English Literature & Composition - PopulationMe.com

Chapter 7: Introduction to Drama
to please and perhaps distract her husband with her costume, a disguise, from Capri. These all
tie together, as Hamlet would say, "tropically"!
The play clearly dramatizes, as DiYanni points out, a strong woman driven to take charge
of her life. Excellent essays could be assigned comparing Nora to Edna in The Awakening or to
any of the "Women in Patterns": Gilbert, Cisneros, and Chopin (see Chapter 4). Similarly inventive
and fruitful discussions could result from comparing the loving but controlling concern by
Torvald with John's infantilization of Jane in NThe Yellow Wallpaper" (the story was written
fewer than two decades after the play), or the role of controlling fathers in the lives of Nora and
of Edna Pontellier.
Possible Essay Questions
1. Discuss the value in literature of a confidant or confidante, a character who allows the
protagonist to think out loud. Think about how this role applies to Christine Linde here,
to Horatio in Hamlet, and to both Mlle. Reisz and Adele Ratignolle in The Awakening.
2. In her final dramatic confrontation with Torvald, Nora spells out a whole list of forces
that she has decided to reject-social or cultural influences that shape and control an
individual, especially a female. Discuss the laws that prohibit women from owning
property, as well as the church, the family, and employment practices.
3. Compare Cassio's use of Desdemona to plead his case to Othello, or Claudius's appeal
to Gertrude to plead with her son, to Krogstad's pressure on Nora to get her husband to
keep him as an employee. Explore the parallels, as well as the many complex differences.
MILLER, DEATH OF A SALESMAN (p. 1777)
Perhaps the greatest American play of the twentieth century, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman
offers virtually endless avenues for exploration. Certainly you can juxtapose it with Oedipus Rex
and have students engage in an ongoing comparison of the two works in terms of Aristotelian
elements of tragedy. After they have read the play, let students do their own thinking about this
topic before giving them two secondary sources: Joseph Wood Krutch's "The Tragic Fallacy"
and Miller's own essay, "Tragedy and the Common Man" (pp. 2216-2218). Particularly for the
longer Krutch essay, have students write a precis-a two- or three-page summary of key ideas
in which they first state the thesis and then present the main points in order, giving attribution
throughout (see Chapter 2). In addition to writing a precis, you might ask students to react to
Krutch's assertions, especially his thesis that classical tragedy affirms the nobility of humanity
but modern "tragedy" only confirms a sense of despair; consequently, the modem age is incapable
of producing its own tragedies and tragic heroes. Then, ask students to compare Krutch's
assertions with Miller's defense of modem tragedy and tragic heroes. Point out that although
Shakespeare violates many of the rules of classical tragedy-violence occurs onstage, plays
cover longer periods of time than just one day-he nonetheless peoples his plays with kings,
princes, senators, and other individuals of high station.
Readers can also apply several critical lenses to this play, so ask students to adopt one of the
following critical perspectives-formalist, Marxist, psychoanalytic, feminist-and explore the
play through those eyes. This exploration could take our often-recommended sequence: initial
personal jottings, small-group work, full-class discussion, then an essay. There, students will integrate
what they have heard and argue for a particular critical lens being the most apt for this
drama. Formalists would look at imagery, symbolism, theme, and structure. Marxists would
look at money and power and particularly at how the play presents the American Dream. We
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