rossetti and a doll's house

'Ibsen makes Helmer grotesque and thus reduces the tragic quality of the ending'

Ronald Gray

'Ibsen is critically dissecting modern life and all its problems'

Sally Ledger

'Christine Linde acts as a catalyst for Nora's rebellion'

Sally Ledger

'Part of Nora desires to comply to patriarchal social arrangements'

Sally Ledger

'Rank symbolises the degeneration of the family'

Sally Ledger

'Convention caged her within a child's toy structure'

Kate Millet on Nora

'Nora's actions are a way of reinforcing an individual's right - regardless of gender - to protect themselves'

Shannon Cron on Nora

'Torvald is as much a victim as Nora'

David Thomas on Torvald

'Nora puts love before legality'

Sophie Duncan

'Christine is used by Ibsen as a foil to Nora'

Carol Tufts

'Self-centred like a child on her own perplexities'

Lucas on Nora

her inescapable duty, to leave this gentleman, this husband, who slowly sacrifices her on the altar of his egotism

Newspaper for Social Democrats 1879

'Nora's helplessness feeds Torvald's grandiose sense of self-importance, providing him with the constant attention and admiration his narcissism requires'

Carol Tufts

'Torvald fails to live up to Nora's image of him'

Baruch on Nora's relationship with Torvald

'Ibsen's entire canon continues the nineteenth century Romantic tradition which argues for the supremacy of the individual over any kind of repressive social convention'

Roslyn Belkin

The Tarantella: 

• Derived from tarantula - > bite of this spider was thought to cause dance-like convulsions 

• only cure was to continue dancing until you sweated out the poison, accomplished by dancing to the tarantella.

Hysteria 

• derived from greek word ‘uterus’ , caused by uterus being dislodged -> extreme emotions

• Symptoms: nervousness, insomnia, irritability, a tendency to cause trouble 

• Women at risk

• Solution: confinement in an asylum, the rest cure other treatments administered by doctors 

Raisonneur

A person in a play/book embodying an author’s viewpoint. A character in a play, novel who voices a central theme/philosophy, point of view of the work

Humanism - 

philosophical stance that emphasises the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. Considers human beings as the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.

Stock villains

• Commit evil for the sake of evil

• Make unexpected entrances

• Like to leave a scene with a memorable line

• Show no emotional depth, unable to consider the impact of their actions

• Revel in the misery they cause

• Set up opposite a heroic figure who acts as their foil and brings about their comeuppance

Money lender/blackmailer

• Immoral figure, used as a symbol for moral corruption

• Critique of capitalism

• contemporary fears of the potential for social disgrace, renewal of widespread religious faith, social taboos judged harder than the previous century

• Fear of financial ruin/destitution

• literary tradition of associating money lending with corruption/exploitation

The woman question

• Phrase used in connection with a social change in the late nineteenth century which questioned fundamental roles of women

• Issues of women’s suffrage, reproductive rights, legal rights etc -> cultural discussions in newspapers and intellectual circles

The New woman

• Feminist ideal emerged in the late 19th century, 

• Involved physical changes in activity and dress, activities such as bicycling, pushed limits set by a male dominated society

• Engaging more in male dominated spheres, economics, business, politics etc, increasing presence

Well made play (19th century theatre)

• interlinked dramatic sections of the plot with a resolution that leads into the next situation until all strands of the plot are resolved

• Set in the world of upper middle class, stock characters easily recognisable

• incident has taken place before the drama -> intrigue

• some characters in the play don’t know

• Other classic plot devices

Naturalism

• movement in European drama and theatre that developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 

• an illusion of reality - dramatic and theatrical strategies.more extreme version of Realism

• reaction against the melodramatic theatre style popular at the time

• frank discussion of subjects that would have been considered taboo in Victorian society

There is something indescribably unnatural in this, 

Erik vullum 1879

Nora

• A woman who Ibsen knew, Laura Kieler, borrowed money to finance a trip to improve her husband’s health

• When the loan came due she was unable to repay it . she forged a cheque, was caught and rejected by her husband who sought to gain custody of their children and have his wife committed to an asylum

• After her release, she pleaded with her husband to take her back and he did

marxist lens

Linde 'equates freedom with the acquisition of wealth…Torvald, too... Once she comes back to Krogstad, she still won’t even give up the job she took from him, because she has to look out for herself.

