unit 7: two plays by henrik ibsen
MEETING 1: the well-made play
The theory of the well-made play:
(1) The plot revolves around a secret held by the protagonist; the secret is known to the audience but withheld from key characters.
(2) The plot is driven by scenes of increasing intensity and suspense. The play is usually a slow, slow, deliberate burn.
(3) The plot contains (too) perfect, almost contrived—even twee—entrances and exits and requires handy devices like letters or telegrams to move it forward.
(4) The secret stems from a conflict with one or more of the play’s other characters.
(5) The plot contains peripeteia in a dramatic scene at the end that exposes the secret.
Ibsen’s drama:
(1) Makes taboo acceptable
(2) Discards soliloquies and asides
(3) Contains motivated exposition
(4) Environment influences the personalities of the characters
(5) Takes nothing for granted
(6) Usually has a thesis in a way Shakespeare does not
Today we’re going to look predominantly at the actions of the first part of Act 1, thinking about how they provide us with all we need to know about Nora.
HOMEWORK FOR OUR NEXT CLASS:
Read Pages 17-34.
MEETING 2: KROGSTAD TURNS THE SCREWS
Before moving into the new reading, let’s think about the first iteration of one of the play’s central questions that Nora raises a number of times: “Is it rash to save your husband’s life?” (14). Is Nora right? Does she have the moral high ground? What are the assumptions in this question? Let’s watch the 2012 production’s version of this scene [16:00-29:00].
I’d like to focus most of our time today on the first scene between Nora and Krogstad. In what ways are Nora and Krogstad alike? different?
KROGSTAD. The law takes no account of motives.
NORA. Then they must be very bad laws.
KROGSTAD. Bad or not, if I produce this document in court, you’ll be condemned according to them.
NORA. I don’t believe it. Isn’t a daughter entitled to try and save her father from worry and anxiety on his deathbed? Isn’t a wife entitled to save her husband’s life? I might not know very much about the law, but I feel sure of one thing: it must say somewhere that things like this are allowed. You mean to say you don’t know that—you, when it’s your job? You must be a rotten lawyer, Mr. Krogstad.
They’re both right, and they’re both wrong, no? [33:45-43:41]
Nora and Helmer: “A fog of lies like that in a household, and it spreads disease and infection to every part of it. Every breath the children take in that kind of house is reeking with evil germs” (33). What does Torvald inadvertently do to Nora? [43:41-52:00]
Homework: Read pages 35-61.
MEETING 3: NORA’S DOLL HOUSE
We should review some of the takeaways from our last class: A Doll’s House is not King Lear, but is it the stuff of tragedy? Why? Nora and Krogstad find themselves in similar circumstances early on in the play, but we sympathize with Nora. Why?
The 2012 production of A Doll’s House literally revolves around Nora, emphasizing how stationary she remains while everyone else comes and goes. Let’s think about the play like that: Each secondary character has their turn to play with Nora—Helmer, Anne Marie, Rank, Mrs. Linde, and Krogstad. Why is the architecture of the play designed like this? Does each character play with Nora to cope with their own insecurities? Why? Does it matter that they’re all professionals of some sort?
Consider each of these scenes in the second act:
Nora and Anne Marie: What is the dramatic function of this scene? [51:32]
Nora and Mrs. Linde: What do we learn about Dr. Rank?
Nora and Helmer: “I forgive you.” [1:03:25]
Nora and Rank: What does Dr. Rank understand about Nora’s intentions in this scene?
Nora and Krogstad: “Courage.” [1:22:00]
Nora and Mrs. Linde: What’s the “miracle”?
Nora and Krogstad, Part 2: Nora and Krogstad throw the word courage back and forth between each other. How does the meaning of the word change each time it’s uttered? What makes an action courageous or uncourageous, does the play suggest? Choose only one character to develop your thinking.
What is Ibsen’s intent in having Nora dance the tarantella at the end of Act 2?
Homework: Finish the play!
MEETING 4: a divided duty
On page 83, Nora argues that her duty to herself as an individual is just as sacred as the duty she has to her family and to her community. Do you agree? Why or why not? Are you put off by Nora’s decision at the end of the play? Does Ibsen do enough to convince you that Nora makes the correct decision?
Gregory Doran, the former Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, says that some playwrights will “stare with a very steady eye at some of the elements in our make-up which are ugliest.” Does Ibsen? What ugly elements of our make-up does he see, and what does the play suggest about the extent we can change them?
