Major Themes of 'A Tale of Two Cities'

 

 Major #Themes of #ATaleofTwoCities 

 #CharlesDickens 

A TALE OF THE TWO CITIES is probably the least “Dickensian” of his fourteen novels in that it has less of the grotesque, fewer characters, more big scenes, and a less complicated plot. Much of the novel’s value lies in its structure, creativity, and explorations of timeless themes. As a #historical novel, it serves as an excellent example of this genre. The fact that Dickens is able to weave the simple lives of ordinary people into the mosaic of a cataclysmic historical event is an indication of his genius, and another reason to read the book. The #themes that are explored in the novel still have relevance today.

#Themes are overarching ideas and beliefs that the writers use to convey to the readers. #Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities has themes that are not only universal but also highly relevant at any time. Some of the major themes of A Tale of Two Cities have been discussed below.

Theme 1

#Resurrection

The theme of resurrection and change is one of the major themes that seem to emerge on both social and personal level. The character of Sydney Carton and his death saves the life of Charles Darnay and Lucie Manette. He also saves his name with his heroic act of going to the gallows to save Darnay. The end of the novel is suggestive of him regarding his Christ-like resurrection, as he becomes an icon of sacrifice and heroism for those he has sacrificed his life for.

On a social level, the old status of France appears to give way to the new France where Carton has sacrificed his life for others. His final act of great sacrifice tells how Paris and the society in which he has shown this example will see resurrection. Despite his death and violence in France against and by the aristocracy, the revival of peace and better society echoes throughout the novel.

Theme 2

#Sacrifice

Sacrifice is another dominant theme along with resurrection and an integral part of a happy life in A Tale of Two Cities. The novel presents the need for sacrifice on a personal as well as social levels. The revolutionaries sacrifice their own lives and love to bring revolution. The guard, when he arrests Darnay, reminds Manette that the interest of the country overrules everything else. Madame Defarge also teaches her husband the same thing when he expresses his love for Dr. Manette. On a personal level, Sydney Carton’s personal sacrifice brings happiness to Lucie and Darnay. Therefore, the need for sacrifice with resurrection is an important theme of the novel.

Theme 3

#Violence and Oppression

Violence and oppression are two other major themes of the novel A Tale of Two Cities. The readers can see that the revolutions bring torture, violence, and mass killings. Although Dickens seems to support the revolution, his attitude is not clear about the evils committed by the revolutionaries. The viciousness of the aristocracy, which Evremonde demonstrates, appears to be the major reason for criticism.

Similarly, the Marquis’ exploitation of the peasants is shown in a poor light. However, Dickens has also demonstrated their vengeance following the revolution in which various innocents are crushed such as the Manettes. In fact, seeking revenge after the revolution is to burgeon another cycle of violence, revenge, and oppression. The depiction of the dance with weapons being ground seems to herald a cycle of senseless killing and massacre. Even the tribunals set up to punish the aristocracy worked working without a set law.

Theme 4

#Class Conflict

There are two classes in France before the revolution; the peasants who are at the receiving end and the aristocrats, the exploiters. When the revolution takes place, the whole social fabric experiences a rude jolt. The peasants become no less violent than the aristocracy against them before the revolution because of the long-suppressed suffering. The rape of the peasants through the Marquis in the pre-revolution era reverses in the post-revolution era. The class struggle becomes apparent in the shape of the wine shop of Madam Defarge and Mr. Defarge which becomes a hub of the anti-aristocratic forces. The burning of the chateau of Evremonde is a symbol of the fall of the aristocratic norms. The outcome of this mess comes in the shape of summary execution through guillotines like that of Carton and vengeance as Mrs. Defarge shows toward the Manette.

Theme 5

#Theme of Fate

A Tale of Two Cities highlights another theme which is fate. The mention of time at the very start of the novel presents the idea of fate intertwined with the land and time. Dicken’s method of referring to trees to form a guillotine in France shows that something terrible was going to happen. Lucie, though predicts correctly about the happenings, is fortunate in the end when Darnay is freed. Although Darnay is caught when he returns to France but is freed after Carton sacrifices his life for him. Even women were not safe after the revolution and as mentioned, “There were many women at that time, upon whom the time laid a dreadfully disfiguring hand”.

Theme 6

#Social Injustice

The theme of social injustice is intertwined with revolution and class discrimination. The novel, A Tale of Two Cities, presents this theme through different characters. Dr. Manette does not deserve to be incarcerated for such a long time. The peasant boy is not destined to be killed and then left deliberately by Marquis St. Evremonde. This is an extreme type of social injustice that the boy meets. Moreover, the social injustice going on in Paris is put into contrast with justice in London where everybody has to accept the rule of law while in Paris even persons like Darnay and Manette have to go through torture and imprisonment in spite of their innocence.

Theme #7

Family Preservation

Family and its preservation is another major theme of the novel. It is clear from Darnay’s advances toward Lucie and her trip to Paris to meet her incarcerated father. Although she knows the risks involved and also that her father has lost his memory, she undertakes the journey to meet him. Even Marquis Evremonde is concerned with the family's reputation despite knowing that they have done wrong as he says, “we did a world of wrong.” On the other hand, Defarge, too, plays a vital role in the pre and post-revolution times using animosity to preserve their family preservation.

Theme 8

#Reversals of Roles

Revolutions not only bring bloodshed but also reverse the roles of people and classes.The poor become cruel and barbaric, while the aristocrats and exploiters suffer at their hands. Despite being an aristocrat, Darnay becomes a prisoner when he returns to Paris. However, he is freed when Carton sacrifices himself for Darnay due to his love for Lucie. Their roles reverse by the end of the novel, and Sydney Carton replaces Darnay to be hanged.

