Given Circumstances

Analyze the Given Circumstances for a play from the Bedford Reader. Choose and carefully read (and re-read) a play from the Bedford Reader that we did not read this semester. Returning to the “Basic Given Circumstances Questions” under Assignment #11 on Moodle, craft in-depth, thoughtful answers to these basic analytical questions (1000 words min).

Given Circumstances for A Doll's House:


WHO ARE THE CENTRAL CHARACTERS?
Nora Helmer: Protagonist, Torvald’s Wife, Mother to 3 children, bubbly, naive, flighty, smart, caring, seeks independence and freedom
Torvald Helmer: Nora’s husband, lawyer, cares about society, proud, arrogant, unforgiving
Mrs. Linde: kind, free spirited, light hearted
Nils Krogstad: backstabbing, deceiving, sneaky, blackmailer
Dr. Rank: loving, kind, caring, sweet, has tuberculosis, loves Nora

DEFINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CENTRAL CHARACTERS.
Nora and Torvald Helmer are husband and wife. Nora is a very loving wife (and mother) and she cares very much for her family. Torvald is a working man who sees his wife as an icon, his doll. He treats her as if she were a child and it seems that he does not love her, but he loves the idea of having her.
Mrs. Linde and Nora were best friends. Nora and Mrs. Linde seem to have a sister like bond and they support each other in their decisions and their past events that have affected their lives.
Nils Krogstad is a bank clerk who knows about the crime Nora has committed. He threatens to tell Torvald about what she has done.
Dr. Rank and Nora are good friends. Dr. Rank loves Nora dearly, not as an icon like Torvald. If Dr. Rank wasn’t sick and Nora wasn’t married, they would be madly in love with each other.
Krogstad and Mrs. Linde were once lovers until she abandoned him for a man with money so she could provide for her family.

WHAT IS THE BACKSTORY OF THESE CHARACTERS?
Torvald Helmer was once very sick. His doctor suggested that he should go on a vacation and get some fresh air because it would be good for his health. Nora and Torvald could not afford this trip so Nora told Torvald her father would chip in for the trip. In reality, Nora forged her father’s signature for a loan to pay for the trip. Nora now is being black mailed by Nils Krogstad. He threatens to tell Torvald about the crime she committed. Nora and Torvald also have three children Bob, Emmy, and Ivar.
Mrs. Linde was an old friend of Nora Helmer's. She had to find money to provide for her family when they were in need and she was thrust into poverty, unlike Nora who abandoned her father when he was ill.
Dr.Rank is Torvalds best friend. He and Nora get along very well. However, he is very ill and does not want to tell Torvald of his imminet death because of how Torvald will unfortunately react.


WHERE DOES THE ACTION OF THE STORY TAKE PLACE?
Place: Norway; Helmer Residence
Time: Late 1870’s
Season: Christmas/Winter
The setting is very vital to the situation and dramas that take place. This play would not be able to take place in any other place, time, or season. It would, however, be able to take place in another country. Most of the action takes place within the living area of the Helmer’s home. It takes place during the Christmas season. This is essential to the drama because of the events that take place in the story. The Helmer’s home is important because of Nora’s ending move. (If I tell you it will ruin the plot) The Christmas season is important because it stresses the fact that Nora needs money to repay her debts and how Torvald thinks the money is used for the gifts she buys when she actually buys cheaper gifts and saves the money to pay off her loan.

WHAT IS THE INCITING EVENT?
Nora knows that she took out the loan and is working to pay it off behind her husband’s back. She does not want him to ever find out about this. Then a man by the name of Krogstad blackmails her and threatens to tell her husband about the loan and the crime she committed. There is also some foreshadowing of her rebelling against Torvald, her husband, in the beginning when she does go behind his back, and when she eats her cookies after he told her not to. This defiance and secrecy allows for the escalating conflict in the play.

WHAT ARE THE RULES OF THIS WORLD?
This is set in the 19th century where it was normal and expected for the wife to stay at home and do as the husband says. It is normal for the husband and wife to not be in love, but for the husband to use the wife to show her off to his business workers and friends. The women did not work, they listened, did as they were told, did not intervene in politics, economics, or their husbands businesses. If they left their family, they were considered low class and unimportant.

WHAT’S THE CENTRAL CONFLICT IN THIS STORY?
Nora forges her father’s signature to receive a loan to help her husband. She hides this from her husband because he does not like to be helped, especially by a woman. Nils Krogstad finds out about this and threatens to tell her husband Torvald. Torvald finds the letters to Nora and is outraged. There are two conflicts with this situation. The conflicts are between Nora and the two men and Nora and herself. She fights with Krogstad to keep it a secret then she fights with Torvald when he finds out. But she argues with herself about what she wants in life. She has to choose whether to stay with her family or risk being an outcast and unaccepted if she leaves them.

WHAT CHANGES AT THE END (Dramatic Transformation)?
Nora realizes that Torvald does not love her, but rather he loves the idea of her. She no longer wants to live this life in denial as a trophy wife. She knows how unhappy she would be and she longs for freedom and independence. At the end of the drama she walks out of the door of her home and shuts it and does not plan to return. This shows her new found independence and stronger ability to live for her rather than for society. As a person, Nora grew stronger inside and she became more independent and free.

WHAT IS THE GENRE (OR SUB GENRE) OF THIS STORY?
This Genre is a realistic, modern drama. It identifies the struggles of women and their upcoming revelation in the 19th century. It strongly stresses the sacrificial role of women.