I hope you find something of interest in "A Doll's House." I think that it is somewhat fascinating that this event occurred so long ago but that some of the perceptions of women still exist.
For this evening, I want you to find something or someone that you found interesting in the play. Talk about how that event or person caught your attention and how it made you think more deeply about the play and about history. What is the message that you take from this story in regards to it application to us as Americans currently? To get the points for today, you must refer to 3 incidents and those impacts on the event or the person you have chosen.
18 comments:
The person that I thought interesting in the play is Nora. Nora made me think about the play more because you know very litte about her and you find out new things all the time. Also that Nora is unpredictable like in the story you had no idea that she would leave torvald at the end. Even when she was nervouse about the letter she always said things that sounded like she was going to kill herself but she never did. Also in the begining of the story you have no idea what Nora is hiding and why what she is hidding is such a big deal. It made me want to keep reading and find out more. The message is that marrage is always a mistery in america anything could happen.
The character that caught my attention the most is Torvald. He is very hard working and doesnt like to "beat around the bush". He treats his wife, Nora, like a child and likes to make all the decisions. It showed me how the life of women was so different from now. They were treated differently in many ways, they would have no control over decisions. Also, women were pretty much thought of as possesions. Thier husbands would mary for a womens beauty, and they like the helplessness that women show. Americans have come a long way from old ways. Now, women are treated highly and are not seen as a threat as much in a work setting. As Torvald treated Nora with no respect as an adult, she feed off of it. She could use her helplessness to manipulate Torvalds decisions. Torvalds thoughts towards loaning money are what caused Nora to hide her deal. I think if Torvald was more open to other options, Nora would not have lied to him.
One person that brought my attention most was Torvald. I thought it was funny that he used Nora. Nora was basically his doll. Even though he was a hard worker he was very oblivious. He thought he had a tight chain on her but he really didn't. He had know idea she was snooping around behind his back. If it wasn't for her to go behind his back he might be dead. He's kind of lucky. I was wrong about his prediction on finding out about her lies. I thought he was going to freak out and kick her out of his house but instead she leaves him.
I thought how Torvald had pet names for Nora was interesting. For example, he would call her a songbird. Another thing that caught my attention was how in the end of the story, he basically told her what she wanted to do with her life. In the time period in which this story took place, this may have been a normal occourance. But today, however, women have a much more important role in life. They generally have the same rights and privledges that men do. Lastly, I thought it was interesting how Nora moved straight from her father's house to Torvald's. This just showed how much America thought women needed protection in that time period.
The peson i want to talk about is christine. She intrest me in this play very much. She is trying to be a good friend and i thought she was trying to get krogstad to take the letter back. But in reality she wanted noras husband to see it. Now that i think about it did she want torvald to see it becasue she wanted to see nora happy? Thats what i think she thought nora and him werent ment to be. Also if christine would have never got togehter with krogstad he would not have returned the I.O.U and torvald would have never forgave nora so who knows were that could have led to.
I actually found A Doll's House probably the most intresting read of the year so far, most likely because I could relate to easily to Nora. Nora is often wrongly judged for basically an airhead. People often get the wrong first impressions, or even if they think they know me that I am a thoughtless cheerleader. If people really took the time to get to know me, they would realize that just like Nora, I am far from an idiot. Even before it seemed like Nora was a bit of an airhead She cought by attention because she was such a positive person. I find it hard thus far in my life to find genuinelly positive people which is why I loved Nora's character first in A Doll's House. Though, I cannot say I am truly an optimist (yet) I admire Nora's character in being such an upbeat one. Nora made me not only think about how much I can relate to her, but also about how things were in the past. My heart ached for her because she had to pretend to be so happy for so many years, but she was actually so unhappy but played her part for her husband and children to keep the peace in the house, because that is simply how it was back ih those times. Then again, have things really changed? In my opinon they have, and they haven't. I think that many women stay in relationships simply because they are merely living life to keep the peace and just get by, rather then standing up for themselves and trying to be happy. On the other hand, I think because of people like Nora, women today now are not looked down upon quite as bad as they were in history to leaving their husbands to find happiness.
