Welcome to my blog! My name is Michaela Ryan and I've learned a lot of interesting things this year in Mrs. Santos' English 2 class. Two of my favorite readings this year were "All" by Bei Dao and "Also All" by Shu Ting. These ones struck me in particular because they reflected two different ways of viewing the world around you. "All" is a very glum and almost depressing piece, while "Also All" shines a positive light on these situations.
Today we are talking about Henrik Ibsen. Ibsen was actually very interesting. He was from Norway and was the oldest of five children in his family. At a young age, he showed interest in the arts, however he didn't express any theatrical genius. After having to give up an affluent lifestyle, he and his family (mom, dad, and four younger siblings) moved to a farm where he spent much of his time painting and reading. At fifteen, he stopped school to become an apprentice at an apothecary. There he wrote poetry and painted still. He was largely influenced by William Shakespeare. This later resulted in many pieces of literature including Brand which he wrote during a self-exile period in Italy. He had left his family in hopes of fulfilling a financial crisis that plagued them back home.
The title of A Doll's House may pertain to the play in different ways. For example, if you see a child playing with figures in a doll house, you see that the child can easily change who the character is from day to day or from time to time as they play with the set. These characters can change just like people can. In the play, one of the themes is identification. People in A Doll's House misidentify characters and how they truly are to be. This is how the play's title relates to the story and themes/ symbols of the play.
http://www.famousauthors.org/henrik-ibsen
http://www.biography.com/people/henrik-ibsen-37014#synopsis
I agree with your ideas of the play having themes of identification. Nora is a very interesting, multi-faceted character, as are the rest of the characters. What I think Ibsen was trying to present to the audience was a new perspective on stock characters that we maybe never realized. The corrupted character of Krogstad for instance is an interesting take on a straight-forward villain being given more of a personality, background and purpose than simply being the obstacle of the play.
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