A Doll’s House
By Natasha Starinac
ENG 1300
The Kean University production of Ibsen’s play, “A Doll’s House”, served me as a genuine enjoyment and above all as food for thought. Since the production was played in the modest space of Vaughn-Games, which can fit about one hundred people, the play was set in a way that all the energy could be transmitted to its attentive and prepared audience. The form of the stage, which is open to the audience on three sides, made the happening on stage closer and more intimate. From the left side of the stage, where I was seated at, all the richness of the scenery was visible. An interesting effect of ‘broken walls’ made the interior of the living room stand out more. The scenery revealed an upper-middleclass Scandinavian household from the beginning of the nineteenth century.
The living room contained a sofa, desk, tea table, two chairs, piano, fireplace and a doll’s house from that period. The display of music, costumes, and lighting established the mood and the atmosphere of the play. The music varied from playful tarantellas to tunes that helped set a more serious mood. Nora’s costumes were distinguished for their rich expressiveness. From a cold purple strictly lined dress to her multicolored layered tarantella dance costume her mood was rendered.
The play “A Doll’s House” is about Nora, a young inexperienced wife who on Christmas day experienced an awakening. Her husband, Torvald, was a banker. In order to save her husband’s life, Nora borrowed money from a shady clerk without her husband knowing. Her husband works with this clerk. Nora managed to save her husband’s life and to pay back some of the borrowed money. Since Nora couldn’t finish paying the rest of the money, the clerk wanted Nora to ask her husband if he can give him a promotion. She couldn’t do that; the money lender sent a compromising letter to her husband. That letter is the source of Nora’s worries.
To distract her husband’s attention from the letter, she dances for him. All the phony glitter of Nora’s marriage fell apart and left a big gap in her life; this all took place that Christmas Eve.
Nora had been a bird, squirrel, child, and a doll for her husband. She realized she was married to a total stranger. Her husband did not treat her equal to him; Nora was only his plaything. Nora, who was not aware of the realities pf life, suddenly realized that lies are the basis of their relationship. Her husband, who used to be her breadwinner and pride, now reveals himself to be a total egotistical person.
In her act of despair, Nora decides to leave the house, her husband, and her children. I consider this act to be the highlight of the play. It illuminated her final achievement of self awareness and the promise of everybody having the chance to change, which is important in life. Nora’s act did not describe her as a selfish person or negligent. It was an act of final need for destroying all the lies that were the basis of their relationship and the cause of their separation.