I found it interesting when Helmer admitted that he thought of Nora as a possession. I think that some of us still view our girlfriends, wives and female acquaintances as possessions. Most high-schoolers talk about how many girls they've had in bed, or how their "girl" is stubborn. This makes me realize that society hasn't really changed much in a little over a century. Younger men, as I said, refer to women as their "girl" or "my ho". I hardly view this as affectionate, and see it more as a way of viewing women as nothing more than disposable sex-toys. I think that probably, much of this attitude is encouraged by the media. Music refers to women as "my girl" all the time, and while most definitely NOT saying anything bad about The Temptations, their song is a perfect example. Television shows even on TeenNick which my sister watches refer to women as "my girl" and it sickens me to see women reduced to little more than playthings. I myself, don't have a "ho" or a "girl" I have a person whom I care for very much, most importantly, however a person.
Helmer had treated Nora as his plaything far the entire play. He used diminutives that were not affectionate, but more possessive in nature. Also, he consistently berated her for her perceived lack of intelligence. Nora was hardly stupid, she was trying to save Helmer, and it was damned inconsiderate and pompous of him to get angry at her just to protect his reputation. He should be grateful he's alive to protect any reputation at all.
As I said, the themes of the play, mainly sexism still ring true today and are ever-present. Women are always the "worst drivers", the dumb-ass who takes forever at the ATM" or the "one who'll give me what ever I want because I'm a guy." The bottom line is that women are still objects in this society, and possibly this is even more true today.
The person that really caught my attention in the play was Mrs. Linde. She was kind of a sneak in my opinion. The whole play she had to keep the secret form Torvald. At the end she turned her back on Nora and Told Krogstad to leave the letter in the box and not tel Torvald. She really threw me off at the end. I don't think that any one was expecting that. If i had a good friend of mine turn their back on me like that i probably wouldn't talk to them for a while. I think that if Krogstad wouldn't have repaid the I.O.U. Nora and Torvald would not be together. I think if Nora ever found out what Mrs. Linde did she probably would never talk to her again.
Houghtaling
im not going to choose a character, but an event in the play that i found significant. ifeel that dr. rank's passing, and solemn mood very important to nora leaving. i feel that dr. rank provided a medium for nora and torvald's communication. he understood both of them more than they knew eachother. for example, dr rank loved nora, and didnt hide knowing of her intelligence. torvald believed that nora was a posession, while rank found her a friend. rank's solemn mood also set the tone for the end of the story. rank's views encouraged nora to be independant. rank also sheltered torvald in a way.
The person i found most interesting is DR. Rank. He was an opposite of Torvald and put into the play to really show how opposite they were. It showed the example of a difference between people. Dr. Rank was alot nicer and kind to Nora then Torvald was. Dr. Rank treated Nora like a human being istead of some pet that Torvald thought of her. I believe it can realate to our socitey today by showing there can be a huge difference in people. Society can also treat women and even man with disrespect. Still today in are socitey this still goes on. There can be not getting a certain job because you are a women. Or even being sterio-typed because you are a women or man. This play was pretty interesting and I thought it was an ok play.
The character that interested me the most was Torvald. Torvald caught my attention by how he treated Nora. He treated her like a child the whole play. It made me think more deeply about the story because he made me understand that the story was about how different they used to treat women back then. I think that the story shoes that women did not get treated very well, and they were underestimated. It is not the same now although there is some of it still. Torvald even had pet names for Nora in the play. The one that caught my attention was my little songbird. He would say that to her and then right after he would be mean to her. I though it was very odd at the end of the play when Torvald found out about the money. He said some of the nastiest meanest things to Nora, and he even threatened to take her children away. About a minute later He apologized, and begged for her to stay. I found Torvald Helmer very odd, and was the most intersting character in the play.
Cody Dykes
A character this really caught my interest and the totally turned around was Nora. I think out of every book iv ever read, she was the most real. She seems all cute until the end and just explodes into a ball of growth in her self, or a need for growth. She stopped pretending at the best time and decided she needed to take charge. I find this amazing how she was able to do that, even though she's not real. I think it's also crazy how things like this are still possible;e nowa days.
I'm not sure what you mean but im going to assume you want three events from the book that happened to the character?
1. Her husband treating her like trash. (pet names, contorl, ext ext)
2. Krogstads control over her.
3. Her good freind backstabs her, then she almost uses rank for money.
The thing that caught me the most would be Krogstads attitude throughout the whole play. In the begining he seems to be a very unreasonable, stuborn, worthless man, that tries to make his life better. In the middle his dark and sneaky side comes out and he seems happy acctually that he is going to ruin someone elses life. I guese he just likes the ironey of the whole situation. In the end when Mrs. Linde ask him to marry her his whole life changes again. He becomes a happy person, full og hope and the willingness to do good. I think Krogstad shows how often people change through out life and how big things effect us in big ways, and vica versa.
