Act 3

• Engels
• Upper Secondary (Key Stage 4)
• GCSE

Seating plan DP1 Literature HL

board

Window

Door

Megan Erik 

Elsje

Hugo 

Ella 

Neysa 

Coen

Aamu

Alyanna 

Mia 

Damien 

Lena 

Shamatmika

Alastrina

Robin 

Zoe

Rikard 

Kate 

Anna

Andrea 

Dheeshitha 

Kim 

Emilia

Goals today

We will review your homework and look at paragraph structure

We will read and watch part of Act 3 

We will investigate what the New Woman Movement was 

We will hunt for symbols and motifs 

We will look closely at two words that are repeated in the play. 

Word of the day

Assiduous (adj) - hard-working; diligent 

Write three synonyms for assiduous

She was not a natural athlete, but with assiduous effort she became the best football player at the school. 

Word of the day

Assiduous (adj) - hard-working; diligent 

Synonyms: Persistent, industrious, earnest, scrupulous, exacting, zealous, persevering. 

Add information to the main-plot (yellow) or the sub-plot (pink). Make sure you write on your post-it the act number. Act 2 

Read Act 1 

Write your paragraph(s) and put them in your class notebook portfolio.

Act 1

Concepts HL literature 

Concepts we generated: 

Identity, (marriage) relationships, power dynamics, society, deceit

Read the quotes and ideas and write, in your own class notebook, which concept(s) do you feel can be attached to the different symbols and motifs. 

Read Act 1 

-Construct a topic sentence that can be debated and include the topic, thesis or theme of this extract and why Ibsen includes it in the play. 

- short summary of the content of the extract. 

- two, three or more quotes from the extract to support your TS.

- analysis of the the reason why Ibsen included these techniques in this extract. 

-Link to your TS

What you should include in your paragraph 

Write your paragraph(s) and put them in your class notebook portfolio.

Read Act 1 

In this extract taken from the end of Act 2, Ibsen successfully conveys Nora’s desperation and increases the tension in the play. In the extract, Nora practices dancing the Tarantella to distract Torvald from looking at the letters in the letter box and thus discovering Nora’s secret. Dr Rank and Mrs Linde act as onlookers and are witnesses to the conflict in the Helmer’s relationship. Ibsen employs stage directions to reveal the integral use of symbols which support the concept of marital relationships. The several doorways are blocked by the male characters as Dr Rank stands initially “in the doorway” and Torvald moves “towards the hall door” allowing Nora no escape from her situation. She is forced to play the “first bars of the Tarantella” to stop Torvald “in the doorway”. Nora’s feelings of entrapment are thus highlighted for the audience through the character’s physical confinement on the stage as exits are barred. Whilst dancing Nora’s “hair comes down and falls over her shoulders”; however, she pays no heed to this. This stage direction adds to her loss of control and her anxiety. Her carefully constructed exterior pose is starting to unravel and, similarly to the Christmas tree, become dishevelled. 

Read Act 1 

Furthermore, Nora’s despair is highlighted through her interaction with Torvald, Dr Rank and Mrs Linde. Ibsen uses specific diction choices to illustrate a change in Torvald and Nora’s relationship. Whereas Torvald referred to Nora using pleasant endearments in Act 1, he now reveals his frustration with her and tries to exert his control again by using extreme infantilizing and demeaning phrases. For example, “you helpless little mortal” and “The child shall have her way”. The relationship with Dr Rank has also changed during Act 2. When he states, “Let me play for her”, the audience understands how poignant his role has become as supporter and secret admirer. Torvald’s cry of “this is sheer madness” reveals how Nora is viewed by the two male characters, and Mrs Linde stands “spell-bound in the doorway” and only utters Oh! This confirms for the audience that Nora has become isolated from these characters and is starting to feel that her position is hopeless. All her tricks to manipulate the other characters appear to no longer be working.

Read Act 1 

Act 3 read to Helmer’s and Nora’s entrances. Discuss this question in your exercise book and then write your answer: 

How do both Mrs Linde and Krogstad show themselves to be of greater moral stature than either Nora or Helmer at this point in the play? 

Read about New Woman on the following website. Take notes on the points that you think are interesting or relevant to the play. 

After you have completed the reading, you will be asked to use these ideas in connection to the play.

editions.covecollective.org

Nora 

1. Consider whether Ibsen’s characterisation of Mrs Linde suggests that she should be viewed as a New Woman (if not, why not?)

2. complete these sentence stems:

a) Nora can be considered a New Woman because ... 

b)  Although Mrs Linde could be considered, in some aspects, to represent a New Woman, ...

c) Nora's character develops during the play, nevertheless...

