Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House"

When Ibsen wrote this play back in the 1800's, it was written to be a real shocker and delve into topics yet untouched by society. A woman standing up to her husband was unheard of. Now a days people have heard of that and it happens all the time, but it still has the effect Ibsen wanted. It opens our eyes to what's really happening behind the curtain and how lies can ruin entire families.

Plot/Storyline: I give the P/S a 10/10. Mr. Ibsen really did a good job of coming up with a believable plot line and presenting it neatly. Unlike some authors today, Ibsen slowly thickened the plot, constructing new obstacles for the main character, Nora, to defeat. [spoiler]The basic plotline of the book is that this woman, Nora, takes out a loan to save her dying husband when her husband tells her not to. She couldn't pay the loan back and is blackmailed into getting the loaners job back or he'll tell. But she doesn't do it and her husband finds out. He is extremely mad until he gets another letter saying the loaner forgives the debt. He once again treats her like she's just an air head and she realizes that she never loved him and leaves.[/spoiler]

Character Development: I give CD a 9/10. While Ibsen tried his best to develop the characters, he fell a bit short to my standards. But then again, Ibsen didn't need to develop his characters. It wasn't the characters he was dealing with, it was the central idea.

OVERRALL SCORE ON THE MAD-SCALE: 19/20

Comments & reviews · 8
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MadHatter
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We recently watched a film made on this play in class. Anthony Hopkins is in it. It met my standards. The ending was a bit changed in regards of the scenes, but it was still word for word of what Ibsen wrote.

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Pushca
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Pushca wrote a review · Sun Jan 13, 2008 6:41 pm

Uh, yeah, having Nora kill him in the end would be a bit much, wouldn't it? I think it's interesting that I liked it better when I read it, too, though, even though when I saw it they mostly stuck to the actual play. Before it got to the climax, I found it boring - then again, my attention span for movies is pathetic. Maybe it's the same kind of thing.

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Rubric
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Rubric wrote a review · Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:50 pm

I loved studying this play, but when our class saw it performed, it was slightly ruined my modernisation.

The director had changed the ending to make it more dramatic by making the wife kill the husband.....which completely compromised her character and rjuined the production.

It's great to see how ideas about the role of women within the home and society as a whole has changed,

Cheerio,
Rubric

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MadHatter
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Just high standards.

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Emerson
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To me, falling short could even be an 11/10. And I do mention that it's a play.


Do you have really high standards, or just a strange scale? :lol:

Yes, sorry about that. :) I missed it!

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MadHatter
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To me, falling short could even be an 11/10. And I do mention that it's a play.

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Emerson
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Emerson wrote a review · Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:01 am

a 9/10 doesn't seem like falling short, haha.


I think you need to also mention that this was a play. That changes the context of it...


I loved The Doll House, although I do not remember much of what it was about now. I have poor memory... But it was great, I do remember I enjoyed it a lot.

Also, your spoiler isn't working.



You are beautiful because you let yourself feel, and that is a brave thing indeed.
— Shinji Moon