A dolls house review - Grade: A PDF

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Review of A Dolls House Play...

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Lillie Klipsch 6/18/18 3040.031 Leeman A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen. Directed by J. Losey. Jane Fonda as Nora, and David Warner as Torvald. A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen. Directed by Patrick Garland. Claire Bloom as Nora, and Anthony Hopkins as Torvald. A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen. Directed by David Thacker. Juliet Stevenson as Nora, and Trevor Eve as Torvald. A Doll’s House is a piece of literature I would never ask anyone to consume. The literature has no moral conduct, and not enough substance to make up for that. It is supposed to be a feminist movement, but it holds no sign of true feminism. Nora does not act on her desire to be equal, she acts on her own childish ways. If anything, this goes against true feminism. She breaks a law, that is a law for man or woman, and must face the punishment for it. Her reactions after that are only to get herself out of whatever trouble she thinks she is in. I would surely call this a tragedy. We see the loss of her father and friend, but more importantly we see the loss of morals. The idea of a strong female character gave me high hopes for this piece of literature, but my hopes did not last long. I believe that Ibsen and Losey had the right intentions. They were both trying to put the movement of feminism forward in times where it very much needed to be there. However, Ibsen

only took a step backwards. The lack of any true motherly connection to her children, wifely connection to her husband, daughterly connection to her father, and godly connection to her Lord created a corrupt woman that he wanted people to empathize and look up to. The fact that within days of Nora being happy she runs away shows that she should have never been considered a role model. Losey was trying to put a more sexualized spin on the production than what I saw in the piece of literature itself. This may have just been the flirtatious nature of Fonda, but it Nora seemed to be of a predator in the movie. Rather than the pray she came off as in the literature. The way Fonda prances around the room she is in, and is constantly taking on and off her gloves, scarfs, and coats changes her stance. Jane Fonda did her best to portray this character, but I don’t think there is anything she could do for it. Fonda played the character in a way that brought sympathy to her audience. Her child-like attitude and beautiful existence made us want to like Nora. She also didn’t ignore Nora’s ugly features, like her vanity and selfishness. Fonda was the best part of this whole production. If I were to ever watch this show again, it would be just to watch her performance. A Doll’s House opened up the idea of having truly deceiving main characters for me. Ibsen’s creation of Nora is hard to comprehend. She is young, corrupt, without morals and vain, however audiences often seem to like her and feel sorry for her situation. The show is very realistic. I think that is the best way to perform this piece of literature. If someone were to cover it in symbolism or other things it would distract from the already confusing feelings surrounding Nora. Jane Fonda and Claire Bloom had very similar ways of ending the play. They were both dry and had very little energy. I think that this was a good choice. It showed a major contrast from the rest of Nora’s performance. It created a true line between the “doll wife” and the

“human being.” Personally, I believe Fonda was a better choice than Bloom. I think Bloom was too old to play young Nora. Juliet Stevenson took a completely different approach to the final scene. She still had Nora’s childlike attitude and enthusiasm. For me this was more believable. This way we could see that she was acting on what I believe was her childish manners. The other two actresses made her jump into a completely different character within a matter of minutes. I don’t think there is anyway that can be truly believable. David Warner portrayed the most honest Torvald in my opinion. He acted the most as if she was truly a doll. Trevor Eve had too much emotion, it seemed too much as if they were equals. They were both very hyper in that scene, so there was no contrast between them. Bloom and Hopkins had the same issue but on the other side of the scale. They were both equally melancholy. Fonda and Warner had the best contrast while Torvalds’s character was still intact. He still treated her as inferior, but with enough gumption to not lay flat against Fonda’s suddenly adult Nora. If you were ever forced to see a production of A Doll’s House, I would suggest Jane Fonda’s Performance. However, I would never hope that you would have to endure this piece of literature. Ibsen’s flat plot corrupted with the complete lack of morals or love is a waste of time. I truly hope that there are ways we can move past the harm this piece did for the feminism movement....