NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
Henrik Ibsen's A Doll House was a play that received a great deal of criticism for its central theme on the repression of women. Ibsen uses various techniques and tools in the construction of this play. A Doll House can be best analyzed by describing the techniques of the plot construction, the treatment of time, and the development of characters and by showing how each technique ties into the central theme of the work. To understand Ibsen's use of plot construction, we must first understand the difference between plot and story. The plot is considered to be the present action of a drama. The story however, is the entire resolution of the play, including anything that may have happened in the past or in another place.
When relating these two terms to A Doll House, we must first determine where the story begins as well as where the plot begins. The plot begins in Act I when Krogstad has his first conversations with Nora, in which he proceeds in his threats of blackmail. This story, on the other hand, begins when Torvald becomes sick and Nora must borrow money. The story also includes the background information about the other characters involved in the play. This explanation of plot and story ties into Ibsen's plot construction. Firstly, Ibsen uses the process of stasis and intrusion throughout the story and the plot itself.
According to Ball, stasis is a condition of balance among various forces, whereas intrusion is a pushing or thrusting in of something that would compromise the stasis. Before the story even begins, there is stasis in the life of the Helmer's. The intrusion that compromises that stasis is Torvald falling ill, causing Nora to go to Krogstad. Stasis is once again achieved when the play begins, but only lasts until the second intrusion, which is the conversation held between Nora and Krogstad in Act I. Ibsen also uses a climactic plot construction, in which the plot begins close to the climax of the play, and there are subplots involved. In A Doll House, three subplots can be found in relation to the main plot.
The subplots, which are described later in the paper, can be found between Nora and Krogstad, Nora and Dr. Rank, and Mrs. Linde and Krogstad. A cause-and-effect structure can also be found in this play, in which the characters and the actions of the characters are closely related in that they can almost predict each other. The other factors that show a climactic plot construction are that the play occurs over a shortened period of time, in this case, a few days, in a restricted location, the Helmer's home, and there is a small number of characters.
There are five main characters in A Doll House, each one having their own specific background story and role in the plot. First, there is Nora Helmer, whose background is mostly revealed in Act I during her conversations with Mrs. Linde and Krogstad. Before the beginning of the play, Nora had taken out a loan from Krogstad, a lawyer and acquaintance of her husband, in order to send her husband Torvald on a life-saving trip to Italy. However, in the time period in which the play was set in, it was required to have the permission of a male in order for a woman to borrow money. Nora got around this obstacle by forging her dying fathers signature rather than telling him of the situation.
In the time that leads up to the plot, Nora has taken odd jobs such as embroidery to try and make the money to pay back Krogstad. When the plot begins, the relationship between Nora and Krogstad develops into a subplot. When the character relationship first develops between Nora and Krogstad in the story, it is one of strictly business. However, when Krogstad feels that his own stasis is threatened, the relationship turns into one of mistrust and blackmail. Nora's objective also changes several times during the course of the story and plot.
Before the beginning of the plot, Nora's main objective is to find a way to borrow money to save Torvalds life. By the time the plot begins, her objective has changed to making sure Torvald does not find out about the money she now owes Krogstad. Once Torvald learns of the entire debacle, her objective again changes to finding out who she really is as a person, without Torvald. Next, there is Torvald Helmer, a lawyer and Nora's husband. Torvalds Background, though brief, is revealed in Nora's conversation with Mrs. Linde in Act I.
When he and Nora were married, Torvald left his department in the hopes of moving on to bigger and better things. While they started out with little money and despite his falling ill, Torvald acquired a new position at the bank and was starting to accomplish his goal. Throughout the plot, Torvald is shown condescending to Nora; playing down his wifes emotions, making them seem almost childlike and unnecessary. He also refers to her, as an almost helpless being that could not exist without him. It is Helmer's patronizing behavior towards his wife that, by the end of the play, leads Nora to her final objective as mentioned above. Dr.
Rank, a long time friend of the Helmer's is another character. Dr. Rank also has a brief background explanation that occurs mainly in Act II, during his conversation with Nora. It is found out that because of his fathers past gluttonous behaviors, Dr. Rank has developed an illness that affects his spine. We also find out in this conversation that Dr.
Rank has been in love with Nora for about as long as he has known her. This conversation also points out the second subplot, that between Dr. Rank and Nora, which almost seems to be one step more than just a friendship. We next move on to Krogstad, whose background information is just as brief and vague as Dr. Ranks. During the conversation between Nora and Mrs.
Linde in Act I, it is found out that Krogstad was a widower with a number of sons left to take care of. It is also revealed that he had had some sort of legal troubles that ended up with him having to start over with a ruined career and sense of trust by other people. The last character is Mrs. Linde, an old acquaintance of Nora and love interest of Krogstad. Her first conversation with Nora in Act I is where Mrs. Linde's background is mainly revealed, although vaguely yet again.
It was said that Mrs. Linde's husband had died three years prior, leaving her with no children or any other fruits of a marriage. At some point as well, she had left her situation to go and give care to her mother and brothers, although not much detail was given. Her past love affair with Krogstad and their later rekindling of that love constitutes as the third and final subplot of the play. Ibsen's treatment of time is to have the past story lead up to the present plot. The story of the play begins when Torvald became ill.
This event is the action that triggers the story that builds up and ultimately becomes the set of given circumstances at the beginning of the play. By the beginning of the play, or the plot itself, the money has been borrowed, the trip to Italy taken, Torvalds health improved, and normal life has resumed for the Helmer's. However, many times during the course of the plot, the characters refer to the post or the story of the play as if to keep the audience refreshed about what has happened and how it relates to the present actions of the plot. Ibsen's technique of plot construction, the development of characters, and the treatment of time constitute the central theme of the repression of women. While the pieces that tie into the theme are small and subtle, they still exist and can be seen when the play is analyzed correctly. Although the time period in which Ibsen wrote A Doll House was not open to his ideas of touching on social problems in his work, this play in particular could have served as a precursor for what was to become acceptable in the future.
Free research essays on topics related to: play begins, beginning of the play, doll house, borrow money, central theme
Research essay sample on Plot Analysis Of A Doll House
