Links used for the first and second objective

• http://www.shakespearetheatre.org/_pdf/first_folio/folio_enemy_about.pdf
• http://www.customessaymeister.com/customessays/Literature/364.htm
• https://www.enotes.com/topics/well-made-play

Outline and Links Found for fourth and fifth points.

1984 New York production removed reference to Nora’s stockings. Other productions?   

• No information found on the specific 1984 production but removal of Nora's stockings from the play could be because of their sexual meaning. The 19th century had strict rules for the way people act and dress, especially for women. Women at the time were supposed to wear long clothing that cover their ankles and even gloves to cover their hands, with those parts only to be shown to the husband. In the play Nora pulls out a pair of stockings and playfully shows them to Dr. Rank, who is not her husband, ultimately flirting with him and causing him to confess his love for her. At the time this was an unacceptable sexual act but in the 1980s women had much more freedom to express their sexuality thus maybe causing the producers of the 1984 play to remove reference to the stockings and add in a more intimate sexual act that would cause a more relatable play for the time period.

Links used:

1. https://www.cliffsnotes.com/cliffsnotes/subjects/literature/in-a-dolls-house-what-risqueacute-item-does-nora-reveal-to-dr-rank-that-eventually-prompts-him-to-disclose-his-own-secret
2.  http://historyofsexuality.umwblogs.org/mid-to-late-20th-century/the-sexual-revolution/
3. http://ibsen.nb.no/id/110728.0

How did Ibsen revolutionize the way plays end?    

• Plays at the time had a strict formula or structure of which playwrights followed to write and produce plays. 19th Century Melodrama followed the following "formula":

• Good was always threatened by evil
• Usually but not always, good triumphed over evil in the end
• No matter how desperate the situation, there was usually a happy ending
• Horror and mystery were central elements in every story
• Heroes and heroines were always placed in situations of extreme danger
• Heroines were always pure and virtuous
• Heroes were always brave
• Villains were always evil, wicked, vicious and immoral
• Success was always snatched at the last moment from the jaws of defeat
• The audience was expected to experience extreme emotion.

• Ibsen's work was so revolutionary because he broke many of those rules in his plays ultimately changing theatre at the time. His work continues to influence theatre today.
• Ibsen challenged the idea that plays had to have a happy ending in many of his works. A Doll's House is a good example because its controversial ending left a father and kids alone because their mother left, which isn't a very happy ending. His plays also always ended with an inevitable conclusion, after Nora decided to start the talk with Torvald she was determined and there was no going back. This also included a lot of suspense getting to the final solution where each event keeps the audience on edge. 
• A good play was considered one that had good vs evil in it, the ending always had the good force winning in a surprising but logical way. For Nora to leave her husband and kids this way would have sounded like a very irrational move on her part but she justified it very well, even though people at the time found it extremely unacceptable, Nora’s reason to leave would be totally acceptable in this century.

Links used:

1. http://crossref-it.info/articles/517/nineteenth-century-melodrama
2. http://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/books/a-dolls-house-iid-12160/do-9781408167557-div-00000008
3. https://www2.southeastern.edu/Academics/Faculty/cfrederic/henrikibsen.htm

Research outline for third and fourth points

o   Examine the reception of A Doll’s House at that time?