Anna-Marie has a Marxist perspective on life. She had to leave her home and her child in order to get by.

The problems that Nora, Anna-Marie and Kristine face are compounded by their gender.

When Nora shut the door behind her… ‘She was the representation of Everyman, illustrating the need of everyone, no matter their background, for freedom.

my little squirrell"(torvald to Nora)

my little squirrell

"Has my little spendthrift been wasting money again?" (torvald to Nora)

"Has my little spendthrift been wasting money again?"

"You are going to have a big salary and have lots and lots of money"

Nora is enthusiastic about Torvald's new job (p.2)

"Is a wife not to be allowed to save her husband's life? I don't know much about law, but I am certain that there must be laws permitting such things as that" (Nora being surprised that women cannot borrow money)

"Is a wife not to be allowed to save her husband's life? I don't know much about law, but I am certain that there must be laws permitting such things as that"

"it was a tremendous pleasure to sit there working and earning money. It was like being a man"

Nora explains what it was like for her to work (p.13)

"how painful and humiliating it would be for Torvald, with his manly independence, to know that he owed me anything!" (Nora's explanation on why she does not tell Torvald )

"how painful and humiliating it would be for Torvald, with his manly independence, to know that he owed me anything!"

"an atmosphere of lies infects and poisons the whole life of a home"

Torvald shows how lies affect home (p.27)

"I have been your doll wife, just as at home I was Papa's doll child"

Nora on her doll-like existence (p.67)

"sacred duties...to your husband and your children" (torvald to Nora, women’s duties)

"sacred duties...to your husband and your children"

"I believe that before all else I am a reasonable human being just as you are - or, at all events, that I must try and become one" Nora

"I believe that before all else I am a reasonable human being just as you are - or, at all events, that I must try and become one" Nora

Helmer: But no man would sacrifice his honor for the one he loves.

Helmer: But no man would sacrifice his honor for the one he loves.

Rosetti suffers a nervous breakdown

1844

High Anglicans wanted to return to pre Reformation Church for worship, anti Pope

High Anglicans wanted to return to pre Reformation Church for worship, anti Pope

Echo met Narcissus and fell in love but was unable to tell him how she felt and was forced to watch him fall in love with himself

Echo met Narcissus and fell in love but was unable to tell him how she felt and was forced to watch him fall in love with himself

Rossetti's engagement to Collinson ended in 1846, before he reverted to Catholicism

Rossetti's engagement to Collinson in 1846, before he reverted to Catholicism

Rossetti's father died due to illness in

1854

religious crisis in

1857

The Indian Rebellion, First War of Independence, was a series of uprisings by Indians living in areas controlled by the British East India Company. Following the rebellions, India officially became a colony of the British Empire

1857-8

Superintendent Skene and his wife took refuge in a tower which they defended until Skene shot his wife and committed suicide

Superintendent Skene and his wife took refuge in a tower which they defended until Skene shot his wife and committed suicide

A birthday draws on imagery used in old testament to allude to Soloman’s temple

traditionally symbolises a model of an individual's heart, where God communicates with the human soul. New Testament teaching that every Christian believer is understood as a temple in which the Holy Spirit can dwell

The image of the singing bird

often used in romantic poetry

Halycon bird

A mythical bird said by ancient writers to breed in a nest floating in the sea at the winter solstice, charming the wind and waves into calm

'Halcyon days'

associated with ideas of joy, prosperity and tranquillity

Traditional ballads

often used to make a moral statement, tell a popular story or to celebrate or attack certain institutions or people

Volunteer worker at St Mary Magdalene 'house of charity'-for former prostitutes, redemption of fallen women