A Doll's House was probablly my favorite story we read all year, and the one that I probablly took the most out of. This story shows that woman were not treated like real human beings, or seen as people that could amount to anything as great as men could. It amazes me that after so many years, that idea of woman being less than men has not yet gone away. Being a girl, its probablly so typical that I would pick Nora as the character that caught my attention most and I think really made me think most into depth about the true meaning of this play, because she stood up for herself against the sterotype of what woman were back then. Adding onto Rachel's comment, it's funny that she said that because it was exactly what I was thinking when I was reading Nora's parts this week. Being a cheerleader and as goofy as I am, people always just automatically expect that I'm such a flakey dumb girl. Just like Torvald viewed Nora as, and as Nora felt everyone percieved her as being, she she sort of put on an act for the crowd. If people really got to know me, that would know that yeah, just like Nora I can be a little flakey on the outside at times, but I am actaully an extremely intelligent and wise person. Nora was extremely intelligent as well, and knew how to manoever her way around things. I have such drive for myself and so many ambitions in life, such like Nora knew in her heart she needed more to life that just being "a doll" for someone to play with when they felt like it. No one can live their life for someone else, when it comes down to it, you can only live your life for you and for the goals you need to accomplish, or else you will never feel that sense of accomplishment at the end. Nora finally realized she was living a lie, and that she had to go to the most extreme to get her point across that she was living for much more than what she was getting at the time being married to Torvald. She stood up for herself, like she had never done before, and said how she really felt, which is what she needed to do all along in their relationship. Nora really shows to young woman who read this play that the most important thing you can do is to express yourself and stand up for what you know is best for yourself, no matter what sterotype or role you are percieved as having, because only you really know what is going to be best for you.
Nora seems to be a popular choice as I too am picking her as the most interesting character in the play. Though I haven't pinpointed it, there is something about her that I truly dislike.
Nora's outward ditsy, dumb appearance was conversely countered by her true genius inside and such dissonance captivated me. Throughout the course of the story, Nora's character caused the reader to change as the story progressed and not her - a remarkable accomplishment that any author should be praised for. Elaborating, in the story's exposition I (along with most others) thought that Nora was as ditsy and childlike as she appeared to be. As the story progressed, I realized that this was just a magnificent facade that she played. Finally, her leaving Torvald at the end of the story made me realize that she was quite the competent woman and I felt proud of her in a way that she "ballsed" up and left, though leaving the children was a poor choice. It made me realize that women were expected to play the incompetent ditsy role as it were in the time that the story was written and for a women to be intelligent was simply outlandish and unheard of. Nora's hiding of macaroons from Torvald proved her cleverness when she explained that Christine had brought them for her. Nora's forging of the I.O.U. further displayed her slyness as she knew that her father could clearly have no say in the matter as he was already deceased. Finally, Nora's pretending to forget the Tarantella in order to distract Torvald from opening the letter box even further advanced this for she knew the dance very well it seems and cunningly tricked Torvald into thinking that she had forgotten it simply as a distraction so that she can postpone his reading of Krogstad's letter. These three incidents reveal her very intelligent nature - she acts incompetent in order to please Torvald and trick him into doing things for her it seems when she is truly most likely more competent than he is. I think that even in our modern times that women still portray this dumb, ditsy appearance in order to fool men into thinking that they are less able than they really are. In fact, I know a few grown women who do this. Nora is a true genius. For eight years she fooled her husband into thinking that she was this ditz - eight years! To keep a facade going for that long is ridiculous but incredible all the same.
The character i found most interesting is Nora. She's always changing her mood. Everytime i read the story i find out something new about her and what shes thinking. Ways that show how shes sneaky and mysterious is that when she seduces Dr.Rank so that she can get money from him. Also when she constantly lies to Torvald about a lot of things and thinks its ok. In the end of the story she does something that was very unpredictable. She leaves torvald and her family. I did not expect this from her ecause all this time she does not seem like a very strong person. She doesnt seem like she can live on her own without someoe taking care of her. This relates to American Society because people lives are always changing and lives are always umpredictable. You never know whats going to happen.
The person I am choosing to write about today is Nora. She is not letting herself admit a mistake. That is something that is still shown all the time around the world. It caught my interest that Torvalard wouldn't let Nora eat the macaroons. Torvalard definitely treats her like a child when he doesn't let her eat them. I thought that it was weird how Nora tried to keep Torvalard away from the letter box by keeping him busy.
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