Motif = symbol, images, ideas, sounds, or words that help to explain the central idea of a literary work – the theme

A motif is a recurring element.

symbols used throughout the play can become motifs

  

collect 

Collect quotes for your motif.

Copy and paste your quotes in the tab in the collaborative space. Write next to the quote which act the motif or symbol appears in. 

  

Motif & symbols 

Christmas Tree 

Macaroons

The Tarantella  

The doll's house

Open and closed doors 

Birds 

Stove 

Letter(s)

Hunt with your partner for references to your symbol (also in stage directions). Find as many as you can. You will share these with the class. 

Place your quotes, with the Act number, in the collaboration space in class notebook. 

Act 1

Concepts HL lang & lit 

A Doll's House 

Concepts we generated: 

Identity, (marriage) relationships, ethics, gender roles, money 

Read the quotes and ideas and write, in your own class notebook, which concept(s) do you feel can be attached to the different symbols and motifs. 

Goals today

We will consider in writing what we read for homework 

We will engage further with our motif or symbol 

We will note and explain terms 

We will read to the end of Act 3

Word of the day

Conform (vb) - to become similar; to act in agreement 

In order to conform to the stated school dress code, all the young men had to wear ties. 

Word of the day

Choose the word that is most closely related in meaning to conform: 

A)challenge  B)reward  C) agree D) disagree 

Now choose the word that is most nearly opposite in meaning 

A) obey  B) affirm  C) omit  D)  differ 

Synonym: C 

Antonym: D 

Read Act 1 

Read in Act 3 up until Dr Rank exits the stage. 

Read Act 1 

From your homework reading, answer these questions in your exercise book or class notebook: 

1. How are Nora and Torvald's moods set in contrast in this section? (Discuss techniques) What is the dramatic effect of this contrast? 

2. Have the audience, by this point in the play, come to regard Torvald as the 'villain of the piece' ? If so, why? 

3. How does the news that Dr Rank has brought affect our view of the situation in the Helmer household? 

Motif => theme support 

1. How does the motif that you were given yesterday reflect Nora's character and character development? Use relevant quotes to support your answer. 

2. Having looked at how your motif reoccurs throughout the play, what theme (expressed as a sentence) is this motif illustrating? 

The patriarchy 

A patriarchal society 

Misogyny 

Naturalism/realism 

Infantilisation/ to infantilise 

The New Woman 

Melodrama 

Stereotype

Authority and suppression 

Write down and learn these terms/words. 

Homework for 27th November 

Read to the end of the play and watch the staged production in Digital theatre plus.

Be ready on Monday to reflect on the play as a whole and to engage in close analysis

Goals today

We will review aspects of Act 3 

We will try to change topics or concepts into themes 

We will consider the character of Torvald more closely 

Act III - once you have finished reading 

1. Why is Christine willing to “risk everything” for Krogstad?

2. Why does Christine encourage Krogstad to let Torvald read the letter revealing Nora’s deception?

3. Discuss the irony in Torvald’s accusation that Nora has played with him “like a puppet.”

4. Helmer’s pronouncement that “before all else, (Nora is) a wife and mother” is contradicted by Nora’s “before all else, I’m a human being.” Is this issue significant today, or is it only a sign of Ibsen’s time? Explain. 

Put your answers in your class notebook. 

Act III

5. Discuss in writing Nora’s decision to leave her family. Is it truly the only way she can reclaim her identity and humanity?

6. The last sound the audience hears is the door slamming shut after Nora’s departure. Consider the theatrical, literary (symbolism/motif) and historical significance of this stage device. Write your analysis. 

Topics/concepts 

Marriage                                                    

Money 

Position of women in society 

deceit & lies 

social status 

Morality 

power 

freedom 

truth 

heredity 

Themes from topics 

• Marriage = the institution of marriage as it is conceived and practised in Victorian society may make true love impossible. 
• Position of women in  (Victorian)  society = Victorian society legally and culturally infantilised women and made it impossible for them to be treated as individuals. 
• Money  = Having or not having money allows individuals to wield power over each other. 
• Deceit & lies = Deceit and lies are corrupting forces on people. However, the position of women in Victorian society results in deceit even when for a noble (morally correct) cause. 
• Social status = Society's view of yourself is meaningless unless you respect yourself as an individual and human being. 

Make these topics into themes 

Morality

power

freedom

truth

heredity

https://padlet.com/r_nusser2/change-these-topics-to-themes-in-a-doll-s-house-lang-lit-ypqysoheg3fd6i3f

Three ways of being 

There are three main female characters (including Anne, the nurse)  and three main male characters. 

