A Doll's House- Henrik Ibsen

A Doll’s House is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and was first performed in 1879. Ibsen is believed by some to be the greatest dramatist since Shakespeare and his plays often deal with the power dynamic between men and women, issues of morality and the realities that lay behind many social constructs. The play was highly controversial when first staged because of its presentation of marriage, and Ibsen was forced to rewrite the ending when it was performed in Germany, because many people saw Nora’s abandonment of her family as immoral. Ibsen’s play establishes debates about women’s rights, marital relations and the nature or love.

In his first two lines, Helmer calls Nora “my little songbird” and “my squirrel”, demonstrating the pet names he gives to her which make her the “Doll” of the title. Him calling her his “songbird” has connotations of keeping her in a cage, and expecting her to perform. As the play develops, the audience learn that Nora isn’t as childish and flippant as she originally seemed, and is actually rather shrewd, demonstrated by the fact that she secretly borrowed £250 to get her husband treatment when  he was ill, and has been deceiving him ever since.

Nora tries to keep this information secret throughout the play because she knows that Torvald will see it as a disgrace to his name. Krogstad, the man whom the money was borrowed from, informs Nora that he is aware that she forged her father’s signature on the document, which is a criminal offence. Krogstad then blackmails Nora into persuading Torvald not to fire him, because Torvald has recently become the manager at the bank where Krogstad words. Nora fails to persuade Torvald not to fire Krogstad, because Torvald is convinced that he is an immoral criminal, even though the crime he committed in the past was no more than forging a signature. When the secret is revealed Nora is remarkably calm and collected, despite the fact she has been worrying about this moment throughout the play. This is because Helmer’s angry reaction leads her to the realisation that he wasn’t the man she thought he was.

Some critics have viewed A Doll’s House as a play embracing the struggle of women for equal rights, however others have suggested that the play is about “the need of every individual to find out the kind of person he or she really is”, not just Nora. Perhaps Nora isn’t the only person in the play who is trapped and is striving to escape: Torvald spends the majority of his time working and could be seen as being at the mercy of society because he’s constantly worried about what other people will think of him. One type of love the play explores is love of self, exemplified mostly by Nora’s realisation that she must leave her home in order to be true to herself. Torvald attempts to persuade to stay by saying that she has a duty to bring up their children; Nora replies that “I’ve someone else to bring up first- myself.”

Mrs Linde is an interesting character in the play, and arguably supports the domestication of women. Mrs Linde previously abandoned Krogstad for a richer man because she needed the money. However following her husband’s death they are reunited and she says to him: “there’s no pleasure in working only for yourself, give me somebody and something to work for”. On the one hand, this implies her dependence on a man to work for; however on the other hand she just wants a sense of purpose in her life. The love depicted between Krogstad and Linde is arguably the most romantic in the play: Krogstad described himself as a “broken man clinging to the wreck of life”, and perhaps this is because the barriers of hypocrisy between the two have been broken down: Linde knows Krogstad is blackmailing Nora and Krogstad has already experienced anguish at being abandoned. However the two are able to accept each other for who they are, something Nora and Helmer fail to do. 

Dr Rank is another interesting character in the play. He frequently visits the Helmer household partly because he and Torvald are friends but mainly because he’s in love with Nora. Rank is arguably a slightly more realistic character than the others, because he ironically mocks his situation in life in a way that the other characters don’t. Rank is dying from a generic decease, suffering for his father’s exuberant lifestyle, and the theme of children suffering for their parent’s actions is recurrent. Nora is frequently reminded by Helmer that her father got himself into debt by overspending, and that she should refrain of doing the same. Rank is aware that his days are numbered and he therefore has nothing to lose in claiming to love Nora “as deeply as anyone else”, but his love for her is ultimately unrequited. 

