Lecture V: Ibsen's A Doll's House Henrik Ibsen, A Doll's House (1879) Ibsen's A Doll's House is as controversial today as it was in 1879, with audiences still arguing about

Nora's decision to leave her husband and, even more, her children. Indeed, the 1879 audience would have been more shocked, as a woman leaving her home would be facing a shameful future with no opportunities—as divorce was at that time shockingly unthinkable and women in the workplace often were those in poverty (seamstresses, maids, and governesses). And for a woman to abandon her children- that still is difficult for audiences to understand—even amongst our modern society, which is used to divorce and women occupying all sorts of positions in the workplace. Note Nora's relationship with her children: “Let me take her for a little, Anne. My sweet little baby doll! . . . Yes, yes, mother will dance with Bob too. What? Have you been snowballing? I wish I had been there too!" (Act 1). In Ibsen's day, Helmer would have had complete legal control over the children after a divorce, with his former wife dependent on his whims. It could be argued that the children would not have missed their mother, as the nanny, Anne-Marie, was raising them—and Nora was aware of this. To students today, Nora is often seen as a feminist, leaving so she can discover her true identity and become a mature adult—something that she had not been with her father and her husband. Helmer can be seen as paternalistic, calling his wife names, showing her little respect, and not thinking of her as an equal partner: “It's a sweet little spendthrift, but she uses up a deal of money. One would hardly believe how expensive such little persons are!" (Act 1). Remember that in 1879, Helmer would have been called a loving husband, doing what husbands were taught by society to do-to be a provider, to make the decisions, and to think of the wife as the "little woman." As we see Nora hiding macaroons, perhaps think of an old I Love Lucy episode in which Lucy Ricardo is hiding little misdeeds from her husband Ricky—all out of her desire to go into show business despite Ricky's determination that Lucy stay home to be a wife and mother. It is hard to imagine women behaving like Nora (or indeed, Lucy) in our time period. Just like Nora, Lucy plays a part of being cute and dumb-society dictated such a role! Consider the symbolism of the dance the tarantella-bitten by a spider, the victim dances herself to death. And Nora dances for Helmer-as fast as she can. Is the dance to please or to escape? We see in the play that Nora has a secret-about borrowing money from Krogstad and forging her father's signature (three days after his death!) and we learn early in Act I that Helmer disapproves wholeheartedly of borrowing money: "That is like a woman! But seriously, Nora, you know what I think about that. No debt, no borrowing. There can be no freedom or beauty about a home life that depends on borrowing and debt" (Act 1). So, the stage is set for Nora's deception and for Helmer's lack of understanding, with the confrontation between the two occurring when Helmer learns the truth: 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! (Act 3) After Helmer receives the note which Krogstad had sent to him, his joy is overflowing: “Nora! . . . Nora!—No, I must read it once again—. Yes, it is true! I am saved. Nora, I am saved" (Act 3). Nora's reaction does not change so quickly to joy: you neither think nor talk like the man I could bind myself to. As soon as your fear was over-and it was not fear for what threatened me, but for what might happen to you-when the whole thing was past, as far as you were concerned it was exactly as if nothing at all had happened. I was your little skylark, your doll, which you would in future treat with doubly gentle care, because it was so brittle and fragile. . . . Torvald—it was then it dawned upon me that for eight years I had been living here with a strange man, and had borne him three children-. Oh, I can't bear to think of it! I could tear myself into little bits! (Act 3) Here, Nora is left thinking that her marriage and her life is a lie, that the man she once loved does not exist, and that she will never be trusted. Is it any wonder that she leaves, after this realization? Does Torvald truly understand why she leaves? Could she possibly return at some point? Could this marriage be saved? Citing the play in-text: Normally, in citing a play from a text, one cites the act, scene, and line numbers [Example: III. vii. 45-48]. However, the online edition we are using has ONLY act numbers (no scene numbers, and no numbered pages), so cite only the act number after a quote when quoting from the play A Doll's House (as in the above examples)./n Annotated Bibliography Instructions What you are required to do: Write an annotated bibliography on the four scholarly articles you intend to use in your Research Paper (FOUR articles from scholarly journals found in HCCS Library Databases). Definition of an annotated bibliography An annotated bibliography is an alphabetical list of all your sources that has two elements-each works cited entry is followed by an indented description of that source: 1. a works cited entry (MLA format). 2. a brief description of the source's content, point of view, and scope, discussing the source's usefulness/relevance to your research topic. Additional points/tips: Do NOT make use of abstracts that are found in various HCCS Library databases (such as JSTOR, ProQuest, or Academic Search Complete) about articles. Do NOT use articles that are performance reviews. Do NOT use Internet sites as sources. Do NOT use books or Ebooks. Do NOT use book reviews. Do NOT use plot summaries or overviews. Do NOT use letters to the editor of a journal. Do NOT use CD-ROMs. Do NOT use Introductions to editions of the play. Submission Submit your annotated bibliography electronically, in the Turnitin link in the class site in Eagle Online Canvas. Sample Annotated Bibliography See a sample Annotated Bibliography on the next page, and note the formatting: alphabetical order, hanging indent, each works cited entry followed by a paragraph describing the source's content and viewpoint. An Annotated Bibliography Gabbin, Joanne V. "Maya Angelou--The Peoples' Poet Laureate: An Introduction." Langston Hughes Review, vol. 19, 2005, pp. 3-6. LION: Literature Online, gateway.proquest.com/openurl?ctx_ver=Z39.88- 2003&xri:pqil:res_ver=0.2&res_id=xri:lion&rft_id=xri:lion:ft:criticism:R04012678:0&rft.accountid=14580. Accessed 15 June 2018. This scholarly article is a critical introduction to the works of Maya Angelou, and the criteria surrounding her success as a poet laureate. Gabbin points out Angelou's literary influences, which include William Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, Douglas Johnson, Langston Hughes, among others. This article also points out that her poetry lacks cultural boundaries, yet her trademark lies in the secular chants, songs, and games of the black vernacular tradition. The author discusses dialect and vernacular rhythms in several of Angelou's poems, and compares several of her works to the racy dialect of Sterling Brown and Langston Hughes. Also discussed is her political cultural voice and her deep understanding of emotion. This article is distinctive in its discussion of the need for a poet laureate to add to an audience's collective memory. London, Herbert. "Five Myths of the Television Age." Television Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 1, 1982, pp. 81-89. JSTOR, doi:10.1002/tox.20155. Accessed 15 June 2018. Herbert London explains how television contradicts five commonly believed ideas. He uses specific examples of events seen on television, such as the assassination of John Kennedy, to illustrate his points. London uses logical arguments to support his ideas, which are his personal opinion. He doesn't refer to any previous works on the topic. London's style and vocabulary would make the article of interest to any reader.