1859-70

lilies symbol

love , purity, Virgin Mary, death, transience-Maude Clare's sexual freedom, symbol defies rigid categorisation of women

the inn symbol

Could be from John's gospel-'my father's house'-metaphor for heaven or the inn which Joseph and Mary sought to rest.

beds symbol

Could point to Rossetti's engagement with a doctrine spoken of as 'Soul Sleep'

soul sleep

Teaches that when Christians die, instead of going straight to heaven they experience a period of rest and sleep in preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus, where they will be taken up to heaven and rewarded with eternal life

Likely autobiographical and refers to her relationship with artist John Brett, John is often used to refer to a generic lover

No, thank you, John

Tractarians

wished to reinvigorate the church into the model of the Church in the first few centuries of Christianity following Christ's crucifixion and ascension

doctrine of reserve

-religious truth should be revealed only to the worthy, through the study of tracts which is an act of faith

Rossetti engaged in practices of the Oxford Movement

movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s → developed into Anglo-Catholicism

1840s, anglican sisterhoods advocated by oxford movement leaders as occupation for single women and to assist the poor. widely criticised for encouraging a lifestyle that would eventually lead to the dissolution of the family in England

Suffered from Graves’ Disease

diagnosed in 1872, nearly fatal attack in the early 1870s

developed breast cancer and though the tumour was removed, she suffered a recurrence

1893, 1894

The pre-raphaelite brotherhood was a group of English painters, poets, and critics, by William Hunt, John Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The groups intention was to reform art by rejected the mechanistic approach adopted by the Mannerist artists.They wanted to return to abundant detail, intense colours, complex compositions of Quattrocento Italian and Flemish art

founded in 1848

Silent land(remember)

Silent land

Our future that you planned(remember)

Our future that you planned

Vestige of thoughts(remember)

Vestige of thoughts

Forget and smile(remember)

Forget and smile

'Sing no sad songs'(song)

'Sing no sad songs

'Shady cypress tree'(song)

'Shady cypress tree

'i shall not feel the rain' (song)

'i shall not feel the rain

'Dreaming through the twilight'(song)

'Dreaming through the twilight

'Come back in tears, memory, hope, love of finished years'(echo)

'Come back in tears, memory, hope, love of finished years'

'Thirstful longing eyes watch the slow door'(echo)

'Thirstful longing eyes watch the slow door'

'Pulse for pulse, breath for breath'(echo)

'Pulse for pulse, breath for breath'

'Iron bars'(shut out)

'Iron bars'

'My garden, mine'(shut out)

'My garden, mine'

'The spirit was silent'(shut out)

'The spirit was silent'

'left no loophole'(shut out)

'left no loophole'

'Blinded with tears'(shut out)

'Blinded with tears'

A hundred, a thousand to one(round tower at Jhansi)

A hundred, a thousand to one

swarming howling wretches (round tower at Jhansi)

swarming howling wretches

Young(round tower at Jhansi)

Young

Close the pistol to her brow(round tower at Jhansi)

Close the pistol to her brow

'It is not pain Thus to kiss and die(round tower at Jhansi)

'It is not pain Thus to kiss and die

'halcyon sea'(a birthday)

'halcyon sea'

'A dais of silk '(a birthday)

'A dais of silk'

my love(a birthday)

my love

'His bride was like a village maid Maude Clare was like a queen'(maude clare)

'His bride was like a village maid Maude Clare was like a queen'

'Had just your tale to tell'(maude clare)

'Had just your tale to tell'

'My half of the golden chain'(maude clare)

'My half of the golden chain'

'We waded ankle deep'(maude clare)

'We waded ankle deep'

'The lilies are budding now'(maude clare)

'The lilies are budding now'

'He faltered in his place'(maude clare)

'He faltered in his place

Wind up hill'(up hill)

Wind up hill

'Morn to night'(up hill)

'Morn to night'

'A roof for when the slow dark hours begin'(up hill)

'A roof for when the slow dark hours begin'

'Of labour you shall find the some'(up hill)

'Of labour you shall find the some

'Beds for all who come'(up hill)

'Beds for all who come'

'No fault of mine '(no, thank you, John)

'No fault of mine '