A DOLL'S HOUSE

PRESENTATION

A DOLL'S HOUSE

by Henrik Ibsen

9.5(A)

9.4(F)

9.4(A)

9.2(B)

9.1(A)

9.4(E)

9.5(C)

Lesson Standards

9.9(B)(i)

9.5(B)

9.4(G)

9.3

9.1(D)

• Identify key events and characters in Act III.
• Articulate the motivations and conflicts of characters in Act III.
• Analyze the major themes present in Act III.
• Demonstrate an understanding of dramatic techniques used by Henrik Ibsen in Act III.

I will be able to analyze Act III of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House to gain a deeper understanding of the characters and themes in the play.

I will express my thoughts and interpretations verbally and in writing, using appropriate academic vocabulary related to literary analysis, such as character development, theme, and dramatic techniques.

Success Criteria

Learning Intention

Language Objective

What will our lesson look like?

Read the following statement: "An individual’s first obligation should be to himself or herself, not to his or her children." Choose an option and put your selection in the chat! a) strongly disagree b) disagree c) agree d) strongly agree.

Do Now:

Of the 25 plays written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906), none is more famous or widely performed than A Doll’s House, which earned controversy in its time for questioning traditional marriage norms. Set in a Norwegian town in the late 19th century, A Doll’s House follows a series of events that leads Nora Helmer to reexamine her marriage. In this scene, she explains to her husband why she is leaving. *Watch StudySync Video

Introduction

Ibsen

Henrik

verb to commit to doing; to take on

noun (a person’s) preference or liking

adjective unnatural or forced

verb to satisfy

adjective satisfied and happy with present conditions

verb to hide; to keep secret

undertake

content

taste

content

strained

conceal

VOCABULARY

Historical Context

Ibsen wrote the A Doll’s House in 1879, inspired by the experience of the writer Laura Kieler. Kieler had borrowed money to take her husband to Italy to cure his tuberculosis. She asked Ibsen to review a play she wrote in the hope that his recommendation would lead it to be published, thus raising funds to pay back her debt. When Ibsen told her the play was bad, she forged a check, was caught, and was temporarily committed to an insane asylum by the husband she had sought to help.

Historical Context

A Doll’s House was considered highly controversial for the time period because of its dissection of social conventions and challenge to societal norms. It played a tremendous role in destabilizing such conventions and norms, and may still be considered shocking by some even today for advancing the idea that an individual’s first obligation is to himself or herself, not to his or her children

Summary

After eight years of marriage, this is the first serious conversation Nora and Helmer have had. Nora recalls how when she used to live with her father, he treated her like a doll-child. When she was transferred from father to husband, she took on Helmer’s tastes and feelings, as if she were there to perform tricks for him. Helmer wonders whether she’s ever been happy, and Nora admits that while she’s tried to be cheerful, their home has always felt unhappy to her. Desperate, Helmer says that the future will be different, but Nora tells him that he is not the right man to teach her how to be a proper wife. Therefore, in order to educate herself, she is leaving. Helmer is speechless, but Nora insists that she must stand alone. Even though Helmer protests, Nora insists that she must do what she can to become a reasonable human being and learn how to understand her own life.

But what happened before?

Act II

Act I

From Act IIINORA: We have been married now eight years. Does it not occur to you that this is the first time we two, you and I, husband and wife, have had a serious conversation? HELMER: What do you mean by serious? NORA: In all these eight years—longer than that—from the very beginning of our acquaintance, we have never exchanged a word on any serious subject. HELMER: Was it likely that I would be continually and forever telling you about worries that you could not help me to bear? NORA: I am not speaking about business matters. I say that we have never sat down in earnest together to try and get at the bottom of anything. …When I was at home with papa, he told me his opinion about everything, and so I had the same opinions; and if I differed from him I concealed the fact, because he would not have liked it. He called me his doll-child, and he played with me just as I used to play with my dolls. And when I came to live with you— HELMER: What sort of an expression is that to use about our marriage? NORA [undisturbed ]: I mean that I was simply transferred from papa's hands into yours. You arranged everything according to your own taste, and so I got the same tastes as yours, else I pretended to, I am really not quite sure which—I think sometimes the one and sometimes the other. When I look back on it, it seems to me as if I had been living here like a poor woman—just from hand to mouth. I have existed merely to perform tricks for you. … HELMER: How unreasonable and how ungrateful you are, Nora! Have you not been happy here?

NORA: No, I have never been happy. …Only merry. And you have always been so kind to me. But our home has been nothing but a playroom. I have been your doll-wife, just as at home I was papa's doll-child; and here the children have been my dolls. I thought it great fun when you played with me, just as they thought it great fun when I played with them. That is what our marriage has been, Torvald. … HELMER: There is some truth in what you say—exaggerated and strained as your view of it is. But for the future it shall be different. Playtime shall be over, and lesson-time shall begin. NORA: Whose lessons? Mine, or the children's? HELMER: Both yours and the children's, my darling Nora. NORA: Alas, Torvald, you are not the man to educate me into being a proper wife for you. HELMER: And you can say that! NORA: And I—how am I fitted to bring up the children? HELMER: Nora! NORA: Didn't you say so yourself a little while ago—that you dare not trust me to bring them up? HELMER: In a moment of anger! Why do you pay any heed to that? NORA: Indeed, you were perfectly right. I am not fit for the task. There is another task I must undertake first. I must try and educate myself—you are not the man to help me in that. I must do that for myself. And that is why I am going to leave you now.

IHELMER [springing up ]: What do you say? NORA: I must stand quite alone, if I am to understand myself and everything about me. It is for that reason that I cannot remain with you any longer. HELMER: Nora, Nora! NORA: I am going away from here now, at once. I am sure Christine will take me in for the night— HELMER: You are out of your mind! I won't allow it! I forbid you! …Before all else, you are a wife and a mother. NORA: I don't believe that any longer. I believe that before all else I am a reasonable human being, just as you are—or, at all events, that I must try and become one. I know quite well, Torvald, that most people would think you right, and that views of that kind are to be found in books; but I can no longer content myself with what most people say, or with what is found in books. I must think over things for myself and get to understand them.

1. When Nora points out that she and Helmer had not had a serious conversation in eight years of marriage, Helmer asks, “What do you mean by serious?” What does Nora mean? Base your answer on her words in the text.
2. Nora tells Helmer, “No, I have never been happy. … Only merry.” What does she mean by this? Explain, using evidence in the excerpt.
3. Based on what you learn in the text, what does the title of the play—A Doll’s House—likely refer to?
4. Nora claims that she concealed her opinions from her father if her opinions differed from his. Based on context clues, what does concealed mean? Write your definition here.

Comprehension Questions

THAnkS