English Literature

I choose to answer Question  3

A Doll House is a tragedy play written by Henrik Ibsen in the year 1879.  It is one of the most famous plays around the world and is required by many colleges and professors to be evaluated and read. The play focuses on the themes of marriage which took a lot of controversies following its production and adaptation through the years. On the other hand, it was accepted as a breakthrough from the customary approach to play writing such as expressionism and romanticism. Moreover, Ibsens work was also distinguished as one of the true feminist play of the century. The play also showcases the natural things that happen in real life and it focuses also on the different responsibilities and tasks that men and women play during the 19th century.

All tragedy plays involve a change of fortune of one or more main characters. This will be observed in the play A Doll House. This play also shows an opposing thought to Aristotles definition of a tragedy in which he explicated that tragedies only happen to those with power and high status. The changes of fortune of the characters that are ordinary people living their ordinary lives show that a true tragic play involves the exploration of each characters weaknesses and suffering. Ibsen created two separate endings to the play A Doll House. In effect, this created two different stories. He wrote the tragic ending and this is the original one but he was also forced to write a different ending which was softer and offered more acceptances to his initial audience of German people. Under the conditions of a change of fortune and certain tragedy play attributes, both endings will be contrasted and compared.
A Doll House is one of the best tragic plays available today. Basically, a tragedy means that there is a conflict of characters, values and morals in the play. This involves twists and turns within the storyline and essentially requires a change in fortune nearing the end of the story. Comparing this to A Doll House, Ibsen provided a definite tragic ending to this play and also inserted brief but important events within the story which also showed the tragedies existing within characters, their society and traditions. The original tragic ending of play was highlighted by Nora leaving his husband Torvald and her children. This event defined that real tragedy of the play and was more so captivating because it also gave out a resolution to the characters problems in a way that conservative and conventional people would definitely refuse. This change of fortune event also helped Ibsen to pierce to the hearts and minds of his audience. One of the most important quotes to support the tragic ending in the story was the dialogue of the realization of Nora

You and papa have committed a great sin against me. It is your fault that I have made nothing of my life. Our home has been nothing but a playroom. I have been your doll-wife, just as at home I was papas doll-child and here the children have been my dolls. (A Doll House Act III)

This quote from Nora highlighted the definite change of pace in the story and this was also a key dialogue in which the audience will realize that the story is going to be tragic. The importance of the change of fortune of the main characters in this version of Ibsens ending is to magnify the tragic events that were happening in between the story and emphasize all the emotions and sensations in the end of the story. In relation to the need to have character fall from a high place and remain there, my opinion is that this is not really important and this does not define the real meaning of tragedy. Falling from a higher place down a low one very subjective and does not really relate to tragedy. In actual analysis of the original tragic ending, Nora was actually in a lower place during the beginning of the play and was escalated to a higher place due to her realization of her roles and the situation of her marriage. This realization and recognition of Nora is the highlight of the tragedy. Let me quote one of the lines that Nora used to express her sad realization of what things were

I was simply your little songbird, your doll, and from now on you would handle it more gently than ever because it was so delicate and fragile. At that moment, Torvald, I realized that for eight years Id been living her with a strange man and that Id borne him three children. Oh, I cant bear to think of it - I could tear myself to little pieces

(A Doll House Act III)

One of the things that counteracted the magnanimous realization of Nora was that in the original ending she decided to leave her husband and children. This was probably the hardest thing to accept as a spectatoraudience of the play. Nora leaving her children was not really acceptable as compared to Nora leaving her husband. This also brings to light the real tragedy of the story. This tragic ending is one of the reasons why Ibsen was forced to change the ending. One of his play coordinators realized that the tragic ending will not fit the traditions and the likes of their initial audience in Germany so Ibsen changed it.

In this alternative ending, we can clearly say that this has changed the whole perception of the story. Ibsen regretted making an alternative and labeled this ending a barbaric outrage in relation to what he originally wrote. In this alternative ending, Nora was guided to see her children after the confrontation that happened. Nora sees her children and without warning she collapsed and then this was already the end of the story. Furthermore, it was also shown that Nora did not choose to leave her husband and children. This version of the ending definitely lacked grandeur and has no character. Compared to a tragedy play this ending changed the pace of the story to a traditional one. The tragic ending was not present and this made a clear-cut difference between the original story with the original ending and the revised one. The change of fortune of the main character in the alternative ending was not present. In conclusion, it is indeed necessary for a change of fortune of the characters in tragedy but this doesnt mean that they must fall from a high place down to a low one. Tragedies are defined by going against the conventional flow of decisions and soft and happy endings.