202247197dci2022

[202247197dci2022]

 DRAMA, CONFLICT AND IDENTITY SA1.

         “A Doll’s House” (1879) is a three-act play written by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It was first represented at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen (Denmark) on the 21st of December 1879. It is about a housewife named Nora who commits fraud to pay for the treatment of his ill husband. Then, a man named Krogstad threatens her to reveal her fraudulent actions to her husband. Due to the success of the play, they have made several adaptations, like “A Doll’s House”, a 1973 film directed by Patrick Garland. It follows the same timeline, characters and plot of the original play.

Firstly, the film is set in the past, in the 1890s. Nineteenth century plays were performed in stages designed with a Proscenium Arch and they made reproductions of ordinary interiors with authentic details to mimic a credible physical context for the characters. Ibsen’s descriptions of the setting are quite long but important as it helps us to imagine what the stage would have looked like the first time it was performed. There were three walls and inside we could find the living room with the piano and the arm-chairs, there were doors that led to the hall, the study, the bedroom, the nursery and the dinning-room. In the film most of the plot takes place in the Helmer’s apartment and the setting is accurate compared to Ibsen’s stage directions. In contrast, in the film we see the inside of parts that were not seen on the stage, for instance, Torvald’s studio, the bedroom and the hall. What is more is that we get to see the inside of Krogstad’s house which was not described nor seen in the play. Furthermore, they added some outdoor scenes in which we see cold ice and snow. This is cleverly made as a way of reminding the audience that “it is a closed society that doesn’t allow much movement” (Erikson, 2003).

Moreover, the cast is incredibly talented, we have Claire Bloom as Nora, Anthony Hopkins as Torvald and Ralph Richardson as Dr. Rank, among others.  Bloom’s portrayal of Nora is marvelous. I find it fascinating how she changes the tone of her voice as her character evolves. At the beginning we see Nora, a spendthrift and capricious woman, therefore she uses a louder and high-pitched voice. But then, at the end of the film, when she confronts her husband, the tone pitch goes down and sounds quieter. Hopkins’ acting is outstanding as well, he portrays a character that goes through different emotions, especially at the end when he gets mad at Nora.  

Furthermore, the costumes the characters wear are 19th century clothes: we see men dressed in frock coats and hats, women wearing dresses and updos. In the film, Nora wears four dresses: a long sleeve blue dress with flowers on it, a greenish-white dress with brown ribbons; her ball dress and then her brown everyday dress. Added to this, I noticed that men seem to wear dark and black clothing while women wear colorful clothing and with more details. 

Moving on to film scenes, I have chosen the last one as I believe it contains instances of both conflict and identity. In this, Nora and Torvald have their last conversation. It all starts when Nora is about to leave her house after seeing her children for the last time. Torvald enters the scene, with the letter in which Nora’s fraudulent actions are revealed on his hand. He asks her if she knows what that is, to which Nora answers that he should let her go. She tries to open the door but Torvald immobilizes her with his hands (first glance of physical violence).

Following this, Torvald pushes her to the living room while he verbally abuses her. He closes the door. Nora is trapped. He asks her questions and treats her as an inferior, as a child, probably due to his superiority complex, to which her answer is: “I’m beginning to realize exactly what I’ve done”. This sentence is crucial, in this moment, she understands that her husband does not love her, but rather loves the idea of her, of being in love. Few seconds later, his abusive side is seen again as he slaps her in the face. When he stops, he then touches his hands in disbelief of what he had done. Nora is not “his” Nora anymore. He calls her a criminal and a liar, when all she was trying to do was save him.

Torvald slaps Nora. 

When Torvald sees himself in “Krogstad’s power”, he starts to panic as Krogstad might do what he wants with him, however, he is doing the exact same thing to Nora. He throws her on the sofa and throws objects to the floor while screaming, he is filled with rage. He says that Nora does not realize what she has done to him, but he does not think for a minute that thanks to his wife, he has been cured. Added to this, he says that they should pretend that nothing has changed between the two, probably because of what society might say.

Afterwards, Torvald receives the second letter: they are saved. Nonetheless, it is important to notice that he does not say “they” at first, he says that “he” is saved, proving how selfish he is. He feels relieved, everything can go back to normal now. Nonetheless it is at this moment, when Nora goes upstairs to change into her everyday dress. The most important moment of the film is about to happen.

Nora appears in the living room and makes Torvald sit down and claims that after eight years of marriage they never had a serious conversation. She says that she has never had any opinions of her own as she had adapted to what Torvald and her father thought. She was treated like a “doll” by her father and when she was “handed” to Torvald it was the same thing all over again. She never had the chance to discover who she is, therefore she is unhappy and in need of finding herself, her own identity. Torvald tries to persuade her by telling her that she is a mother and a wife but Nora answers that before that she is a human being.

Nora tells Torvald to “Sit down”. 

Nora tells Torvald that she is a human being. 

Subsequently, Nora affirms that Torvald only cares about himself and that when he knew he was saved, he could pretend that everything was alright. Nonetheless, Nora was not going to forget what had just happened a few minutes ago. Thus, when the conversation ends Nora gives her wedding ring to Torvald and vice versa. She opens the door of the house, while the camera zooms on Torvald’s terrified face as he cannot play with his “doll” anymore, he is left alone. At the end, the sound of the slamming door is heard in the background, symbolizing that she has left the “doll house” and even though she might have closed that door, she is opening new doors in her life to find herself. 

In a nutshell, this film adaptation maintains the essence of the original play. Even though there are slight changes to it, you can still feel as if you were watching one of the first representations of the play. I would highly recommend anyone to watch this adaptation if they could and let themselves be immersed in the amazing play that “A Doll’s House” is. In the words of Ibsen (1881): “It is the very mark of the spirit of rebellion to crave for happiness in this life”. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Erickson, G (2003) DVDTALK. Available online: https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s760doll.html [Accessed 20/3/2023].

Grade Saver (2023) A Doll's House A Performance History of the Play. Available online: https://www.gradesaver.com/a-dolls-house/study-guide/a-performance-history-of-the-play [Accessed 24/3/2023]. 

Ibsen, H (1881) Ghosts. New York: Dover.

IMDB (2023) A Doll’s House [Photograph]. Available online: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069987/mediaviewer/rm3903299328/?ref_=tt_md_1  [Accessed 23/3/2023].

Internet Archive (2014) A Doll's House (1973 Christmas, Drama, Romance) [Photograph]. Available online: https://archive.org/details/a-dolls-house-1973-christmas-drama-romance [Accessed 20/3/2023] 

Kaegi, A (2023) Naturalism and Realism: Ibsen’s A Doll’s House [Presentation]. Available online: https://canvas.hull.ac.uk/courses/66054/files/4438860?module_item_id=897980 [Accessed 23/3/2023]. Sellars, T (2021) 20 scripts now in the public domain. Theatre Haus. Available online: https://www.theatrehaus.com/2021/08/20-scripts-now-in-the-public-domain/ [Accessed 23/3/2023].

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