“Doll House” G. Ibsen as a work of “new drama”
Ibsen’s plays written in the mid-seventies of the 19th century were called “new dramaturgy” by critics.
What was new in these works? First, the mapping of the present day and the display of living people, not historical characters. Secondly – the exposure of the soullessness of bourgeois society with his preaching of selfish individualism. This was an innovation in the field of content. In the field of form, Ibsen rejected the traditional methods of constructing a “stage play”. In such a play, the conflict is a struggle between positive and negative characters. He reveals himself in the form of intrigue and ends, as a rule, with a “happy ending.”
Ibsen’s conflict is the collision of a person with a hostile reality that represses or maims his spirit. The main thing here is not intrigue, but revealing the causes of certain actions and revealing the inner world of the characters. Outset is the events that happened before
The content of the drama is an analysis of the catastrophe that befell the hero, as well as the analysis of thoughts and feelings arising as a reaction to this recognition. In addition, Ibsen refused to theatrical elevation of speech, traditional monologues, conditional remarks aside, addressed directly to the audience. All this he replaced with lively, expressive conversational speech. The author achieved the naturalness and ease of character behavior, forced to abandon the external effects, replacing them with expressive details. These details became poetic images that helped reveal the main idea of the drama.
Creating a “new drama,” Ibsen subdued her clear composition. In his best plays, he revived in a new quality the principles of ancient drama.
In 1879, Ibsen wrote one of his best plays – “The Dollhouse”, which exemplifies the birth of the “new drama”. The author touched upon the theme of the bourgeois family and the position of women in society. However, the ideological meaning of this work goes far beyond the family-psychological
The beginning of the play immerses us in the peaceful comfort of the house of lawyer Torvald Helmer. The hostess of this nest, Nora, really seems like a near-spoiled doll. It seems that its main secret is a stolen almond cookie. But soon we learn that a few years ago, for the sake of saving her husband, Nora took a large amount of money, forging a signature on the bill, and now, hiding it, gradually pays the debt. So, the main event occurred before the play began. And during the action there is a clash of characters, each of which evokes sympathy for us, and therefore can not be unequivocally attributed to the negative: Nora, who committed a crime for her husband’s sake, and extortionist Krogstad, who once stumbled, but painfully wants to become a full member again society, and even the bewildered Helmer, who lost Nora’s love. The characters of all the heroes are tested truthfully. And it turns out that the insignificant Krogstad is quite capable of a noble act under the influence of animated feelings towards Nora’s friend Linna Linna. And incorruptible and principled Helmer is a scoundrel, afraid that the shadow of Nora’s “crime” will fall on his reputation. Without even thinking about the motives of his wife’s misconduct, he accuses her of lying and corrupt: “You inherited all the frivolous principles of your father: no religion, no morals, no sense of duty…”
Krogstad’s rejection of his claims dramatically changes the mood of Helmer: he is ready to return to the former. But the most dramatic change takes place in the soul of Nora.
She understands how she made a mistake in her husband, thinking that he is capable for her sake of the feat of self-sacrifice. The enlightened Nora becomes harsh. She feels in herself the unspent spiritual forces, does not want to play the role of the “girl-wife” imposed on her by her late father and husband and wants to find herself, her true destiny: “I think that first of all I am a person, just like you, or at least I should try to become a man, I know that the majority will be on your side, Torvald, and that the books say the same thing, but I can no longer be content with what most people say and what is said in the books. you have to think about these things and try to understand them ” . “Doll House” collapsed. Freed from his wreckage, Nora goes into another, real life.
The tension of action is achieved not by the development of intrigue, but by the disclosure of the inner world of the main heroine. The most stressful moment is when Nora expects her husband to read Krogstad’s revealing letter. She is not afraid of anything, she is waiting for a miracle: now a loving husband will say that she takes her guilt on herself. This expectation is poured into a desperate, unrestrained tarantella, becoming a kind of symbol of a past life that can not be returned. The miracle does not happen. And this is the culmination of the play, the main event in the spiritual life of Nora. It seems that everything has been revealed, virtue has triumphed. But life can not be glued together, like a broken cup. Therefore, the denouement – Nora’s departure from her husband – does not seem like a happy ending. No one knows how its fate will turn out. But with the “puppet” life is over forever.
Ibsen’s drama was not just a call to fight for women’s independence and independence, it defended human rights, protested against false and hypocritical social laws. And this was a significant step forward in creating a new drama that reflected not only its era, but also the thoughts and feelings of subsequent generations.
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