[ From below comes the noise of a slamming door ]
[ Nora steps outside into the night. It begins to lightly rain and the leaves and branches of the trees dance in the wind. She holds her jacket tightly around her slim body as doubt overwhelms her. ]
NORA: [talking to herself and walking with a slouch ]: Oh no ! What have I done ? I must go back. I must return to my children and Torvald, they need me, they really do. [ lifts body and head ] No ! I mustn't ! I mustn't go back to a man who only views me as a doll wife or children that I can only offer play time. This is best for us all.
[ Nora walks with silent hesitantation down the street. Mrs. Linde runs from behind her and gently places her hand on Nora's shoulder. ]
MRS.LINDE : Nora! I've talked to Torvald, he told me that you're leaving and I....
NORA: [picks up walking pace] :Don't even try to convince me of going back. I don't want to hear what Torvald has said. You see, he's committed an awful sin against me and staying would only mean I would be committing a sin against myself. I must do what's best for me now.
MRS. LINDE : I agree. Before you left I wanted to tell something. When Krogstad came over to talk he was willing to remove the letter from the mailbox but it was I who told him not to.
[ Nora stops walking and turns to face Mrs. Linde with a look of puzzlement ]
NORA : But how could you ? You were suppose to be my friend. You were suppose to help me. YOU DECEIVED ME! YOU TOO HAVE COMMITTED A SIN AGAINST ME! I MUST FREE MYSELF FROM YOU ALL! RID MYSELF OF THOSE WHO LOOK TO RUIN MY LIFE!
[Nora begins to turn and walk away with angry. ]
MRS. LINDE: [grabs Nora's arms, holding her in place against her will. Nora's jacket free from her grib blows free in the wind]: No Nora. We have set you free. You're relationship with Torvald held to many secrets, to much disclosure. Krogstad's letter freed you of all secrets which allowed you to accept the true value of your life. If you staved Torvald's knowing of the truth any longer you would've soon selfdestucted. You must go, educate yourself, learn to work for yourself, and when's the times right return to your lost loves and share your value with them. You are incompetent now but once you experience life you'll become truly successful. Just as I did Nora.
[ Nora without a word unperturbed turns and walks away. ]
NORA: [talking to herself]: I know now what I must do. I must live for myself then return to live for Torvald and my children.
The Blog List
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Act ll Analysis
"Nora, darling, you're dancing as if your life depended of it!" (Ibsen 204).
Act ll of "A Doll's House" continues to focus on the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Helmet as well as outside forces/relationships which have an impact on their relationship. The plot of Act ll revolves around Torvald and Nora's preparations for an upcoming party. While preparing her dress and dance for the party, Nora must also deal with keeping Krogstad's letter explaining everything out of Torvald's sight. Nora's hysterics in Act ll are caused by Krogstad's words of reproach. Despite all this, at the party, Nora is expected to perform the Tarantella. I believe this dance becomes an essential part of Act ll because it withholds symbolism connecting to the play. The Tarantella was named after the tarantula spider, whose poisonous bite was mistakenly believed to cause 'tarantism,' an uncontrollable urge for wild dancing. The cure prescribed by doctors was for the sufferer to dance to exhaustion. Modern psychologists speculate that the true cause of the disorder, which achieved its highest profile in the nineteenth century and which involved symptoms of what would now be called hysteria, was not the spider's bite but the repressed morals of that age. The only outlet for passionate self-expression, they reason, was the Tarantella.