Each character represents a way of being a man or a woman

in Victorian society in Norway. Discuss with your partner what values, morals and social status each of the characters represents. 

You will share your findings with the class. 

Torvald 

1. Should we feel sorry for Torvald Helmer? Has he received his comeuppance ( a punishment or fate that someone deserves) or is he misguided? 

2. What are Torvald's flaws? Give examples. 

3. Write down three adjectives that describe Torvald's character.

Hypocrite

Self-righteous 

demeaning attitude

domineering 

Proud

condescending 

Torvald 

Go to digital theatre plus and type in A Doll's House 

Find "On Acting: Dominic Rowan" and watch the first 11 minutes up to impact of improvisation 

You talk like a child. You don't understand the conditions of the world in which you live. Act 3 

Yes, it is true! I am saved! Nora, I am saved! Act 3 

Nora, I swear it; I have forgiven you everything. I know that what you did , you did out of love for me. Act 3 

What a horrible awakening! All these eight years -- she who was my joy and pride -- a hypocrite, a liar -- worse, worse -- a criminal! The unutterable ugliness of it all! For shame! For shame! I ought to have suspected that something of the sort would happen. I ought to have foreseen it. All your father's want of principle -- be silent! -- all your father's want of principle has come out in you. No religion, no morality, no sense of duty--. How I am punished for having winked at what he did! I did it for your sake and this is how you repay me.  Act 3 

Read Act 1 

Essay construction practice

Helmer accuses Nora of being 'a liar, a hypocrite and a criminal'. What evidence from the play supports these charges? How is it that despite them the audience develops both sympathy and admiration for her as the play develops?

Read Act 1 

1. Find the quote from the essay question. Look carefully at when it appears in the play and what happens just before and just after it. What position does it take in the narrative arc or Freytag's pyramid? 

2. Find evidence that Nora is a 'liar, hypocrite and criminal'. Find at least two quotes for each character trait. 

3. Identify at least four techniques that the playwright employs to elicit sympathy and admiration from the audience. Use the information in class notebook 

New drama - Ibsen 

Ibsen’s aim was to liberate society’s imagination by forcing it to confront a more honest representation of itself. To achieve this, falsely sentimental representations of men and women must be replaced by a more realistic treatment of human relationships and personal motivation. This new approach outraged audiences, who expected to have familiar, conventional representations of gender and relationships reinforced by the plays they attended. 

https:

Setting 

• Title -
• Stage set 
• Symbols - doors, Christmas tree etc 
• Naturalism - looks like a recognisable middle-class parlour. 
• Actors' interaction and movement within the stage

Why is Ibsen's intended setting important? 

How may it affect the narrative of the play? 

edu.digitaltheatreplus.com

A Doll's House analysis test 

1. Questions on your understanding of historical, social, and economic context. Understanding of context of composition and context of interpretation. 

2. Questions on stylistic choices - characterisation, themes, symbols, setting, motifs, dramatic irony, stage direction, speech direction, tension etc. 

3. Close analysis of a passage considering stylistic and literary choices. 

Act One: Why is Torvald’s nickname of Skylark important to the narrative?​

• Helmer’s nickname for his wife “skylark” could be viewed as patronising (as could ‘squirrel’) or suggests that animal names are private jokes in a happy relationship.
• However, Ibsen could be using these nicknames as metaphors​. Both animals are wild, and therefore do not belong in a cage, or imprisoned. ​
• Ironically, the skylark symbolises awakened freedom, hence it cannot be domesticated.​

​

Skylark​

• A bird that represents hope​
• A bird that represents inspiration​
• A bird that represents freedom​

• The hope of a better life during her husband’s hardest times​
• “I too have done something to be happy and proud about” 
• She has a will to inspire​
• Ultimate freedom from the household.​

​

Patriarchy, Authority and Suppression. ​

• Nora being without a key to her own home, subtly points out her oppression. She also has to knock on Helmer’s door and ‘tip-toe’ near it suggesting that she does not have access to all the house. 
• Helmer interrogates Nora about cake: “You have given me your word,” suggests a disturbing lack of trust. ​
• The adjective ‘little’ is used twelve times in the opening scene. ‘Little’ refers to something or someone very tiny, diminutive, miniature, and specially the one who can never be self-sufficient and always depends on others for existence. ​
• symbolic language which is associated with patriarchy is used ‘My’ and ‘little’​ are examples of possessive pronouns.​ Nouns like ‘skylark’, ‘squirrel’, ‘songbird’, and ‘singing-bird’ are also worth noticing. 

Helmer Nora is not a human being with brain and personality

How are there indications of deeper issues, and elements or social and political protest writing in the first scene of the play?​