Don Juan- Lord Byron

In this poem Byron satirises the story of Don Juan, the infamous womanizer, and presents him as being seduced by an older woman named Julia. Julia is married to Don Alfonso, and Byron writes that “she inly swore/ by all the vows below to powers above/ she never would disgrace the ring she wore”. These lines suggest that Julia does not intend to go against her marital sacrament by seducing Don Juan. However, Bryon continues by writing that “while she pondered this…/ One hand on Juan’s carelessly was thrown/ Quite by mistake- she thought it was her own.” The humorous, ironic tone of the poem is exemplified here because while Julia is pondering the religious values of marriage, she places her hand on Juan’s. Although Byron writes that this was “quite by mistake-she thought it was her own”, this is most definitely not the case, and is merely further evidence of the poems ironic tone.

This poem seems to suggest that Don Juan’s immoral actions in later life are a direct result of being victim to seduction as an innocent young man. Julia is described as being attracted to his “prudish fears” and his “victorious virtue”, two attributes the adult Don Juan certainly doesn’t possess. Furthermore, when Don Juan returns Julia’s advances with a “grateful kiss”, Bryon writes that he “withdrew/ in deep despair, lest he had done amiss”, which further exemplifies how the portrayal of the young Don Juan differs greatly to his elder representation.

One critic described Don Juan as the “passive recipient of the erotic attentions of aggressive women.” However this interpretation seems to exclude Don Juan from any responsibility for his own actions, and a feminist approach is that this poem is yet another example of how women are unfairly blamed for mans failings. This feminist viewpoint is supported by the manner in which the narrator succinctly accuses Don Juan’s mother of influencing events: “twas surely very wrong in Juan’s mother/ to leave together this imprudent pair”. Therefore the narrator’s attribution of blame solely to the women in the poem is arguably unfair, and excludes the responsibly of Don Juan. However, a post-feminist approach may conclude that the poem empowers female beauty because Julia holds a position of power of Don Juan because of her sexuality.

The narrator in the poem commentates on events and seems to hold a position of moral judgement, describing Don Juan’s mother as “wrong” in leaving the pair together and saying that what Don Juan did “was much what you would do” when advanced upon by a woman. One possibility is that the narrator’s voice is a reflection of the author himself, however I believe this is highly unlikely. Byron is more associated with the character of Don Juan, because as a critic points out, “the adventures of Don Juan are poetic re-imaginings of Byron’s own escapades and dysfunctional relationships with women.” Therefore the poem becomes a sort of insight into Byron’s mind, a biography of his life, and whether or not the poem is a work of self-indulgence is a point of debate. 

La Belle Dame sans Merci- John Keats

The poem La Belle Dame sans Merci was written by John Keats in 1819. Keats was a Romantic, and the Romantic Movement peaked around the years 1800-1840. Some features of this poem which are stereotypical of Romantic poetry would be simple language, emphasis on beauty, and medieval as well as supernatural subject matter. Keats’s poem “avoids simplicity of interpretation despite simplicity of structure”. It has 12 stanzas, each with four lines which follow the rhyming scheme ABCB. The poem takes the form of a ballad, which were typical of the Romantic era, and takes its name La Belle Dame sans Merci (“The Beautiful Lady without Pity”) from the title of a 15^th century French poem by Alain Chartier about courtly love.

The poem narrates the journey of a Knight who is lured by a “faery’s child”, a nymph, into her “elfin grot”. The Knight “made a garland for her head” and sets her on his “pacing steed”. By putting the woman on his horse the narrator is metaphorically and physically putting her on a pedestal. This aspect of attraction is a key feature of courtly love, which often depicts love as a terrible sickness, as well as the only cure. The narrator gives clues to the reader that his love is dangerous by describing her eyes as “wild”, but it is not until he is lured into her territory and “lulled asleep” that he dreams of “pale Kings, and Princes too” who attempt to warn him that he’s under threat (“La belle Dame sans merci thee hath in thrall!”) However by this time it is too late, and he is left “alone and palely loitering” on the “cold hill’s side”. 