Act ll of "A Doll's House" continues to focus on the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Helmet as well as outside forces/relationships which have an impact on their relationship. The plot of Act ll revolves around Torvald and Nora's preparations for an upcoming party. While preparing her dress and dance for the party, Nora must also deal with keeping Krogstad's letter explaining everything out of Torvald's sight. Nora's hysterics in Act ll are caused by Krogstad's words of reproach. Despite all this, at the party, Nora is expected to perform the Tarantella. I believe this dance becomes an essential part of Act ll because it withholds symbolism connecting to the play. The Tarantella was named after the tarantula spider, whose poisonous bite was mistakenly believed to cause 'tarantism,' an uncontrollable urge for wild dancing. The cure prescribed by doctors was for the sufferer to dance to exhaustion. Modern psychologists speculate that the true cause of the disorder, which achieved its highest profile in the nineteenth century and which involved symptoms of what would now be called hysteria, was not the spider's bite but the repressed morals of that age. The only outlet for passionate self-expression, they reason, was the Tarantella.
It is significant that Torvald tells Nora to practice the Tarantella while he shuts himself away in his office. While Torvald is ostensibly being indulgent towards his wife, the image of her practicing this passionate dance alone and unheard emphasizes her isolation within her marriage. Based on this, Nora's wild dancing of the tarantella can symbolism her dancing in order to rid herself of a deadly poison. The poison could symbolize either the threat posed by Krogstad , or the poison of deception and hypocrisy that characterizes the Helmer marriage.
In my Act l Analysis blog, I asked the question of whether or not Nora was putting on an act when interacting with her husband or if she was truly as dependent and dumbfounded as she perceived herself to be when dialoguing with him. After reading and analyzing Act ll I firmly believe that she's definitely putting on an act when interacting with Torvald. For instance, Nora pretended to need Torvald's help learning the Tarantella and jauntily asks for his help. When in reality it's only a distraction to delay Torvald's reading of Krogstad's letter. "Nora: Sit down and play for me, Torvald dear; criticize, and show me where I'm wrong, the way you always do..." (Isben 203). Is Nora her husband's little skylark after all... ?
** Question to Audience :
- What significance and/or symbolism do you believe the dance of the Tarantella has to Act ll of the play ?
** Question to Audience :
- What significance and/or symbolism do you believe the dance of the Tarantella has to Act ll of the play ?
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Act l Analysis
Act 1 of Hernrik Isben's play "A Doll's House" uses the development of characters and dialogue (character interaction) to demonstrate the different positions taken on by both a man and woman within a marriage. To being with, throughout Act 1, readers analyze the relationship of the married characters Torvald and Nora (Mr. and Mrs. Helmer). During this period in time, men were the bread markers for the household while the wives stayed at home with the children. It was almost unheard of for a woman to work hard hours outside of domestic work. As stated by Nora, "...sitting there working and earning money. It was almost like being a man..." (pg.162). This caused men to be seen as dominant over the women in many cases. Isben uses character interaction between Torvald and his ravishing wife Nora to display a man's dominance in a marriage. Torvald repeatedly refers to his wife using childlike nicknames and often unknowingly speaks down to her within their dialogue amongst one another. Due to this, the relationship demonstrated between the two resembles that of a father and daughter than that of spouses. He accuses her of squandering money on frivolous products and doubts her ability to make strong decisions on her own. Nora both plays into and takes advantage of Torvald's views of her.
"Helmer: So my little obstinate one's out of her depth, and wants someone to rescue her?
Nora: Yes, Torvald, I can't do anything without you to help me. " (pg. 178)
Futhermore, in my opinion, Nora is not as dumbfounded as she precives herself to be when talking to her husband. This is because, knowing that Torvald would never expect her to make decisions on her own, she does just that by making the decision to borrow money from Krogstad who is viewed by the town as corrupted and degenerate. This decision always displays how incautious Nora is of the dangers within the real world. Which is why it ultimately backfires on Nora and causes her to internally go insane. By Nora internally going insane it also demonstrates the boundaries developed in relationships during that period of time. A woman's problems were shadowed by the man's needs or wants. Nora couldn't tell Torvald what she was facing or why she was facing it because protecting her husband's pride was more important.
** Question to the audience:
Do you believe that Nora puts on an act when interacting with her husband or do you believe she's just as dependent of him as she precives to be ?