·        was received both positively and negatively by many critics at the time, due to its nonconformity to (Norwegian) upper-middle class standards and gender roles
·         After its initial premiere in Copenhagen, 1879, the play gave rise to much debate and controversy to the extent that people were requested not to discuss the play during social gatherings.
·         FOR: argued that Nora’s “door-slamming exit” shed light on women’s roles in the 19^th century and how socially trivialized women were in society; the play champions the humanity of people like Nora, as Ibsen opted for the play to communicate a person’s individual ideals rather than feminist ones {Ibsen noted that people were “being herded like sheep” by societal standards}; George Bernard Shaw praised Ibsen for challenging these societal standards
·         The Melbourne premiere (1891): was set to show for six nights and was well-received; introduced an unfamiliar concept to the audience (Argus); was evident by the play’s positive reception that people became more aware and accepting of Ibsen’s ideals (was originally only set for three nights as another play was advertised to be performed, but was cancelled in favor of A Doll’s House); as the tour repertoire reached Sydney, initial shock had disappeared, reviews were mostly positive (trend: as the tour progressed, negative reception decreased)
·         AGAINST: argued that Nora’s irresponsible decision to leave her family for selfish reasons led to the concern that the play was communicating a rather immoral idea to its audience, making them believe that their “duty to oneself” was far more important than their “duties to the family” --- this is in addition to the fact that Nora’s behavior at the end of the play was simply shocking, because this behavior was not expected of women in the 19^th century
·         Such a controversial ending compelled Ibsen to rewrite the ending of the play when the German actress playing Nora refused to play her part, as she was affronted by Nora’s decision to leave her family behind.
·         Ibsen proclaimed at a banquet for the Norwegian’s Women’s Rights League that he “must disclaim the honor of having consciously worked for the women’s rights movement…True enough, it is desirable to solve the woman problem, along with all the others; but that has not been the whole purpose. My task has been the description of humanity.”

o   Examine other productions of the play: 1880 German production- Why did Ibsen describe it as a “barbaric outrage”? 1984 New York production removed reference to Nora’s stockings. Other productions?
·                                      ·         The German adaptation of the play was considered by Ibsen a “barbaric violence”, greatly expressing his dissatisfaction with the adaption in his letter to the manager of a theater in Germany.

·         Ibsen was driven to write an alternate ending when actress Hedwig Niemann-Raabe refused to proceed with the final scene, because she exclaims that she would never leave her own children as Nora did; after a multitude of complaints about the “distortion of the play”, Niemann-Raabe eventually reverted to the original script.

·         Ibsen thought it better than he write the alternate ending rather than have someone else do it.

·         “barbaric outrage/violence” because the alternate ending eludes from Ibsen’s intended message of the importance of self-realization to the individual, by having Nora stay with Torvald after her husband forces her to see the children --- this not only forces Nora to acknowledge her crime and guilt, but also shows the strong influence of upper middle class and patriarchal male social standards, rendering the inevitably powerless female compliant to a woman’s expected role, denying Nora her choice of individual freedom

·         Other productions:

1.      The original script was forbidden to be performed in London, a revised adaptation by the name of “Breaking a Butterfly” was premiered at the Princess Theatre in London (adaptation by Henry Arthur Jones and Henry Herman, 1884)

2.      A modern 2007 version of the play premiered at Edinburgh, with Lee Breuer casting less than 4-feet-tall dwarves as the males; involved the risk of including nudity and sex scenes to capture the modern audience

3.      Several versions were premiered in Chinese theaters, with Nora as a western woman marrying into a Chinese family (2006), and other versions portraying the Helmers as a typical Chinese family (2014).

®    Many Chinese women were motivated by A Doll’s House to the extent that leaving their homes to avoid arranged marriages seemed a plausible idea. On December 26, 1923, at the Peking Women’s Normal College, Lu Xun talked about the importance of acquiring financial stability among women (“What Happens After Nora Leaves Home?”).

 

[For Karim] What to put on the slides for my part:

1st slide: How was A Doll’s House received in the late 1800’s?
2nd slide: “Finally an event at The Royal Theatre, and an event of the first class! This play touches the lives of thousands of families; oh yes there are thousands of such doll-homes, where the husband treats his wife as a child he amuses himself with, and so that is what the wives become. . . Who, after seeing this play, has the courage to speak scornfully about run-away wives? Is there anyone who does not feel that it is this young and delightful young woman’s duty, her inescapable duty, to leave this gentleman? This husband, who slowly sacrifices her on the altar of his egotism, and who fails to understand her value as a human being?”

-          a review written for Social Demokraten in 1879

3rd slide: “When the woman first has risen, she will never let herself be stopped again. Like Nora, she will let the duties that her doll-life gave birth to fall dead to the ground, because the work with her own, neglected self will absorb and annul everything else.”

