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A Doll's House: A Level York Notes A Level Revision Guide

A Level Study Notes and Revision Guides

A Doll's House: A Level York Notes

Henrik Ibsen

Revise the key points

Read through the key points, then print the cards as a handy revision aid.

1 The rise of the New Woman

  • The period was marked by agitation for women’s rights in Europe and the USA.
  • The term ‘New Woman’ was coined in 1894 to define a self-sufficient woman.
  • The play became a key text for groups seeking to empower women.
  • Mrs Linde is an example of ‘The New Woman’.

Context

A Doll's House: A Level

2 Independent Norway

  • Norway had become an independent kingdom in 1814.
  • Ibsen was employed by the Norwegian theatre to create a distinctive national drama.
  • He wrote in the ordinary language of Norway, which had only just acquired a written form.
  • The Norwegian landscape and weather are an integral part of the play.

Context

A Doll's House: A Level

3 Industrialisation

  • The rise of industry created a new middle class in Norway.
  • The middle class were more socially mobile than their farming ancestors.
  • The middle class sometimes found their new prosperity fragile – hence Helmer’s concern about debt.
  • Industrialisation meant opportunities for women to work as clerks.

Context

A Doll's House: A Level

4 Sociology – a new area of study

  • Sociology, which involves the close study of ordinary lives, was a new discipline at this period.
  • The rise of sociology was linked to that of naturalism in the theatre.
  • Plays had previously tended to deal with the upper classes.
  • It was novel for a play to reflect the lives of an ordinary couple.

Context

A Doll's House: A Level

5 Darwinism

  • Darwin’s theories of evolution contradicted Church teaching about a literal ‘creation’.
  • Darwin explained that all organisms must adapt and change to survive.
  • This led to controversy. The Church was reluctant to accept that God’s design was not fixed and unchanging.
  • Nora’s own development suggests that she is adapting to a changing world.

Context

A Doll's House: A Level

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