Theme 9

#Love and Hate

The novel also presents the theme of love and hate and their interaction. Madam Defarge represents hatred on account of her past sufferings. Carton and Darnay, on the other hand, exhibit love which they shower on Lucie while Carton sacrifices his life for love. Lucie’s love for her father brings him to life from his prolonged incarceration. Therefore, love and hatred go hand in hand in the novel.

Theme 10

#Revolution

The nature of a revolution and its impact is another theme of the novel. France was going through an upheaval. The whole social fabric has turned topsy-turvy as the poor people like Defarge became revengeful and the aristocrats like Evremonde had fallen. Even Darnay has to go through many challenges due to his family connections. The killing spree has led to the deaths of innocents and sinners alike.

 

Thus we can say that the novel contains several major themes that run throughout the story. Themes of resurrection, social justice, and darkness versus light can be found in abundance.

 

Metaphysical Poetry and John Donne

Metaphysical Poetry

Etymologically the term “Metaphysical” has been derived from two Greek words of Meta and Physics these words imply that Meta means beyond and physics means Physical nature. The metaphysical period is one of the major remarkable literary periods in the history of English literature. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Metaphysical as “of or relating to the transcendent or to a reality beyond what is perceptible to the senses”

Metaphysical poetry is a group of poems that share common characteristics: they are all highly intellectualized, use rather strange imagery, use frequent paradox, and contain extremely complicated thoughts.

Literary critic and poet Samuel Johnson first coined the term 'metaphysical poetry in his book Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets (1179-1781). In the book, Johnson wrote about a group of 17th-century British poets that included John Donne, George Herbert, Richard Crashaw, Andrew Marvell, and Henry Vaughan. He noted how the poets shared many common characteristics, especially ones of wit and elaborate style.

History of Metaphysical Poetry

The word “metaphysical” was used by writers such as John Dryden and Samuel Johnson in regard to the poets of the seventeenth century. These poets are noted for their “unnaturalness”. Johnson wrote in Lives of the Most Eminent Engish Poets in the late 1700s, that a “race of writers” had appeared that might be termed “metaphysical poets”. The term was likely taken from Dryden who had described John Donne as affecting “metaphysics” in his “satires” and his “amorous verses”. It was not until the twentieth century that many of these poets were adequately recognized for their talent and originality.

T.S. Eliot is one of the many twentieth-century literary critics who helped to establish the well-deserved reputation that writers such as John Donne and Andrew Marvell now hold. He applied many of their techniques to his own writing.

CHARACTERISTICS OF METAPHYSICAL POETRY

• The group of metaphysical poets that we mentioned earlier is obviously not the only poets or philosophers or writers that deal with metaphysical questions. There are other more specific characteristics that prompted Johnson to place the 17th-century poets together.

• Perhaps the most common characteristic is that metaphysical poetry contained large doses of wit. In fact, although the poets were examining serious questions about the existence of God or whether a human could possibly perceive the world, the poets were sure to ponder those questions with humor. • Metaphysical poetry also sought to shock the reader and wake him or her up from his or her normal existence in order to question the unquestionable. The poetry often mixed ordinary speech with paradoxes and puns. The results were strange, comparing unlikely things, such as lovers to a compass or the soul to a drop of dew. These weird comparisons were called conceits. Metaphysical poetry also explored a few common themes. They all had a religious sentiment. In addition, many of the poems explored the theme of carpe diem (seize the day) and investigated the humanity of life. One great way to analyze metaphysical poetry is to consider how the poems are about both thought and feeling. Think about it. How could you possibly write a poem about the existence of God if you didn't have some emotional reaction to such an enormous, life-altering question? Metaphysical poetry investigates the relation between rational, logical argument on the one hand and intuition or “mysticism” on the other, often depicted with sensuous detail Metaphysical poetry is considered highly ambiguous due to the high intellect and knowledge of metaphysical poets.

John Donne

John Donne was born in 1572. He studied both law and religion. Donne was catholic by birth, but in 1597, he embraced the Church of England and became Anglican. His belief in the old faith struggled against the impact of the established church. His intellectual spirit detached itself from Catholicism. His conversion to Anglicanism was due to intellectual pervasion. Donne sought poetry and divinity. He was promoted to the post of Dean of St. Paul’s in 1621. He died in 1631. Donne gave a sincere and passionate quality to the Elizabethan lyric. He was the pioneer and founder of metaphysical poetry.


John Donne is the leader and founder of the Metaphysical school of poetry. His poetry is a revolt against the popular current. First of all, Dryden used the term ' Metaphysical' for Donne's poetry. He said,' Donne affects the metaphysics. Later on, Dr. Johnson called Donne and his followers 'the metaphysical poets. Since then the word metaphysical has been used for Donne and his followers.

When Dryden, Johnson, and Dowden called Donne a metaphysical poet, they referred to the style of Donne. His poetry is metaphysical because of his individualism and his quest for learning. His poetry is full of wit. It is obscure and it indulges in farfetched conceits. It fuses thought and emotion. It is logical, analytical, and mystical. His poetry combines all elements of metaphysical poetry, i.e., Passion, wit, conceit, an amalgam of Passion and intellect, paradoxes, and hyperboles are characteristics of metaphysical poetry. He brings together physical and spiritual love in his poems. His images are always unique and exclusive, often drawn from classical and contemporary branches of learning.

Simultaneously his poetry is metaphysical because it employs conceits and wit and is characterized by the display of learning, hyperbolism, and exaggeration, colloquial speech, argumentation, and paradox.

Here are some elements of metaphysical poetry, which are frequent in every poem of Donne. Following are some attributes, which make John Donne a good metaphysical poet.

Metaphysical poetry:-

• Is free from artificiality
• Contains conceits and hyperboles
• Is intellectual
• always remains away from the female physique
• Is about emotions and psychological experiences

Reference - -



https://poets.org › poet › john-donne

Gratitude

Gratitude 

 I have noticed that the Universe loves gratitude. The more grateful you are, the more goodies you get. When I say “goodies,” I don’t mean only material things. I mean all the peoTople, places, and experiences that make life so wonderfully worth living. You know how great you feel when your life is filled with love and joy and health and creativity, and you get the green lights and the parking places. This is how our lives are meant to be lived. 