Keats employs the pastoral convention, where women are presented as nymphs and generally at one with nature. This technique was popular in the 16^th century and often portrays the woman as passive, however in Keats’s poem this is certainly not the case. Keats’s apparent subversion of the pastoral convention could be interpreted on a post-feminist level as an empowerment of female beauty, because the woman in La Belle Dame sans Merci has control over her male suitor. However, a contrasting feminist approach may argue that Keats has presented a two dimensional, voiceless, deceitful woman who is ultimately portraying femininity in a negative light. The debate around whether or not the poem empowers or degrades women is an example of one of the many debates it raises.

One interpretation of the poem would be that the narrator has not actually encountered a nymph, but that the whole of the poem is in fact a dream he has had in which his view of love has been personified. For example, the narrator says that he was dreamt “the latest dream” and “awoke, and found me here on the cold hill side.” If this is the case, then we can infer that the story of the poem is designed to represent the narrator’s view that women are deceitful, and that love will eventually leave the bearer sad and lost: ballads often lament the loss of love, and perhaps the narrator is reminiscing on how love has left him miserable and alone.

The poem suggests that the narrator is on his death bed. In the opening three stanzas, the Knight is come across by another man who says he can “see the lily on thy brow” and “on thy cheek a fading rose/ fast withereth too”. The lily is often associated with death and Keats is said to have used the lily because it “symbolises death”. Furthermore, the claim that on his cheek is a “fading rose” suggests that the colour is going out of his face, which relates to the repeated claim that the Knight is “palely loitering”. Keats nursed his brother when he was suffering from Tuberculosis, and briefly after writing this poem he himself was diagnosed with the disease. Keats presents the narrator of the poem as suffering from some of the symptoms of TB, such as his paleness, fever and inability to move, and perhaps his illness explains why he is “alone and palely loitering.”

Another point of interest is that vampires were becoming popular in literature around this time, and some readers have suggested that perhaps the “faery’s child” is a vampire. The girl lures him into her “grot” whereupon they “kiss.” The “kiss” could signify a vampire’s bite, and perhaps the enchantress of La Belle Dame sans Merci is one in a long line of supernatural beings who have charmed immortals into spiritual slavery. If this is case then no wonder he is left “palely loitering”. Whether or not the temptress is a vampire, and whether or not the narrator is dreaming, are not of great significance because they merely exemplify the tremendous possibilities for different interpretations that are in the poem.  

She Stoops to Conquer- Oliver Goldsmith

Last week I went to see a production of the 1773 classic She Stoops to Conquer written by Oliver Goldsmith, performed at the National Theatre. Goldsmith’s play was written at a time when much of London theatre was censored because it was seen as a method of distributing anti-establishment ideas. Following an act of 1737 every play had to be approved by the government. Despite this censored approach to 18^th century theatre, Goldsmith’s play was first performed in 1773, with a few adaptions from the original, and was immediately a huge success.

Goldsmith’s play can be seen as a response to the sentimental comedy which had become popular during the 18^th century. Sentimental comedy was based on mankind being good and virtuous and Goldsmith believed this made for bad comedy because peoples mistakes should be laughed rather than pardoned or excused. Goldsmith wrote in an essay comparing sentimental comedy and laughter that “comedy is defined by Aristotle to be a picture of the frailties of the lower part of mankind” and therefore, according to Goldsmith, “comedy should excite our laughter by ridiculously exhibiting the follies of the lower part of mankind.” Goldsmith’s main intention was to make people laugh, and this was certainly achieved in the production I went to see.

The crux of the plot comes when two fashionable young gentleman from London are tricked by country joker Tony Lumpkin into believing that the house they are visiting is an inn, when it is in fact the home of a respectable man named Mr Hardcastle. Mr Hardcastle’s daughter has been selected as a potential wife for one of the young gentlemen from town called Marlow, son of Mr Hardcastle’s old friend Charles Marlow. Marlow is awkward and shy around upper class women, but transforms into a strutting, confident young man around women of a lower class. Therefore, on perceiving this feature of Marlow’s character, Miss Hardcastle cleverly adopts the role of a barmaid to attract Marlow, demonstrating how she stoops to conquer.

