Tarentella Flashcards
Why is it known by locals in Taranto Italy as ‘the dance of the spider’?
The dance was believed to act as a remedy, perspiring out the poison of a spider
What type of spiders often bite people in the 15th-17th centuries?
venom was highly toxic and could plunge victims into ‘fit - like’ states.
The dance was believed to act as a remedy, perspiring out the poison
What was the venom of the wolf spider like?
The venom was highly toxic and could plunge victims into ‘fit - like’ states
What was Nora going to dance to?
Anitra’s music from Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite which is a slower-moving dance by a slave girl but it wouldn’t give Nora the chance to express herself.
The poison could symbolise..
- Nora’s sin, corruption, going behind her husband back. She wants to rid herself of it so as to return to her life of undisturbed conformity. This is probably what she wants to do at this moment. But it is just an old wives tale, it won’t help her situation, the dance is symbolic of her false hope and naivety
- (psycho- analytical reading) her poisoned mental state as a result of the societal oppression of women
Attempting to cure to poison adheres to the plays semantic field of…
Illness (symbol of moral corruption)
Where does Torvald station himself?
‘By the stove”
‘Her hair works loose and falls over her shoulders’
Symbolising…
Her undoing. It brings an intimacy to the spectacle. A silent but blatant rejection of conformity. She is seen as spiralling out of control.
Torvald: ‘But, Nora darling, you’re dancing as if…
your life depended on it’
Nora: ‘It does!’
Nora: ‘You see how much I need you! You must show me…
every step of the way. Right to the end of the dance’
What does Nora order the maid to put out?
‘some macaroons! lots of macaroons- for once!’
biblical reading of last supper
Rank: (quietly to Helmer) Better give her her way
Torvald: (putting an arm around Nora) My child shall have her way