-          Amalie Skram, a Norwegian journalist writing in the 1880’s

4th slide: “I thank you for the toast, but must disclaim the honor of having consciously worked for the women’s rights movement…True enough, it is desirable to solve the woman problem, along with all the others; but that has not been the whole purpose. My task has been the description of humanity.”
                                                 -        Henrik Ibsen, at a banquet for the Norwegian’s Women’s Rights League

5th slide: Why was the German adaptation of the play a “barbaric outrage” to Ibsen?
6th slide:

NORA. … Where we could make a real marriage out of our lives together. Goodbye. [Begins to go.]

HELMER. Go then! [Seizes her arm.] But first you shall see your children for the last time!

NORA. Let me go! I will not see them! I cannot!

HELMER [draws her over to the door, left]. You shall see them. [Opens the door and says softly.] Look, there they are asleep, peaceful and carefree. Tomorrow, when they wake up and call for their mother, they will be – motherless.

NORA [trembling]. Motherless…!

HELMER. As you once were.

NORA. Motherless! [Struggles with herself, lets her travelling bag fall, and says.] Oh, this is a sin against myself, but I cannot leave them. [Half sinks down by the door.]

HELMER [joyfully, but softly]. Nora!

[The curtain falls.] 

7th slide:
Other productions:

o   1884 revised adaptation by the name of “Breaking a Butterfly” by Henry Arthur Jones and Henry Herman, premiered at the Princess Theatre in London

o   A modern 2007 version of the play, titled “Mabou Mines Dollhouse”, premiered at Edinburgh, with Lee Breuer casting less than 4-feet-tall dwarves as the males [include this photo: http://www.maboumines.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/DH083.jpg]

o   Chinese adaptations with several variations

Links found for the third and fourth objectives

The reception of A Doll's House in the 1800's
- https://pages.stolaf.edu/th271-spring2014/portfolio/a-dolls-house/ (most useful)
- https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/ibsens-dolls-house-written-19th-century-how-might-333078
- https://www.enotes.com/topics/dolls-house/critical-essays
- http://eprints.utas.edu.au/20830/1/Whole-Angel-thesis.pdf
- https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/events/files/2014/05/A_Dolls_House_Education_Pack.pdf

Other productions of the play
- http://wiebuschresume.weebly.com/uploads/5/4/6/3/5463054/interview_adh.pdf (thanks to Karim for finding this)
- http://ibsen.nb.no/id/11111794
- http://www.gradesaver.com/a-dolls-house/study-guide/a-performance-history-of-the-play
- https://purduecomplit.wordpress.com/2015/03/18/staging-and-reception-of-henrik-ibsens-a-dolls-house-1879/
- http://www.woodville.org/documentos/161031a-dolls-house-enotes.pdf
- VIDEO: Trailer of Mabou Mines Dollhouse, a 2007 adaptation in Edinburgh featuring less than 4-feet-tall dwarves (comical but insulting at the same time but oh well)

Research outline for the first and second points

o   What was theater at the time like? (1870) examine common theatrical styles at the time period.

• In the early 1800s, mainstream theater in Europe consisted of tragedies, melodramas, comic operas, vaudevilles and spectacle plays. 
• Audiences attended performances of epic tragedies about idealized heroes, or melodramas with stock or stereotypical characters.
•  Many plays were written in verse, or heightened language, and performed in a larger-than-life, exaggerated style. 
• However, with the scientific and technological advances of the 19th century, intellectual thought turned to social reform and everyday human concerns. These scientific advances led to the Realism movement in literature and the arts, started in the mid-1800s, in which authors addressed contemporary social issues, providing a forum for debate in their art. 
• Realism, in theater, sought to represent characters and situations from real life, without idealization or embellishment. 
• Henrik Ibsen was at the forefront of this movement. He began to write plays in prose, the way that people spoke to each other in real life, and to focus on realistic social issues. His plays Pillars of Society, A Doll’s House, Ghosts and An Enemy of the People are considered classic works of Realism that changed the way the western world viewed drama. In each of these plays, Ibsen addressed a contemporary social problem and wrote his play as a forum for debate or criticism of the issue. 
• Ibsen avoided the idealized heroes or stock characters from the other plays of his day. Instead, he created fully developed, realistic characters with deep psychological motives. 