 The Universe is a generous, abundant giver, and it likes to be appreciated. Gratitude brings more to be grateful about. It increases your abundant life. 

Lack of gratitude, or complaining, brings little to rejoice about. Complainers always find that they have little good in their life, or they do not enjoy what they do have. The Universe always gives us what we believe we deserve. Many of us have been raised to look at what we do not have and to feel only lack. We come from a belief in scarcity and then wonder why our lives are so empty. If we believe that “I don’t have, and I won’t be happy until I do...,” then we are putting our lives on hold. What the Universe hears is: “I don’t have, and I am not happy,” and that is what you get more of. We even want to be grateful for the lessons we have.

 Don’t run from lessons; they are little packages of treasure that have been given to us. As we learn from them, our lives change for the better. So, whether the lesson is a “problem” that has cropped up, or an opportunity to see an old, negative pattern within us that it is time to let go of, rejoice! 

  Let’s spend as many moments as we can every day being grateful for all the good that is in our lives. If you have little in your life now, it will increase. If you have an abundant life now, it will increase. This is a win-win situation. You are happy, and the Universe is happy.

 Gratitude increases your abundance. Start a gratitude journal. Write something to be grateful about each day. On a daily basis, tell someone how grateful you are for something. Tell sales clerks, waiters, postal workers, employers and employees, friends, family, and perfect strangers. Share the gratitude secret. Let’s help make this a world of grateful, thankful giving and receiving . . . for everyone!

The excerpt is taken from Gratitude – A Way of Life.

Themes in A Doll’s House

Themes in A Doll’s House

Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

In Henrik Ibsen s play A Doll s House there are many themes that are apparent, but the one that is most apparent is the way that women and men are viewed. Women are especially viewed in the context of marriage and motherhood. Men are viewed as manly men that are not dependent on anyone for anything.

The play focuses on the way Nora is seen as a mother and a wife. Torvald has a clear and narrow definition of a woman. He believes that a woman should be a good wife and mother. Torvald tells Nora that mothers are responsible for the morality of their children. In essence, he sees women as both child-like, helpless creatures and important moral forces responsible for the morals and purity of the world through their influences on their own child s morality.

Well as such the central theme of this play is Nora’s rebellion against society and everything that was expected of her. Nora shows this by breaking away from all the standards and expectations her husband and society had set up for her. In her time women were not supposed to be independent. They were to support their husbands, take care of the children, cook, clean, and make everything perfect around the house.

Nora’s first rebellion was when she took out a loan so that she could pay for her husband, Torvalds medical treatment. It was against the law for women to take out a loan without their husbands consent.While Nora’s second rebellion was when she left Torvald and her children.

 

Other themes of the play include - 

Individual and Social Fabric

This is one of the most important themes of the play. Most actions of an individual are in response to the society or community they live. Nora is a loyal wife and a dedicated mother, but she does not stick to the moral framework of society. She thinks it morally right to deceive her husband about her debt and forgery. Even suicidal thoughts are for her husband, who will ruin himself when protecting her later. Mrs. Linde yearns to be a caretaker and play the role of nurturer. She betrays Nora, which helps her see the true nature of Torvald. Also, Krogstad does not achieve happiness through any means but realizes by the end that he can achieve it through his reformation. He learns that a person must give proper respect to his personality if he wants to win the respect of others in society.

Feminism

Nora, as a character, becomes prominent not only in the world of literature but also in the world of theatre. Her figure as a woman towers over those of men with whom she locks horns. She breaks Torvald’s traditional notion of women subservient to men; she still has to find a future for herself and support her children when she decides to leave. However, Torvald fails to understand the value of a woman and the reason for her debt. Nora has secured a bright future for her children and also supported her husband, but she has failed to support her own position. It shows that the patriarchal circle has still the same strength as it has before the start of the play. Femininity though tries to break this circle; it seems that it needs more than merely the threat to leave as Nora does by the end of the play. However, she indeed stands in the shadow of her father whenever her husband has some praise for her despite having decision-making ability at critical junctures.

Love and Marriage

Another important theme of the play is love and marriage. Nora and Torvald Helmer are presented as a happy couple, leading a blissful married life. The use of pet names by them for each other shows the involvement of love as opposed to Mrs. Linde’s life. This marriage proves a contrast to the marriage of Mrs. Linde and Krogstad that happens by the end of the play, which shows that love and marriage are based on realistic expectations. When the reality of the deception of Nora dawns upon Torvald, he reveals the other side of human nature and immediately expels Nora from his life, while she is also ready to go away. On the other hand, Mrs. Linde and Krogstad have never been in love with each other.

Moreover, Dr. Rank, too, has loved Nora for years though he has never married. Nora and Torvald show that their marriage is subject to social rules, conventions, and customs. When this rule is broken, the marriage stands cancelled. Krogstad and Mrs. Linde’s marriage show that this is not always the case.

Deception

Deception is another major theme of the play. Nora’s action of borrowing debt and then forging her father’s signature shows that she has deceived her husband. Although Krogstad blackmailed her several times on account of this forgery, she has never disclosed it to her husband. She then shares this deception with Mrs. Linde, who advises her that she should inform her husband. She believes that such marriages based on deceptions do not have a chance to succeed, and she proves right. Krogstad also suffers from a bad reputation as he is with Nora in forging the signature of her father and using her as a ploy to get a promotion. Therefore, such frauds and deceptions have been presented in the play as corrupting forces that not only destroy the very foundations of society but also ruin blissful married lives.

