Dramatic Elements in A Dolls House Essay

Analyzing A Dolls House Through the Elements of Drama

The purpose of this essay is to analyze A Dolls House through the elements of drama. I will show how the author Henrik Ibsen applied these in the play. The elements of drama are theme, plot, rising action, climax, falling action, conflict, exposition, foreshadowing, gestures, setting, and characterization. I will first define each element and then show how and where they are illustrated in the play.

The theme is the underlining idea. In A Dolls House the theme is the sacrificial role of women; parental and filial obligations; the unreliability of appearances. At first Nora seems like a playful, naive child who lacks knowledge of the world outside her home. She does have some worldly experience, however, and the small acts of rebellion in which she engages indicate that she is not as innocent or happy as she appears. She comes to see her position in her marriage with increasing clarity and finds the strength to free herself from her oppressive situation. The plot is the arrangement of the story; it should have a rising action, a climax, and a falling action. The rising action is when the tension rises in the play to the climax, at which point the climax is the apex. The falling action happens when we notice that the tension allegedly slackens as we witness the denouement (literally unknotting).

In A Dolls House the rising action happens when Nora has her first conversation with Mrs. Linde; and during Krogstads visit and blackmailing of Nora; the rising action also takes place when Krogstad delivers the letter that later exposes Nora for forgery of a signature. The

climax is when Torvald reads Krogstads letter and erupts angrily. The falling action is Noras realization that Torvald is devoted not to her but to the idea of her as someone who depends on him; her decision to abandon him to find independence. Towards the end of the play Nora says to her husband I have been performing tricks for you, Torvald. Thats how Ive survived. You wanted it like that. You and Papa have done me a great wrong. Its because of you Ive made nothing of my life. These words, express the truth that she has gathered about her marriage. She recognizes that her life has been largely a performance. She has acted the part of the happy, child-like wife for Torvald. Before that she 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 made her development as an adult and as a human being short. She has made nothing of her life because she has existed only to please men. Following this -realization, Nora leaves Torvald in order to make something of her life, and for the first time to exist as a person independent of other people.

Conflict is produced by the tension in the play. The conflict can be one character against another, one group against another, one part of a personality against another part in the same person. The major conflicts in A Dolls House are Noras struggle with Krogstad, who threatens to tell her husband about her past crime, incites Noras journey of self-discovery and provides a lot of the plays dramatic suspense. Noras main struggle, however, is against the selfish and oppressive attitudes of her husband, and of the society that he represents.

Exposition is the part that tells the audience what it has to know about the past. Foreshadowing is details given in the exposition, which we may at first take as mere background, often turn out to be highly relevant to later developments. In the play A Dolls House Noras eating of macaroons against Torvalds wishes foreshadows her later rebellion against Torvald. The language of a play, broadly conceived, includes the gestures that the characters make and the setting in which they make them. In A Dolls House the gestures that portray a significant meaning are the way that Torvald holds her back and calls her little pet names for example a little squirrel. This shows that he views her as collector, or a scavenger who likes to take and save. The Christmas tree symbolizes Noras position in her household as a plaything who is pleasing to look at and adds charm to the home. Just as Nora instructs the maid that the children cannot see the tree until it has been decorated, she tells Torvald that no one can see her in her dress until the evening of the dance.

The setting is the place and time. In A Dolls House the setting is Likely around the late 1870s in Norway. The action of the play is set at Christmas time around the start of the New Years. Characterization, or personality, is defined, as in fiction by what the characters do, by what they say, by what others say about them, and by the setting in which they move. In A Dolls House The protagonist Nora Helmer is characterized as a women we is viewed as a doll-like person who is coddled, pampered, and patronized. Later on in the play it is revealed that she is not just a silly girl Her description of her years of secret labor undertaken to pay off her debt shows her fierce determination and ambition. Additionally, the fact that she was willing to

break the law in order to ensure Torvalds health shows her courage. Torvald Helmer is characterized as controlling and protective. Torvald holds the belief that a mans role in marriage is to protect and guide his wife. He clearly enjoys the idea that Nora needs his guidance, and he interacts with her as a father would. Torvald is very conscious of other peoples perceptions of him and of his standing in the community. He seems to care about appearance more than anything.

The elements of drama helped me to understand the play better and they were useful in emphasizing the significant details. By analyzing the rising action and falling action and also the climax, I was able to look in detail and emphasize on all the symbols and gestures as well. The elements of drama help to put a story together. In this play almost every gesture shows an important meaning and there are clues all over the story relating to the theme. Overall using the elements of drama to understand this play was useful and thought-provoking.