One point of interest in the play is that Marlow and Miss Hardcastle have been pared together as potential lovers by their elders. Goldsmith’s decision to in cooperate this feature of 18^th century society in his play demonstrates how he mocks social conventions. Arranged marriages were common in the 18^th century, and often had the intention of some kind of financial, social or political reward. Perhaps by putting a comic slant on the idea of arranged marriages, Goldsmith is mocking their value.

The plays uses stock characters, such as the fashionable young gentlemen about town, beautiful young women, old hags, loyal and disloyal servants and gullible people, which is typical of restoration and 18^th century comedy. Also a review of this rendition in the Evening Standard talks about the plays power of “delayed gratification”, and this goes hand in hand with Goldsmith’s use of dramatic irony, because the audience is aware of the deception that has taken place but has to wait until the end of the play for all to be revealed.

Goldsmith himself was said to be shy around women of a higher class, but confident around women of lesser rank. Furthermore, the story is said to be partly autobiographical, because Goldsmith was apparently once led to believe he was staying in an inn when in fact he wasn’t, only realising when the landlord refused his cheque in the morning. The importance of the play in the context of the 18^th century and in particular in the theatre of this century make it valuable to my course. 

The Waves- Virginia Woolf

The extract I have looked at from Virginia Woolf’s modernist classic The Waves is taken from the beginning, when all six characters are children and the narrative fluctuates freely between their separate voices in the form of free indirect speech. The stream of consciousness technique employed by Woolf allows the narrative to effortlessly rotate between the actual and the metaphorical, the real and the unreal, in an attempt to accurately portray the intricacy of the human mind, and express how a person’s sense of reality is located in their private subconscious. 

Towards the beginning of the extract, the character Jinny notices that the hedge she’s looking at is moving, causing her to ask “What moves the leaves? What moves my heart, my legs?” This is an example of how the stream of consciousness technique allows a characters thoughts to flow one after another. In her essay “Modern Fiction”, Woolf describes life as “an incessant shower of innumerable atoms”, and by using the stream of consciousness technique Woolf is attempting to “record the atoms as they fall upon the mind in the order in which they fall.” In this particular instance there is an obvious shift from considering the real (“what moves the leaves?”) to making a philosophical observation (what moves my heart?”) and this shift characterises the form in which Woolf is writing.

Susan see’s Jinny kissing Louis through the hedge, and grows distressed because she has feelings for Louis. This anguish causes her to say “I will wrap my agony inside my pocket handkerchief... it shall be screwed tight into a ball.” This profound image seems to represent the depth of emotion reminiscent of an adult rather than a child. However this mature sense of despair is juxtaposed with Susan’s childish claim that “I will not sit next Jinny or next Louis.” The representation of the close link between adult and childish emotions is one feature which makes the extract so strong. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the image is reinforced when the narrative shifts to Bernard’s point of view, and he says that Susan’s “nails meet in the ball of her pocket-handkerchief” as she runs with her clenched fists outstretched. This exemplifies how the constant narrative shift allows Woolf to employ a sense of irony and togetherness with her characters.

Another point of interest in the extract is the power dynamic between the male and female characters. The two girls in the extract, Jinny and Susan, personify two different representations of females. Jinny is very feminine; she wears a pink frock, instinctively kisses Louis and immediately afterwards dances and smells geraniums. In contrast, Susan sums up her distress in seeing Jinny kiss Louis with claims that she wants to sleep under branches, and allow her hair to become “matted” while she eats nuts under the brambles. In addition, Bernard says himself that his role is to follow Susan and “comfort her when she bursts out in rage and thinks, “I am alone”, demonstrating a stereotypical approach to the male ‘looking after’ the female.

All in the all, the extract has a depth of language and ideas which make it ideal for analysing in terms of love and grammatical devices. The next step for me is to read a Virginia Woolf novel and compare this extract to a more informed response of her work.