Customer Reviews

A Doll's House and Hedda Gabler (Cliffs Notes)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Is forgery really that bad? To Trovald, it is ALMOST unforgiveable. This book is very good and keeps you in suspense. Trovald character has a problem with treating his wife like a little girl. Not only that but he is also a "power freak". Power is the main source of Trovald and Nora's relationship. Trovald's little 'skylark' is smarter than he thinks. She saved his life and he repays her by getting very upset....at first. I feel that Trovald should treat his wife as an equal, not an inferrior. Mrs. Linde is a character who decives Nora. She is portrayed as her friend and she is, but I think she was wrong in telling Krogstad not to take the letter out of the mail box. It is none of her business if Trovald never finds out Nora forged her father's name. I give this play four stars. You should read this play if you like mysteries. The chilling ending had me wondering... why did Nora say, "The most wonderful thing of all-...."

The end of the play had to be modified before it was set up for an american audience. The way women was treated in Norway at that time was nothing like how they were treated in the US. The play broke all the moral rules of US citizens at that time, so the end was made less controversial. Worth reading to get a sense of morality at that time.

Although many have cited the play's feminist qualities as the play's main purpose, what many do not realise is that Ibsen was also commenting on society, deriding not only the female position, but also the male one. Torvald is confined in the tortuous world of business, where reputation comes before truth. When Nora admits her fraudulent activities Helmer appears only to be concerned with how the affair will appear. Yet faced with losing Nora in the late stages of the last scene Ibsen's Torvald is a character that we pity. Krogstad can also be seen as a tragic character, although initial impressions are not favourable. During his bribery of Nora, Krogstad's motives come to the fore and similarly to Torvald the cause of his malcontent is his reputation. Krogstad's desperation for keeping his 'humble post' is due to alleged disreputable acts which he is cleared of in the eyes of the law, but which society does not yet forgive. Ibsen therefore, in my opinion, created much more than a feminist play, he created a subversive exclamation.

I give this book a 7 because it does takle an issue that has been part of society since the start but it is also demening towards women is some instances The play is making a statement about the way that women are treated in Norway at the time when it was written. Nora was Torvald's doll. She was a possesion. The were not in love with each other but instead, with the idea of each other. Do I recamend this book, only if you are boored, it'll only take an hour or two anyways