ADH CONTEXT

Question 1

what is the 2020 adaptation of ADH and who is it by?

Answer 1

stef smiths ‘Nora’ production

Question 2

how can ‘Nora’ be used to show women’s oppression?

Answer 2

Three Noras across three eras shows that women’s oppression is historically persistent, not confined to Ibsen’s 19th‑century setting.
1918 Nora fights for suffrage, 1968 Nora for liberation, 2018 Nora for autonomy in a neoliberal world.

Question 3

what does the door-slamming by three women in ‘Nora’ symbolise?

Answer 3

Smith keeps the iconic ending but multiplies it: three women walking out simultaneously.
This becomes a collective feminist act, not an individual rebellion.

Question 4

what does the 1987 production of ADH presents Nora wearing during the tarantella dance scene?

Answer 4

1987 version = very short dress with black straps on the back –> sexual - resembles a lingerie

Question 5

why can the play be considered a realist drama?

Answer 5

it predominantly deals with character’s inner turmoil + motives behind their actions

Question 6

when was ADH written?

Answer 6

1879

Question 7

what is one main characteristic of realist drama that ADH embodies?

Answer 7

the protagonist defying social conventions

Question 8

why would Ibsen write a realist drama?

Answer 8

they gained popularity in the 19th century as they depicted ordinary lives

Question 9

why did realist dramas gain popularity in the 19th century?

Answer 9

• 1848, 1848 revolutions, the women’s suffrage movement, and the rise of socialism –> people saw the defying of convention all around them -> inspired by it

Question 10

what type of dialogue mimics everyday speech? give an example of this in ADH

Answer 10

prosaic dialogue
- Torvald’s pet names

Question 11

how did darwinism effect the play?

Answer 11

it challenged religious teachings about creation - same way Nora does e.g. I’m afraid I don’t really know what religion is

Question 12

what was individualism

Answer 12

a philosophy and social outlook emphasizing the moral worth, rights, and independence of the individual, prioritizing personal goals, freedom, and self-reliance over the group or collective

Question 13

who may have influenced Ibsen when they wrote about individualism? when did they write their work and what was their work called?

Answer 13

John Stuart Mill (1806–1873): A highly influential philosopher and Member of Parliament, Mill was a central figure in 19th-century liberalism. His work On Liberty (1859) argues strongly for individual freedom of expression and action

Question 14

what was a societal expectation concerning wives and work?

Answer 14

wives were expected to refrain from working

Question 15

why did Norway have victorian social codes? how s this reflected in the play?

Answer 15

they only gained independence from Denmark in 1814
- reflected through Nora always expecting her children to have a flawless appearance

Question 16

which code prevented women from doing what?

Answer 16

the Napoleonic code prevented women from engaging in financial transactions

Question 17

when was the first wave of feminism?

Answer 17

1879-1890

Question 18

which book, written in 1861 confines women to the domestic sphere?

Answer 18

the book of household management by Isabella Beeton

Question 19

when was the book of household management written?

Answer 19

1861

Question 20

what type of political stance did Christian Frederick lead with and what did this lead to?

Answer 20

a nationalist one - led to the independence of Norway from Denmark in 1814

Question 21

what can Norways independence struggle be compared to in the play?

Answer 21

Noras bid fro independence from her husband and bourgeois life - she herself is a domesticated bourgeois allegory

Question 22

when was education made available to women in Norway?

Answer 22

1876 - still fairly new

Question 23

who embodies the new woman in the play?

Answer 23

Mrs Linde

Question 24

how are capitalistic ideologies displayed in a dolls house?

Answer 24

– Torvald and Nora’s relief when he is promoted, and their belief this will provide them safety and security, illustrates such pressures
– Torvald is most concerned with ensuring he never aquires any debt as he believes this is immoral and disgraceful

Question 25

what theory suggests that Nora is degenerate? how, and when was it developed?

Answer 25

Barrats theory of impulsivity - > suggests the frontal lobe is not fully developed. 1959

Question 26

how can we link Euripides and ADH?

Answer 26

Euripides' plays present in gruelling detail the wreck of human lives under the stresses that the gods often seem willfully to place upon them - similar to how Torvald and the patriarchy do to Nora. The Gods do not appeal to justice --> in Bacchae when Agave tears her own son, Pentheus, to pieces and marches into town with his head on a pike, the god Dionysus, who had engineered the situation, says merely that Pentheus should not have scorned him

Question 27

what are the key concepts in Lee Breuer's adaptation of A Dolls house?

Answer 27

- Nora = 6ft tall whilst her husband is tiny -> she must must contort her body to fit into the space, while her tiny husband, Torvald (Mark Povinelli), feels perfectly at home - she had a high squeaky child voice and blonde curls - looks exactly like a doll -> even her daughter plays with a replica doll of her -> learning to grow up like their mother and adhere to patriarchal rules - at her escape Nora tosses off her corset and blonde wig to reveal herself completely naked and entirely hairless. She looks at once Amazonian and desperately vulnerable, like a newborn babe about to stride out into the world.

Question 28

when was Lee Breuer's adaptation of A Dolls house produced?

Answer 28

2007

Question 29

which adaptation of ADH was produced in 2007?

Answer 29

Lee Breuer's

Question 30

which adaptation of ADH was produced in 1973?

Answer 30

Joseph Losey ADH

Question 31

when was Joseph Losey adaptation of A Dolls house produced?

Answer 31

1973

Question 32

what are the key concepts in Joseph Losey's adaptation of A Dolls house?

Answer 32

- Audience sees much of the Helmer household + the director also includes new scenes of background information at the beginning of the film, such as the friendship between Mrs. Linde and Nora when they were younger --> means that it there isn't such a strong feeling of confinement

Question 33

what piece of biographical information can be used to highlight women's repression in the 19th century?

Answer 33

Ibsen based his characters largely off his family members -> shows that the repression Nora experienced was what Ibsen had seen in reality with his own mother