"Helmer: So my little obstinate one's out of her depth, and wants someone to rescue her?
Nora: Yes, Torvald, I can't do anything without you to help me. " (pg. 178)
Futhermore, in my opinion, Nora is not as dumbfounded as she precives herself to be when talking to her husband. This is because, knowing that Torvald would never expect her to make decisions on her own, she does just that by making the decision to borrow money from Krogstad who is viewed by the town as corrupted and degenerate. This decision always displays how incautious Nora is of the dangers within the real world. Which is why it ultimately backfires on Nora and causes her to internally go insane. By Nora internally going insane it also demonstrates the boundaries developed in relationships during that period of time. A woman's problems were shadowed by the man's needs or wants. Nora couldn't tell Torvald what she was facing or why she was facing it because protecting her husband's pride was more important.
** Question to the audience:
Do you believe that Nora puts on an act when interacting with her husband or do you believe she's just as dependent of him as she precives to be ?
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Intro.
Hi, my name is Yaminah Smith and I'm in Mrs. Santos' period 3 class. What I've liked mosted about this English class is that we do a lot of group discussions. This allows us to share ideas, explain our opinions, and express ourselves along with our thoughts. Overall, it creates an open environment within the classroom which I think can be very essential to learning. Through group dicussions I believe my classmates and I also develope a better understanding of the literatures that we read.
The author of "A Doll's House" is playwrighter, Henrik Johan Ibsen. Growing up, his mother had an interest in playing the piano, painting, and theatre. Overtime, Ibsen gain this same interest for arts. By the time he was 8 years old, his family faced proverty due to a downfall in his father's business as a merchant. The family was then forced to sell off their earnings and move to a farm. There, Hernrik focused most of his time on arts, performance, magic tricks, and literature. By the age of 15, Ibsen dropped school and begin working. In 1849 he wrote his first play, "Catilina".
In 1862, Ibsen moved to Italy after being exiled from Norway. In Italy, he wrote "Brand" which was based on his life during 1865. This play made him well known in Scandinavia. Just two years later, he wrote "Peer Gynt". In 1868, Ibsen moved to Germany where his plays "The Pillars of Society" and most famous "A Doll's House" we're performed. In 1890 he wrote "Hedda Gaber" and a year later returned to Norway as a "literary hero". Henrik died at age 78 on May 23 of 1906 in Oslo, Norway.
- I didn't want to read to much of the summaries of the play because I didn't want to give away the play but based off of what I read I'm not exactly sure how the title connects to the play's plot.
Sources:
http://www.biography.com/people/henrik-ibsen-37014#synopsis
http://www.shmoop.com/dolls-house/summary.html
The author of "A Doll's House" is playwrighter, Henrik Johan Ibsen. Growing up, his mother had an interest in playing the piano, painting, and theatre. Overtime, Ibsen gain this same interest for arts. By the time he was 8 years old, his family faced proverty due to a downfall in his father's business as a merchant. The family was then forced to sell off their earnings and move to a farm. There, Hernrik focused most of his time on arts, performance, magic tricks, and literature. By the age of 15, Ibsen dropped school and begin working. In 1849 he wrote his first play, "Catilina".
In 1862, Ibsen moved to Italy after being exiled from Norway. In Italy, he wrote "Brand" which was based on his life during 1865. This play made him well known in Scandinavia. Just two years later, he wrote "Peer Gynt". In 1868, Ibsen moved to Germany where his plays "The Pillars of Society" and most famous "A Doll's House" we're performed. In 1890 he wrote "Hedda Gaber" and a year later returned to Norway as a "literary hero". Henrik died at age 78 on May 23 of 1906 in Oslo, Norway.
- I didn't want to read to much of the summaries of the play because I didn't want to give away the play but based off of what I read I'm not exactly sure how the title connects to the play's plot.
Sources:
http://www.biography.com/people/henrik-ibsen-37014#synopsis
http://www.shmoop.com/dolls-house/summary.html
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