Materialism

Materialism is an essential thematic strand that runs throughout the play. Stress upon money is the specific focus of the married couple Nora and Torvald Helmer. Financial autonomy and success are the central points of Torvald’s point of view about success, whether it is in marriage or business. His refusal to take cases that do not give him satisfaction is the primary reason for his financial success. Nora, too, thinks that by providing material comfort, she can win her husband as well as her married life. However, expectations of the material success of Nora and Torvald dash to the ground by the end of the play when they come to know the truth.

Upbringing Children

Although Ibsen has not given children of Nora and Helmer any space in the play, it is also a thematic strand that runs parallel to the truth of marital love. Emmy, Ivar, and Bobby show how parents are bringing them up and how they should be treated. Nora has a little time for them as she brings toys, but her father never appears to have any time except for his financial career. However, in another way, he has time to call his wife with names such as “little person” or “little woman” or “little songbird” and other such names reserved for children. This shows that both of them are bringing up their children as their possessions instead of human beings, which is proved wrong by the end.

Parental Obligations

The play shows that parents are responsible for bringing up their children with the right moral values. For example, Nora is accused of following her father’s extravagance and money-making drive. Dr. Rank seems to have inherited disease as well as moral flaws from his father. Torvald, too, holds this idea that parents determine the moral character of a child as he states when Nora is with him that criminals always have mothers who lie in their lives.

Religion

Although religion does not directly appear in the play, it has some importance. For example, the events of the play occur around or on Christmas. While the events of the first act take place in the evening, the second on the day of Christmas, and the third on Boxing Day. The arrival of the Christmas Tree in the first act also shows this occasion. Secondly, there is much stress on the morality that is undoubtedly Christian morality. However, it is interesting that it has not been directly mentioned. Only Torvald accuses Nora of having “no religion” and that his father does not have any principle. Nora too admits by the end that she does not know the reality of religion and that she is not sure about the clergy as well.

Corruption

It is a minor theme but plays an important role in the progress of the play. Dr. Rank is the epitome of corruption and has inherited tuberculosis along with moral degradation from his father. In the same way, Torvald accuses Nora of inheriting moral ineptitude about money and financial matters from her father. In other words, it is suggested that such corruption, whether it is physical, or moral is a curse for society.

The Theme of Emancipation of Self in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House.

Henrik Ibsen was an extremely influential Norwegian playwright who stood responsible for the rise of modern realistic drama. In A Doll’s House, Ibsen employs the themes and structures of classical tragedy while writing in prose about everyday, unexceptional people.

A Doll’s House, a realistic three-act play, focuses on late nineteenth-century life in a middle-class Scandinavian household, in which the wife is expected to be contentedly passive and the husband paternally protective Nora Helmer once secretly borrowed a large sum of money so that her husband could recuperate from a serious illness. She never told him of this loan and has been secretly paying it back in small installments by saving from her household allowance. Her husband, Torvald thinks her careless and childlike and often calls her his doll.Nora tries to influence her husband, but he thinks of Nora as a simple child who cannot understand the value of money or business.

A Doll’s House manifests Ibsen’s concern for women’s rights and human rights in general. It has two kinds of moral laws, two kinds of conscience, one for men and the other for women. Norah appears to be happy with her husband, the lawyer Torvald Helmer and their three children, two sons and a daughter. When the play begins, it is Christmas eve and Nora has returned home after doing her Christmas shopping. The affectionate exchanges between her and her husband suggest that they are still very much in love after eight years of marriage. It is clear through the thinking of Helmer that Nora is rather careless with his money. She is elated because he has recently been appointed as Manager of a bank.

The play is divided into three acts. In the first act, we are first introduced to the two women characters of the play, Nora Helmer, the heroine, and Christine Linde her old friend, and come to know about their past and present life.Then we are introduced to Doctor Rank and Krogstad the villain of the piece. Then follows a talk among Nora, Helmer, and Christine in the course of which Helmer promises Nora’s friend Christine Linde works in his bank. Then from the ensuing conversation between Nora and Krogstad, we come to know about Nora’s secret loan from him and her forgery of her father’s signature on the bond signed to Krogstad. The act ends with Nora brooding on the influence of bad mothers on their children as well as the threat posed by Krogstad

In the second act, we come to know about Nora’s nurse having forsaken her daughter and Nora’s hint to her that the nurse may have to look after her children too just as she did with motherless Nora, Nora’s request to Helmer to retain in his post and Helmer’s egotic rashness in dismissing him through his orders precipitating the crisis of Nora in the following act.

In the third act, we are led to know about the meeting between Linde and Krogstad and their decision to marry. Then we have a glimpse of Helmer’s unsuccessful efforts to woo his wife Nora. We are then presented with the dignified exit of Doctor Rank from the Helmers and the world. The final episode is between Nora and Helmer after Helmer having read Krogstad’s letter exposing Nora. This is in turn enables Nora to see the real character of her husband which makes her take the sudden decision to sever all her ties with him abruptly and walk out of his home.

Ibsen makes numerous hints about the roles of women and how the female gender was treated at the time. A Doll’s House is considered to be the first feminist play, challenging the Victorian ideal of a woman’s role in marriage. In A Doll’s House, Ibsen paints a bleak picture of the sacrificial role held by women of all economic classes in this society. The play is significant for its critical attitude towards nineteenth-century marriage norms. It aroused great controversy at the time, as it concludes with the protagonist, Nora, leaving her husband and children because she wants to discover herself. Ibsen was inspired by the belief that a woman cannot be herself in modern society, since it is an exclusively male society, with laws made by men and with prosecutors and judges who assess feminine conduct from a masculine standpoint. Nora initially seems like a playful, naive child who lacks knowledge of the world outside her home. She realized that she has acted the part of the happy, child-like wife for Torvald and before that she has acted the part of the happy, child-like daughter for her father. She now sees that her father and Torvald compelled her to behave in a certain way and understands it to be great wrong that stunted her development as an adult and as a human being. She has made nothing of her life because she has existed only to please men.

