Economic paradigms & A Doll's House (1 Viewer)

[clerisy]

Can anyone provide any ideas as to what Ibsen has to say about economic ways of thinking in A Doll's House? Obviously Torvald and (initially) Nora have quite a fondness for money, and we're given Kristine's story of how hard life is without it, but is there anything to really talk about in an essay? Right now I have a wonderful understanding of A Doll's House and gender identity, but I'm not really touching on any other paradigms.

Also-- techniques in A Doll's House. Can anyone point out some significant ones? I can pick out a lot of techniques in the play as a whole, but very few that I can actually use to back up what I'm saying...

Ta!

 

[Persephone87]

How about the middle class setting? Nora interacts more with objects than people at the begining, and that switches towards the end.
Also, you should consider the issue of Noras fraud, or the fact that as a woman she can not make finacial descisons, and that Krogstad is barred from making a better existance because of previous misdemeanors.


Techniques...literary or dramatic?
literary: nicknaming of Nora to denote her belittling by torvald, her featherbrained talk and the switch to seriousness (its been awaile since I've done this...)

dramatic: The dance costume, the macaroons and the letter.

 

[clerisy]

That's really helpful. Thankyou!

But the letter-- what does that represent as a technique?

 

[silvermoon]

economic paradigms are a marxist reading of the text - look at their class and how they treat others of a different class, the way Nora knows that she can't tell Torvald about the loan because she knows he thinks only he should control the money, the way Torvald enjoys being the one who can give or deny Nora money, how much Nora loves money and position etc.

 

[clerisy]

That's something to think about! I never thought of applying marxism to the economic paradigms of the text... thanks silvermoon

 

[cuivienen]

Don't forget Mrs. Linde's marriage to Mr.Linde who was wealthy...If you recall in Act Three, Mrs. Linde converses with Krogstad, and states that she had to disregard her love for him in order to gain a comfortable and suitable living for her family...

I've dug up the quotes stating this:

Mrs. Linde. I could do nothing else. As I had to break with you,
it was my duty also to put an end to all that you felt for me.


Krogstad (wringing his hands). So that was it. And all this—only
for the sake of money!


Mrs. Linde. You must not forget that I had a helpless mother and
two little brothers. We couldn't wait for you, Nils; your
prospects seemed hopeless then.

-Act Three


The text may not be exact since this may be a different translation