Ibsen's A Doll House A Doll's HouseâDiscussion Questions from ...

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Helmer: My dear Nora, as a lawyer I know what I’m talking about. Practically all juveniledelinquents come from homes where the mother is dishonest.Helmer: If it ever got around that the new manager had been talked over by his wife ... As long asthe little woman gets her own stubborn way ...I Do you want me to make myself a laughing stock inthe office? ...Give people the idea that I am susceptible to any kind of outside pressure.Nora: You shouldn’t have done that. You must let things take their course. Because really it’s acase for rejoicing, waiting like this for the miracle.Mrs. Linde: All my life I have worked, for as long as I can remember; that has always been myone great joy. But now I’m completely alone in the world, and feeling horribly empty and forlorn.There’s no pleasure in working only for yourself. Nils, give me somebody and something to work for...A home to bring happiness into.Nora: We have now been married eight years. Hasn’t it struck you this is the first time you and I,man and wife, have had a serious talk together?Nora: You two [Helmer and Nora’s father] never loved me. You only thought how nice it was tobe in love with me.Nora: My duty to myself ...I believe that first and foremost I am an individual, just as much asyou are...Drama Essay Topics from Teaching Composition with Literature: Writing Exercises and Ideas byDana GioiaqSpatial imagery: How do the spatial images underscore the isolation of members of the familyand contribute to the theme of the failure of communication between spouses? Are the spatialimages of enclosure in any way contrasted with images of freedom?• Boxes• Doors• Barriers that divide the characters• Windows• Letters• LetterboxqqDecide what the moment of recognition and reversal is in A Doll’s House. What does Norarecognize (the miracle) and how is her situation at the end of the play reversed from thebeginning? Show how the action leads up to this moment (or these separate moments if they arenot the same) and explain why the denouement [look up terms you are unfamiliar with] is theninevitable. Use specific quotes from the play.Many people were outraged that Nora would leave her husband and children at the end of ADoll’s House. In fact, some early versions of the play have her going into the children’s room atthe last minute and deciding to stay. Which ending do you think is the more effective one, from a
dramatic/literary standpoint, and why? Be sure to refer to the main themes of the play and to keepin mind Nora’s and Torvald’s characters.qqIn what ways does A Doll’s House seem to apply to life today? Is it in any way dated? A periodpiece? Is the play valuable only as it depicts life in the nineteenth century in Norway, or does itstill tell us something about life today? Could there be a Nora or a Torvald in the United Statestoday?Ibsen claimed that A Doll’s House was not about women’s rights but rather about human rights.Is there any difference between the two? Is there a feminine self and a masculine self or just ahuman self? What about morality? Sexuality? Epistemology? Can you enter into the debatebetween “sameness” and “difference” using A Doll’s House as your basis for discussion?A Doll’s House—Additional Questions (some overlap with previous ones)1. The play ends with Nora’s famous rebellion against the husband and the Victorian society thathave reduced her to a plaything. But throughout the play we see Nora rebelling in symbolic ways:things she says, neurotic habits of behavior, defiances timid to frantic. Discuss at least three waysNora rebels against her world before her final departure.2. A major symbolic pattern in the play is Nora and Torvald’s incessant need to hide, suggesting on alarger level the Victorian middle class’s wish to hide from the ugliness and the harsh realities orcapitalistic society. Examine the varieties of hiding in the play (evasion, disguise, lies) and discusshow and why the Helmers try to maintain their “charmed life.”3. Discuss Krogstand, Mrs. Linde, and Dr. Rank as foil characters to Torvald and Nora. What doeseach character teach the Helmers about their doll house?4. Michael Meyer, in his biography Henrik Ibsen, says that the play is not so much about women’srights as about “the need of every individual to find out the kind of person he or she really is, andto strive to become that person.” Support this interpretation.1. Is it essential that the main character be a woman in this play?2. In what ways does Ibsen give external symbols of internal qualities in his characters?3. Is Nora a victim or does she bring her trouble on herself?4. What social message might Ibsen support through this play?Give specific references to the text in your responses.1. Who is responsible for the "doll house" condition of the marriage? To what extent is Nora a victim?2. Rank the characters in order of virtue, explaining which moral quality you think each personembodies and why.3. How does the play present the idea that moral corruption may be passed from generation togeneration. Consider Krogstad and his sons, Nora and her children, Nora and her father, and Dr. Rank.
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Ibsen's A Doll House A Doll's HouseâDiscussion Questions from ...