But Nora is a woman with unlimited potential. She will not be able to attain her self-realization and selfhood until she leaves home to stop being a doll. She has not been allowed to be her true self both by her father and her husband and as both have treated her like a doll, she has to play the doll throughout. Nora has never left home. She was confined in her father’s home and to do what he wanted. She then goes directly to her husband Torvald Helmer’s home where she is treated as a child. She is protected, petted, patted, dressed up, given pocket money, but she is not allowed to be herself. She has no experience of life outside her home. She leads her life only as a doll which is keyed by her father before marriage and by her husband after marriage. The title of this play shows that there is a relationship with the theme of home.

The play also focuses on the main theme of marriage which is based on perfect understanding between the couples and not mere in wealthy life or some other facts. The marriage is not based on illusions or phantasies or a mere show it is all about the two minds which are going to dwell into a single soul. Marriage should not consider to be a doll house it is a human institution. Nora, the female protagonist of The Doll's House, acts as Ibsen’s mouthpiece of the woman emancipation. Ibsen himself said that the intention of the play was to show an individual’s liberation from the shackles and restraints of society. Nora leads the traditional role of a puppet wife and a doll-mother for the sake of gaining self-liberation, individuality, and independence. The play tries to probe the true base of the man-woman relationship in its most intimate forms of marriage. Nora is perfectly aware of outsider’s opinion about her. Nora is a doll in the hands of three persons, namely Torvald Helmer, Krogstad, and her father. Nora is judged from the eyes of men. To them, she has committed forgery and is a cheat but it is not so. She has done everything only for the betterment of her family. Not even a single room is given for her wish or her passion or her emotion; rather she is treated as a puppet, whose acts are controlled by their masters.

The play A Doll’s House advocates the rights of women and especially of wives in relation to her husband’s. The final decision of Nora the protagonist of the play shows the sufferings she has come across in her lifetime. She doesnot want to ruin her life by committing herself towards the family in the namesake of parents, husband, children, and society. She had believed that someday a miracle would happen and he would prove that he too was capable of making a sacrifice of her, but she has found that the miracle did not happen. She takes back her wedding – ring, and steps out of the house, slamming the outer door behind her. A Doll’s House has great relevance in the present age when man has lost his intuitive, feminine self, hence the increasing materialism and masculinity in today’s modern world. The intuition of oneself is to be with their own self-identity. Society is set up by ourselves for our convenience and not for the sake of others. The ultimate message of this play in my point of view is to be what you want to be.

Character Sketch of NORA in A DOLL'S HOUSE

 

Character Sketch of NORA in A  DOLL'S HOUSE 👇

 

The late nineteenth-century Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen both guides and haunts the struggle for the emancipation of women. His play A Doll's House remains after nearly one hundred years a most eloquent statement of the urge to stand free. Nora, the play's heroine, has inspired countless women in their fight for liberation. Henrik Ibsen once said: “A woman cannot be herself in contemporary society, it is an exclusively male society with laws drafted by men and with counsel and judges who judge feminine conduct from the male point of view,” It was also once said by Max Beerbohm that “the New Woman sprang fully armed from Ibsen's brain”. By many critics, Nora is seen as the incarnation of the will to reach self-fulfillment through liberation from oppression and self-deceit.

 In A Doll's house (1879), the woman character Nora Helmer is a fully capable woman, so capable; that she must hide that she has been supporting her family through her husband's inadequacy to preserve the harmony in their household.  The harmony is dependent on the husband's supposed superiority and Nora's adorably-helpless-wife act. As the secret is revealed and Nora had confronted with the reality of the male ego, she decides that she cannot continue playing the part of her marriage if she truly wants to live to her full prospective. The theme that is more interesting to Ibsen is the duties towards oneself and achieving individuality and individual rights in society. Indeed, in a patriarchal society that is controlled by men's rules, this is a woman, who should try to get her rights: “What duties do you mean? Nora: my duties towards myself” (Doll's House IIIrd Act, 68).

Nora embodies the individualist alternative. In her, Ibsen depicts the full glory of a woman who finally finds herself in opposition to all social norms. The play ends with the dramatic sound of a door slamming shut. Nora walks away from the security of her household and from all traditionally sacred values of marriage and motherhood. She leaves to face an uncertain but compelling future of self-becoming. She is going off to know her own responsibilities towards herself. This kind of self-realization, which usually leads to a new beginning, is one of Ibsen's main ideologies posed in his play.

Nora is the main protagonist of the story, is the wife of Torvald, and the mother of three children. She lives like a doll in a doll-house, and her character serves as a symbol for every oppressed woman who is restricted from living a free life.

At the beginning of the play, Nora is shown as rather a submissive, childish woman, who enjoys being patronized, pampered, and treated like a defenseless animal. She seems happy and does not seem to mind her husband calling her a “little featherbrain”, “squirrel”, “skylark” and other similar condescending nicknames. In fact, she also seems to enjoy the treatment Torvald gives her. However, along with this, one sees certain defiance, rebelliousness, and impulsiveness in her character. In spite of being forbidden from eating sweets, she eats macaroons without the knowledge of her husband, and even lies to him about it, saying “I wouldn’t do anything that you don’t like.” Nora is also manipulative and often plays dumb to get her way with her husband. When attempting to convince Torvald not to dismiss Krogstad, she says “Your squirrel will scamper about and do all her tricks, if you’ll be nice and do what she asks.”

However, as one enters deeper into the plot of the play, one realizes that Nora is not as deceptive and selfish as she first seems to be. Despite her seemingly shrewd nature, she also possesses a certain innocence and vulnerability. She is, in reality, innocent and inexperienced about the outside world. Nora also displays a bit of self-doubt, which is largely due to her being treated like a doll all her life. She is continuously reminded by Torvald that she is a “prodigal”, a spendthrift, “just like your father”.

