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A Doll’s House. By Henrick Ibsen. Dramatic Terminology. Biographic Information…. Author: (Just the basics) often called the father of modern drama, as most modern drama reflects the influence of his work. Ibsen was born in 1828 in Norway
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A Doll’s House By Henrick Ibsen
Author: (Just the basics) • often called the father of modern drama, as most modern drama reflects the influence of his work. • Ibsen was born in 1828 in Norway • He was the second of five children of Knud Ibsen, a merchant, and his wife, Marichen, a painter who loved the theatre. • Went through family bankruptcy, of which they never recovered
In 1844, Ibsen was apprenticed to an apothecary in the town of Grimstad. Extremely poorly paid, he studied at night in the hope of going to university, but was rejected by Christiania University. • He published his first play, a historical verse drama called Catiline, in 1849, but it was rejected by all theatres. • His second play, The Burial Mound, written under the pseudonym BrynjolfBjarme, became the first Ibsen play to be performed when it was given in 1850 at the Christiania Theatre. It was well received.
In 1850 Ibsen left his employment with the apothecary. He also ceased contact with his parents and brothers, "chiefly because I could not be of any assistance or support" to them. • In 1851 Ibsen was appointed dramatic author at the Norwegian Theatre in Bergen, which had been founded to develop a national culture.
By 1891, when Ibsen returned to live in Norway, he had become a household name, evoking enthusiasm and outrage in equal measure. • The next decade saw a shift in Ibsen's focus from social issues to the isolation of the individual. The Master Builder (1892), Little Eyolf (1894), John Gabriel Borkman (1896), and When We Dead Awaken (1899) address conflicts between art and life, and between happiness and self-deception. They are widely thought to be autobiographical.
In 1900, Ibsen suffered the first of several strokes, which left him unable to write. He died in Christiania on May 23, 1906.
Victorian Notions of • Gender roles • Social expectations • Familial obligations • Love and romance – reality or illusion of it all!
Contemporary Perspective • Among first stage dramas of 19th century to depict ordinary life realistically INSTEAD OF romantically or sentimentally. • Exposed ‘dirty little secrets’ about middle-class values of Norwegians and other Europeans. • The play incorporates puns: hypocracy, inequality, condescension, deception.
Contemporary Perspective (2) • European bourgeois drama • Ethical gravity • Psychological depth • Social significance • Which some say had been lacking since the great works of Shakespeare.
Victorian Notions… • Victorian society is all about maintaining proper presence and elegance at all times. • Your word and actions are your honor and define you as a person in society’s eyes. • Once a person has violated truth, they are forever a “bad” person in the eyes of society, as there is no true way to trust them again.
But, remember this Victorian falsehood: • The rigidity of the Victorian society does not afford ‘love’ the flexibility it requires to flourish and thrive! • This said, it is no wonder Nora, and others like her, were unhappy. • Men, too, struggled with the standards of this era … Torvald is not left with anything but a sense of failure in many ways.
Deception • Deception defined: • one party have a motive/purpose = personal gain • a second party (or parties) experiences loss/trickery or happiness • What is your notion of deception? • Is deception always obvious? • Have you experienced deception? • How do your experiences parallel/compare to those within the play?
Gender Roles • How do gender roles in your social areas of interaction affect you? • Are there situations where your gender determines your role? • How does this make you feel? • How do you respond to the “role” and to the feelings? • Make connections to the work itself.
Money • Comment on the function/symbolism of money, both in today’s world for you and your family as well as within the play itself. • How is money controlling? • How is money freeing? • How does money impose judgment?
Individual & Society • Victorian society portrayed a repressive influence on the individual. It created a series of conventions and codes that the individual defied at his/her own risk. • Explain how this statement holds true for any of the following: Nora, Krogstad, Torvald, Nurse.