Theater design:

•  The environment that they inhabited was not the traditional, two-dimensional backdrop, but a fully furnished living room—as life-like as the living rooms in the homes of the audience members. 
• At this time, the tradition developed in staging realistic dramas in which directors would call the barrier between the stage and the audience the “fourth wall,” as if the stage were an actual living room with one of the walls removed to allow the audience to observe the happenings inside.
• Around this time, the house lights also began to be dimmed for the performance—taking the focus of the audience’s attention away from the social event of “being seen” at the theatre, and on to the work of art itself.

o   What constitutes a “well-made play” at the time? Is A Doll’s House considered a well-made play?

• Originating in France as the pièce bien faite, the well-made play is a style of dramatic writing originated by Eugène Scribe.
•  The plot is most often based on a withheld secret—known to the audience but unknown to the characters—which, when revealed at the climax, reverses the fortunes of the play's hero. Scribe was fond of using conversations between servants to introduce the audience to the situation. In A Doll's House, Isben uses conversations between Nora and Mrs. Linde to set up the withheld secret.  
• However, Ibsen does not solely rely on motivated exposition to set the scene. There are times in A Doll's House where Ibsen does not allow the characters to reveal information until it is needed in the character's situation. Known as retrospective analysis, this technique was first used by Ibsen, later to become a staple in realistic drama. Isben does not have Mrs. Linde reveal her close relationship to Krogstad until she decides that it is pertinent to helping Nora in her situation.
• During the course of the play, the overall pattern of the drama is reflected in the movement of the individual acts, in which a steadily mounting suspense is achieved through the battle of wits between the hero and the villain. In A Doll's House, the relationship between Krogstad and nora is used to  build suspense . 
• Scribe also uses pointers and planters in developing a "well-made play." A pointer gives important information to the audience. Scribe thought since this information was so important to the outcome of the play, it must be repeated three times in order to ensure that the audience has heard it. A planter is an object which is "planted" on stage and is an integral part of the plot. For example, if a gun is needed to shoot someone in Act III, the audience will see the gun and know where it is on stage during Acts I and II. In A Doll's House, the letters from Krogstad serve as planters. The audience knows the letter is sitting in the mailbox. Moreover, the letter is referred to several times by Nora, thereby also serving as a pointer. In Scribe's plays, pointers and planters were used to eliminate resolving the play suddenly by new information . A Doll's House, an example of early realism, relies less on planters and pointers to justify a solution simply because the play is more grounded in reality.
• Another technique used to define a "well-made play" is the use of a raissoneur character. This character serves as a guide or leader to the audience and often reveals the opinions of the playwright. Although Ibsen does not have a character whose only purpose is to be "the reasoner," he does use Dr. Rank to express his feelings towards Nora and her situation. Dr. Rank represents reality. He enters the Helmer's house in order to escape reality (in his case, a terminal illness). Moreover, when Dr. Rank "escapes" to the Helmer house, he brings reality with him. Isben uses Dr. Rank to illustrate that the Helmer house is a "doll house" where no one cares to pay attention to reality. One sees the effects of Dr. Rank's bringing reality to the house as everything begins to fall apart. Dr. Rank represents Ibsen's main idea of not hiding from reality and taking control of one's own life
• The hero's fortune fluctuates during his conflict with the adversary until finally, at the climax, the secret is revealed in an obligatory scene (scène à faire) and the hero is benefitted in the final dénouement, or resolution.Nora's secret is reveled in the climax when Torvald learns what Nora has done. Nora finally realizes that she must take control of her own life, and leaves her family behind.
• Isben uses many of the conventional "well-made play" techniques in A Doll's House, he develops his ideas more fully. In doing so, both the plot and the characters seem less formulated and more human. Therefore, in blending "well-made play" techniques with truthfulness, Isben took the first steps in developing what is now known as realism.

Powerpoint Slides(Karim)

1)  In the early 1800s, mainstream theater in Europe consisted of tragedies, melodramas, comic operas, vaudevilles and spectacle plays. 

2) Realism movement in literature and the arts

. 

3)Henrik Ibsen was at the forefront of this movement. 

4)Since I will talk about the theater design keep it on the background

5)What constitutes a “well-made play” at the time?