She expresses her lack of self-confidence when she says to her husband, “I wish I had inherited more of papa’s good qualities.” Her insecurity is also evident in her eagerness to provide Mrs. Linde a beautiful and perfect picture of her life, by immediately telling her that she has three beautiful children and that her husband now has a magnificent position at the bank.

At the same time, she also believes that she is not given the credit she deserves. “You none of you think I could do anything worthwhile…” Nora is guilty of committing forgery, an innocent mistake she commits in her desperation to save her husband from his illness.  However, this eventually leads to her being blackmailed by Krogstad. Nora presumes and dreads that once her crime is revealed, Torvald will take the blame on himself and even go to the extent of taking his own life.

This shows that Nora trusts her husband, despite his dominating and patronizing nature.  “He’d really do it- he’d do it! He’d do it in spite of everything.” It is when this “miracle” that she so firmly believed would occur, does not happen, that Nora finally opens her eyes to her husband’s true nature. 

Nora’s climactic transformation into a matured, bold, courageous and independent woman forms a crucial part of her personality. When she realizes that her husband is not the protector or savior he claimed himself to be, and opens her eyes to his blatant hypocrisy, she immediately gives up playing the role of his little “doll”.

At the end of the play, Nora shows many traits of a new woman. When Torvald finds out about her unlawful deed, he blows up on her to show her what she has done. After a long time, she had to think about what she had done she finally takes the  responsibility to let him know and take full blame for her acts. She showed characteristics of a “New Woman” in this instance because she owned up to her flaw and told Torvald the truth instead of hiding behind her lies and acting like Korgstad had it out for her. Also following the blowup, Torvald obtained another letter from Krogstad explaining that they do not have to pay back the bond and sent the bond to them. Even though Nora and Torvald knew everything would be fine, Nora takes it upon herself to realize she would be guilty her whole life knowing what she had done. She refused to stay with Torvald and leaves the house to find herself. She says: “I believe that before all else I am a reasonable human being, just as you are, at all events, that I must try and become one.” This quote stands out as a declaration of independence, that she is not just a woman, but that she is also a human being and should not be treated like an insubordinate person that is looked down upon. She knows that she has more potential than just being a mother and a wife and that she wants to seek that out without being with Mr. Helmer.

Thus Nora resists and rejects the domestic role and acts in opposition to the social conventions and morals. The problem portrayed in the play is about women's rights, as human rights. It is also about the need for every woman to find out herself and stand on her feet in order to recognize the truth about herself, her life, and her society. For the contemporary women's movement, Ibsen's legacy is an ambiguous one. On the one hand, he has articulated forcefully the feelings and the drama of awakening consciousness. While on the other hand, Nora's exit marks merely the beginning of an arduous struggle.

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A DOLL’S HOUSE: A FEMINIST STUDY

A DOLL’S HOUSE: A FEMINIST STUDY

As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Henrik Ibsen is often referred to as “the father of realism” and the second most influential playwright of all time – after Shakespeare. He completely rewrote the rules of drama with a realism that we still see in theatres today. He also turned the European stage away from what it had become – a plaything and distraction for the bored – and introduced a new order of moral analysis. The Doll’s House was first performed in 1879, at that time, and still today it is one of the most famous gender political moments in world literature. Due to its fame, A Doll's House has also been adapted into several films.

The role of Nora even holds an iconic status: UNESCO’s Memory of the World register calls Nora “a symbol throughout the world, for women fighting for liberation and equality”.
The play was Ibsen’s first play to create a sensation and is now perhaps his most famous play, and is read in many colleges and universities. The play was controversial when first published, as it sharply criticizes the 19th-century marriage norms. It follows the formula of well-made play up until the final act when it breaks convention by ending with a discussion, not an unraveling. It is often called the first true feminist play. The play is also an important work of the realist movement, in which real events and situations are depicted on stage in a departure from previous forms such as romanticism.

A Doll’s House is about a couple with three children who live a seemingly pleasant middle-class life until individual, economic and social circumstances force a change in the wife‟s attitude towards her marriage and social norms which leads her to leave her family to seek her own freedom or life independence. The play deals with women’s problems under the domination of patriarchal culture within the society. It is centered on the major female character named Nora who experiences various circumstances in her marriage. She married a man named Torvald Helmer. At the beginning of the play, she seems completely happy with her marriage and relationship with Helmer. She enjoys her role as a wife and a mother although she has to order the rule of patriarchal ideology on how should be a “good” married woman. Helmer sees Nora’s only role as being the obedient and loving wife. In Helmer’s view, Nora is an obedient wife but she tends to be childish and sometimes difficult to manage. Nora’s childish behavior mostly appears when she interacts with Helmer. This childish behavior results from Helmer’streatment. Helmer always treats Nora as his doll which can be played anytime.

At the beginning of the play, Nora has been attributed nicknames such as “sweet little spendthrift” and” extravagant little person”. It clearly shows that Helmer judges Nora as an extravagant person, who always wastes money on unimportant things and can not manage the money for the family. Since her husband is the one who is in charge to support the family’s finance, Nora always follows what her husband says although it is not true that she always spends the money recklessly. In fact, Nora takes a secret job copying papers by hand in order to make money to pay the debt that she borrows from a disgraced lawyer, Nils Krogstad, to save Helmer’s life when he is very ill, but she has not told him in order to protect his pride.

In the patriarchal society, women are regarded as powerless and weak. In this case, Nora tries to fight against all forms of discrimination and oppression with her struggles. In breaking the limitation to women’s freedom to decide to do something in domestic life, she decides to solve her family's financial problem and in breaking the limitation to women’s freedom to express feelings over men’s domination, she decides to express her feelings over her husband’s domination.

