get out your reader response journals from Act I & discuss
what you wrote in your table groups.
• 2. Examine character reactions from the opening scene. Do
these reactions hint at any potential conflicts, issues, secrets,
and/or mysteries about the characters?
• 3. How does Ibsen characterize Nora? Torvald? How is the
audience supposed to feel about them?
• 4. List the props you see in Act I. Choose a prop from Act I that
you feel serves a critical function and explain its significance to
the play thus far. Then, do the same for Act II.
• 5. How does Ibsen build suspense in both Acts? Explain.
• 6. Why does the setting seem so generic? What is Ibsen doing?
Movement & Questioning
• 1. Note the physical positioning (blocking) of both Nora and Torvald
in the opening scene of Act I. Aspects of the character can be revealed
where a character is positioned on stage, when a character moves or
changes that position, and where he or she establishes a new position.
What do you notice? What do their positions reveal?
• 2. What do you notice about the movement when the characters are
asking questions? Each of the following reactions can reveal subtle
understandings of both character traits and interaction: by moving
away from or nearer to the questioner, to face the questioner or to turn
away, to gesture in response, to remain silent, or to answer a question
with another question.
• 3. What do you notice about the questioning of both characters? Does
one ask more than the other? How does each character respond to the
questions of the other? What can we learn about these characters from
these interactions?
Discuss your feelings about…
• 1. Moral decay/ deceit as hereditary
• 2. Nora & Torvald’s marriage dynamic
• 3. The macaroons as symbols
• 4. Mrs. Linde’s character & purpose in
the play
• 5. Dr. Rank’s character & purpose in
the play
• 6. The use and purpose of letters in the
play
• 7. Children & their role
The Christmas Tree
• Go back and examine how the Christmas tree
appears in Act I. What does it look like?
• Then, look at the description of the Christmas tree
at the beginning of Act II.
• What is Ibsen doing with the tree? What makes this
change significant?
Letters & Krogstad
• 1. Where are some examples where Ibsen uses
letters as agents of change in the play?
• 2. How do the letters serve to advance the plot and
create suspense? What does the letter box symbolize?
• 3. How have our feelings about Krogstad changed
throughout the course of the play as we learn more
about him? Is he really the true antagonist in the play?
If not, who is?
The Tarantella Dance
[Helmer plays and Nora dances. Rank stands by the piano behind Helmer
and looks on.]
Helmer [as he plays]: Slower, slower!
Nora: I can’t do it any other way.
Helmer: Not so violently, Nora!
Nora: This is the way.
Helmer [stops playing]: No, no—that is not a bit right.
Nora [laughing and swinging the tambourine]: Didn’t I tell you so?
Rank: Let me play for her.
Helmer [getting up]: Yes, do. I can correct her better then.
The Tarantella Dance
1.
What is the purpose of the first Tarantella dance?
2.
What does the dance symbolize? How does this add to our
characterization of Nora? How is she changing?
3.
How can the audience see the marriage dynamic through the symbol
of the dance?
4.
Torvald says, “My dear darling Nora, you are dancing as if your life
depended on it” (46). Why is this statement ironic?
5.
Why is the appearance of the macaroons following the dance
significant? What do they symbolize?
6.
At the end of Act II, Nora says: “Thirty one hours to live” (47).
Predict what you think she means by this and what is going to happen
to her.
A Doll’s House
• Based on what you know so far, why do you think the play is
titled A Doll’s House?
• How is Nora doll-like? What is Ibsen’s purpose for this? Think
about:
•
•
•
•
How she dresses
Her marriage dynamic with her husband
The Tarantella dance
How other characters in the play treat her
• How do we see the theme of quiet desperation appearing in A
Doll’s House, particularly in Act II?
• How is Nora similar to the characters we experienced through
the Women Writer’s unit? How is she different?
Mini IOP Practice
• At your table groups, decide on your characters:
• 1. Nora
2. Torvald
3. Krogstad
4. Dr. Rank
• Take 15 minutes and outline a character monologue.
• 1. Choose a moment in time from Act I or II to focus on.
• 2. Think about Ibsen’s purpose for your character. How can
you convey the purpose of your character through a
monologue?
• 3. What motivates your character? What does your character
think, feel, love, hate, fear, etc.? How does your character
feel about other characters?
Reading Check Quiz
• 1. Discuss the significance of the following props in the
stage directions at the beginning of Act III:
• The lamp
• The open door
• 2. What’s on the card Dr. Rank sends to Torvald? Be
specific.
• 3. Name one surprising thing that Mrs. Linde does in
Act III. Be specific.
 SPECIFICITY IS YOUR FRIEND 
Things!
• 1. Macbeth play extra credit- see instructions on my website! (Up
to 15 process points)
• 2. Gatsby IOP people- your proposal sheets are due Monday,
December 5th
• 3. A Doll’s House IO #3 & 4 are tomorrow! Reflective statements
are due Friday to Turnitin.com.
• 4. Socratic Seminar over A Doll’s House Friday
• 5. Monday-20 question multiple choice exam and Supervised
Write over A Doll’s House. Journals will be due Monday after.
• Supervised Write: journals & your plays (hard copy only).
• Multiple choice exam- no notes or plays
Commentary Practice
• Get out your journals and take a quick second to
review what you wrote.
• If you didn’t do a journal, you still have to do a
practice commentary! Lo siento.
• You will be delivering a 5 minute commentary to a
partner.
Act III: Write out your responses
•
1. What is the significance of the lamp burning on the table at the beginning
of Act III? The open door?
•
2. Discuss what happens to each of the following characters & the significance
of what they do:
•
•
•
•
•
Torvald
Nora
Dr. Rank
Mrs. Linde
Krogstad
•
3. How does Ibsen completely unhinge the idea of the well made play?
•
4. Describe the role of letters in Act III. Why are the letters significant?
•
5. How is Nora similar to the characters from “The Yellow Wallpaper” and
“The Story of an Hour”? How is she different?
•
6. Why is this play titled A Doll’s House?
Belhaven University Production of
“A Doll’s House”
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NLhOyGBs6
c
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TLHYjHqQT
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A Doll’s House SS/BT
• VDB 1: Anjali, Shawn, Alyssa, Misty, Alex, Mike , Lola,
Nishu, Audrey, Erica, Dylan, Michelle, Jasmine, Teagan,
Raviv
• VDB 2: Kevin Z, Ali , Josh , Tania , Jacalyn , Gigi , Santtu,
Samm, Alaka , Julia , Sophie, Conor, Annie, Gautam, Emily
• Bede 1: Amelia, Judy, Brendan, Hannah K, David,
Stephanie, Kevin A , Roger, Regan, Anumita, Sahana,
Andre, Abhi, Eddie, Marc
• Bede 2: Mark , Hannah A, Allison, Ben, Chris, Cynthia,
Kevin C, Sonali, Angela, Kaichen, Abby, Minttu, Paul,
Velvet, Leevi