A Dolls House Critics Flashcards
What did radical contemporary critic Mona Caird say about the transactional nature of relationships and when?
• 1888
• Argues common respectable marriage is ‘the most hypocritical form of woman-purchase’
• Argues ‘the economical independence of a woman is the first condition of free marriage’
What does critic Hugh Stutfield say about the influence of the New Woman and when?
• 1891
• ‘the woman of the new Ibsenite neurographic is not only mad, but does her best to drive others mad too’
What does critic Max Nordau say about the influence of Nora’s rejection and when?
• 1895
• Nora’s ‘idiocy’ became the ‘gospel for the hysterical of both sexes’
What does Tori’s Moi say about how A Doll’s House questions the foundations of relationships and when?
• 2008
• A Doll’s House questions what it will take to build a relationship based on ‘freedom, equality and love’
What does Toril Moi say about how Nora and Torvald partake in melodrama?
• 2008
• Nora and Torvald are ‘starring in various idealist scenarios of female sacrifice and male rescue’
What did Ibsen say about the purpose of his plays and when?
Says they depend on the ‘demand for full ruthless truth to life’
1883
What does Terry Otten say about sex in the play and when?
• 1998
• ‘the play is elementally about prostitution’
What does conservative critic Clement Scott describe Torvald as
• 1889
• ‘sensual and egotistical’
What subjects did late 1870s naturalist drama start to explore?
Tabboo subjects - examining how character’s heredity and environment shapes and dooms them, questioning religion and exploring supernatural elements
What does Toril Moi say about the end revelation in A doll’s house and when?
• 2008
• ‘a moment of high melodrama’
• however, also subverted melodrama in the way Nora expects a ‘miracle’ but the conversation results in two people sitting at a table having a serious conversation