As the conflict rises and the interaction between Nora and the other characters happens, Nora, herself starts to doubt her role and her existence in the family. She begins to realize the way patriarchal ideology, which lies in the domination of his husband, considers her as inferior and as the other, even by his own husband, even though she has done many sacrifices for him. Nora’s conflict with Krogstad, who threatened to tell her husband about her past secret, namely forging her father’s signature of surety on the bond, enflamesNora’s journey of self-discovery. Nora’s primary struggle, however, is against the selfish, stifling, and oppressive attitudes of her husband and of the social norms at that time.

In the patriarchal society, women are regarded as powerless and weak. Women have been discriminated against not only in social life but also in domestic life. There are some limitations of freedom that occur in domestic and social life which bind women’s rights. In domestic life, the limitations are the limitation to women's freedom to decide to do something and the limitation to women's freedom to express feelings over men’s domination. In social life, there is a limitation to women’s freedom to decide an important thing. There are also weak images of women, which regard women as incapable of doing domestic work and of deciding important things in social life.

In this case, Nora tries to fight against all forms of discrimination and oppression with her struggles. In breaking the limitation to women’s freedom to decide to do something in domestic life, she decides to solve her family's financial problem and in breaking the limitation to women’s freedom to express feelings over men’s domination, she decides to express her feelings over her husbands' domination. In social life, in breaking the limitation to women’s freedom to decide an important thing, she decides to do an important thing. Meanwhile, in breaking the belief about the incapability of doing domestic work in domestic life, she tries to show her ability in doing domestic work. In social life, in achieving the incapability of deciding an important thing, she decides to do an important thing in order to gain her life independence.

Well as such historically, patriarchal culture started to be popular during the Victorian Era in the 19th century when there was a significant change from agricultural to industrial aspects (Lambert, 2009: 5). The Victorian Era was the golden age to bridge modernization through the industrial revolution in England. In this era, people were triggered to change their fate also by having better economic conditions. Men worked outside the house as the bread maker of the family, while their women were only busy with their daily activities in the household.

People of the Victorian Era were handed the principle that women should get married and have children because they were born, raised, and educated as good wives, not anything else. As a result of the lack of education, a woman of the Victorian Era was expected to marry a man in order to support her, since she did not have the knowledge to do any jobs. This reason brings economical roles for men and familial roles for women as the main arrangers of the household. Therefore, there is a notion that men’s role is to be the breadmakers and the leaders of the family. The patriarchal cultures become an influential aspect in forming the social rules of Victorian society. As a result, all rules including women’s roles are organized by patriarchal power. Automatically, marriage, duties, and women’s careers become a part of patriarchal production.

Based on these aspects of patriarchal culture, women’s position and roles in society and marriage lives were established strictly. Women were considered to be inferior to men both in social and marriage lives. A good wife is a woman who obeys her husband’s order, looks after her house and children, and has no right to deal with financial matters since the husband is the one who is constructed as the breadmaker of the family. This separation of roles was influenced strongly by the idea of patriarchy that men are superior to women.

For centuries, men and women have been treated unequally in a society that believes in a patriarchal system. Patriarchy is the name given to the whole complex system of male dominance by which most societies are run now and were run in the past. In this system, men are the controller and women become the follower. Men have full power to treat and control women and, thus, women-only follow what men say as the head of a society. In this case, have no right or chance to break the rules. The result is that men are superior to women in all segments of life such as in domestic areas, education, politics, and social life. Furthermore, this condition raises many problems between women and men After exploring the feminist theory and women’s problems we can say that there are two kinds of women’s problems found in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Those are strong patriarchal power and weak images of women.

A Doll's House is a representative feminist play. It deals primarily with the desire of a woman to establish her identity and dignity in a society governed by men. Here, Ibsen uses his works or writings to voice his support to solve women’s problems which are related to discrimination and oppression towards them in the world. Through A Doll’s House, he tries to emphasize to the reader that women can be independent and have the same ability as men in many aspects of life. To sum up, women’s problems that happen in the play area because of the strong patriarchal power and the weak images of women which create many limitations to their freedom in doing their activities and also create some bad assumptions about their ability in domestic and social life. Nora, as the main female character, tries to fight to overcome the problems with the struggles she takes. Her final decision, which is deciding to leave her family, results from her profound disappointment because of her husband’s negative response. It brings out her desire to be an independent woman without the existence of anyone who is superior to her anymore and it can only be accomplished employing leaving her family.

DOLL’S HOUSE by Henrik Ibsen - Overview and Synopsis

 DOLL’S HOUSE by Henrik Ibsen

BORN: 1828, Skien, Norway

DIED: 1906, Oslo, Norway

NATIONALITY: Norwegian

GENRE: Drama, Poetry

MAJOR WORKS: 

Brand (1866) Peer Gynt (1867) A Doll's House (1879) Ghosts (1881) The Wild Duck (1884) Hedda Gabler (1890)

Overview

In the English-speaking world today, Henrik Ibsen has become one of three playwrights widely recognized as outstanding. Alongside William Shakespeare and Anton Chekhov, he stands at the very center of the standard dramatic repertoire, and no actor can aspire to the highest rank unless he has played some of the leading roles in the works of these three giants. In this trio, Ibsen occupies a central position, marking the transition from a traditional to a modern theatre. While Ibsen, like all great dramatists who came after him, owed an immense obligation to Shakespeare, Chekhov (who regarded Ibsen as his “favourite writer”) was already writing under Ibsen's influence. Ibsen can thus be seen as one of the principal creators and wellsprings of the modern movement in drama, having contributed to the development of all its diverse manifestations: the ideological and political theatre, as well as the introspective trends that focus on the representation of inner realities and dreams.

Ibsen was born on March 20, 1828, to wealthy parents in Skien, Norway, a lumber town south of Christiania (now Oslo). The family was reduced to poverty when Ibsen's father's business failed in 1834. After leaving school at the age of fifteen and working for six years as a pharmacist's assistant, Ibsen went to Christiania hoping to continue his studies at Christiania University. He failed the Greek and mathematics portions of the entrance examinations, however, and was not admitted. During this time, he read and wrote poetry, which he would later say came more easily to him than prose. He wrote his first drama, Catiline, in 1850.

Critics generally divide Ibsen's work into three phases. The first consists of his early dramas written in verse and modeled after romantic historical tragedy and Norse sagas. Whereas, Ibsen wrote prose dramas concerned with social realism during the second phase of his career. In this phase, A Doll's House (1879), is often considered a masterpiece of realist theatre. With The Wild Duck (1884) and Hedda Gabler (1890), Ibsen entered a period of transition during which he continued to deal with modern, realistic themes, but made increasing use of symbolism and metaphor.

As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Henrik Ibsen is often called “the father of realism” and the second most influential playwright of all time – after Shakespeare.

SYNOPSIS OF THE PLAY

Act One

Nora Helmer enters her lovely living room laden with packages and a Christmas tree, humming a happy tune and sneaking a macaroon. Her husband, Torvald, greets her with questions about her spending, calling Nora his “little lark,” “squirrel,” spendthrift,” and “sweet tooth.” Nora reminds him that they have no worries since Torvald has just been offered a bank managerial position, but her husband opts for caution. When Torvald inquires what she desires for Christmas, Nora asks for money. Two visitors enter the house: Dr. Rank accompanies Torvald to his study, and Mrs. Linde, an old friend who has been out of touch, joins Nora. The two women share confidences, and Nora reveals that she has hidden more than macaroons from her husband. Due to Torvald’s serious illness several years prior, Nora explains, she had to finance a year of recovery in Italy. While she told Torvald that her father had left them the money, Nora actually forged her father’s signature and borrowed the money from a lawyer named Krogstad. Justifying her dishonesty by saving Torvald’s health and pride, Nora explains that she has been secretly working to pay off the loan, and she is almost free of her debt. Krogstad enters next, hoping to salvage his position at the bank by speaking to Torvald. After Krogstad leaves, Nora is able to talk Torvald into giving Mrs. Linde a position at the bank. Torvald, Dr. Rank, and Mrs. Linde leave, and Nora visits with her three children. Krogstad returns with a threat: Nora must get Torvald to keep Krogstad’s position at the bank, or Krogstad will reveal Nora’s deception and forgery. Upon Torvald’s return, Nora questions him about Krogstad’s past, and Torvald explains that Krogstad lost his own reputation due to forgery. Declaring that such a lie “infects the whole life of a home,” Helmer returns to his study, leaving Nora anxious but determined.

Act Two

The curtain rises on the same room the next day, which is Christmas. Nora paces frantically, anxious that Krogstad will return to reveal her forgery to Torvald. The nurse enters with a box of masquerade clothes for the next evening’s festivities, and Nora questions her about children who grow up without mothers. Kristine Linde enters, and as she helps Nora repair her masquerade dress, Nora confides in her friend once again. Assuring Kristine that she did not get the money from Dr. Rank, Nora asks Mrs. Linde to play with the children while she speaks to Torvald. Promising “to scamper about and do tricks” if only Torvald would give in, Nora asks her husband to keep Krogstad at the bank. Reminding her that rumors would spread about his wife’s influence, Torvald denies Nora’s request. When she says his concerns about propriety are “petty,” Torvald becomes incensed and sends Krogstad’s termination letter to his home. Dr. Rank confides to Nora that he is dying and that he has loved her for years. Unable to ask the doctor for help after his admission, Nora asks for a lamp to be brought in. Krogstad, having received his termination, returns to threaten Nora again, and the two admit that though they have both considered suicide, neither can brave it. Krogstad leaves, but his letter revealing all is clearly heard entering the mail slot. Nora keeps Torvald from reading the letter by begging his help with the tarantella dance she will perform at the masquerade. Dancing frenetically as though her “life were at stake,” Nora keeps Torvald occupied re-teaching her the dance. But tomorrow night, she promises him, “then you’ll be free.”

Act Three

The act opens, once again, in the Helmer’s living room, where Kristine Linde awaits the Helmers’ return from the party upstairs. Nora has just danced the tarantella. As Mrs. Linde waits, Krogstad arrives at her request. Kristine asks Krogstad to give them a second chance at a relationship. Krogstad agrees, promising to retrieve his letter of revelation, but Kristine convinces him to let the truth come to light for the good of both Nora and Torvald. The Helmers arrive from the party, Kristine leaves, and Torvald’s amorous mood is interrupted by a visit from Dr. Rank, who leaves his calling card marked by the black cross that announces his impending death. Helmer tells Nora that he has often wished for some danger to befall her so that he can rescue her, and Nora seizes this opportunity to encourage Torvald to read Krogstad’s letter. Torvald reads it and immediately chastises Nora, claiming she has wrecked his happiness and ruined his future. Torvald explains that Nora can stay in the house but will be unfit to raise the children. “From now on,” Torvald claims, “happiness doesn’t matter; all that matters is . . . the appearance.” When a letter arrives including Nora’s cancelled debt, Torvald is happy again. But Nora is forever changed by her husband’s reaction, and after removing her masquerade costume, she sits down with Torvald to share the first serious conversation of their eight year marriage. Declaring she has been “wronged greatly” by both her father and her husband, Nora compares her existence in their homes to a doll in a doll house. When Torvald declares his wife cannot leave because her husband and children are her “most sacred duties,” Nora responds with “I have other duties equally sacred. . . .Before all else, I’m a human being.” Nora is determined to remain strangers unless “the greatest miracle of all” could happen – the ability to live together in a “true marriage.” Nora departs, and the audience is left with the sound of a door slamming shut.