The production first captured with the time of the year and Christmas spirit. Nora appeared so cheerful and care free at first you did not know what secret she had. Nora and Helmer appeared to be deep;y devoted to one another. Each showed remarkable affection to the other. Of course, in that time a wife had her place. I think Nora was more of an object to Helmer as he called her his little squirrel. The end of the movie when Helmer finds out what Nora did he reacts with such anger and makes strong statements regarding her character.
He states she can no longer be around the children since she committed forgery on a signature of her dead father and borrowed money from Krogstad. Her acts were all done out of love to save her husband and protect her dying father. She did not do this with contempt but out of love. When Helmer realizes Krogstad will not Reveal what Nora has done the tables turn and Helmer is quick to forgive Nora and pretend it did not happen.
At the point you can see Nora's expression she has an aha moment and realizes she does not know who she is. She leaves it all, her husband, children and home to find herself. She did not look back. Helmer pleads with her to work this out or come to some type of terms so she will stay. I was a little disappointed in the ending of the play. I wanted them to resolve their differences. Anthony Hopkins played a great role as Helmer.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Matthew Chenevert: A Doll House TxtvProd
The Doll House
Wow. This was a good video to watch. The sound was pretty low so I had to wear ear phones to hear it at the end but it may have just been my lap top. After a quick search I found another copy of it.
This is pretty much as I had read it. It started off with everything fine and things spiraled out of control down down down until it ended in a dark place for everyone involved. It was especially dark for Nora and she portrayed it well. I don’t really know how she could have been so blind to her feelings until that moment that she made the decision to just abandon her life and start over.
Acting was well done. The productions lately have been very professional and the characters are well portrayed.
Nora was more bitchy than I pictured her and Helmer more of a wimp but it worked well. I could see the love of the marriage leave Nora’s eyes and the love of life leave Helmer….. or it could have been vice versa.
This was a moving story to watch. I don’t know why but I was engrossed in the story and felt bad for all the parties involved. I found myself wishing on some level it was going to be okay.
Nora was painfully honest and brutally blunt that this was it. Too bad there isn’t a Doll House II: The reunion put out later…I’d read it and watch it for sure.
Wow. This was a good video to watch. The sound was pretty low so I had to wear ear phones to hear it at the end but it may have just been my lap top. After a quick search I found another copy of it.
This is pretty much as I had read it. It started off with everything fine and things spiraled out of control down down down until it ended in a dark place for everyone involved. It was especially dark for Nora and she portrayed it well. I don’t really know how she could have been so blind to her feelings until that moment that she made the decision to just abandon her life and start over.
Acting was well done. The productions lately have been very professional and the characters are well portrayed.
Nora was more bitchy than I pictured her and Helmer more of a wimp but it worked well. I could see the love of the marriage leave Nora’s eyes and the love of life leave Helmer….. or it could have been vice versa.
This was a moving story to watch. I don’t know why but I was engrossed in the story and felt bad for all the parties involved. I found myself wishing on some level it was going to be okay.
Nora was painfully honest and brutally blunt that this was it. Too bad there isn’t a Doll House II: The reunion put out later…I’d read it and watch it for sure.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Helen Williams- A Doll House
Despite the sacrificial role of Women and the parental obligations that come with this role, Our Men will always want to take the upper hands and be in control as clearly seen in this play. Nora does so much to please Tarwold but she gets treated like a doll to be played. She puts on a show throughout the marriage and pretended to be someone she is not. Nora fights so hard to fulfill her role of a good wife, she eventually free herself through her rebellious act. Krogstad exposing her lies actually led her to self discovery.
Tarwold treats his wife like a child rather than a wife by positioning himself as her Savior, even wish he could find himself in a position of saving Nora's life in a dangerous situation. I see him as weak. He is easily threatened by Krogstad over his friendliness and familiar behavior that he fires him from work. Tarwold is so preoccupied with his image and he will do anything to save his own face.
Krogstad is a despicable character who justifies his wrong actions and blames others for his bad behavior, he actually blame Mrs Linde for his misfortune. Women in this play are seen placing their family interest above their personal needs. Nora forged her father signature to obtain a loan that will help her ego centered husband, Mrs Linde married a rich man instead of her true love for financial gain.
Tarwold treats his wife like a child rather than a wife by positioning himself as her Savior, even wish he could find himself in a position of saving Nora's life in a dangerous situation. I see him as weak. He is easily threatened by Krogstad over his friendliness and familiar behavior that he fires him from work. Tarwold is so preoccupied with his image and he will do anything to save his own face.
Krogstad is a despicable character who justifies his wrong actions and blames others for his bad behavior, he actually blame Mrs Linde for his misfortune. Women in this play are seen placing their family interest above their personal needs. Nora forged her father signature to obtain a loan that will help her ego centered husband, Mrs Linde married a rich man instead of her true love for financial gain.
Matthew Chenevert: The Doll House
The Doll House- Henrik Ibsen
You have to love Ibsen’s picture on the essay we had to read that accompanied the play. The fellow was way ahead of his time. You can decide if it is for the better or worse. When this play was written it was probably crazy to hear of a wife and mother just abandoning her family to pursue her own happiness. Double standard for sure but I believe an accurate assessment.
The usual familial set up was what they had in this play. But it seems that Henrik was trying to make his statement about with as much emphasis as he could. He did.
The play started off with a happy and carefree tone, but quickly turned into a spiral of deceit and cover-up’s that got beyond the control of Nora. I was expecting a happy ending until about two thirds of the way through.
I’m sure there was some deeper point but I found it very ironic that Krogstad and Nora had done the very same offense that Helmer had despised. I also noted that Helmer was willing to forgive Nora in the end but she was past the point of no return. And in the end the social statement that Nora wanted to be an individual more than she wanted to be a wife and mother was driven home with force.
I was wondering why this play was called the Doll House all the way up until the very end. Nora shed her responsibilities and duties at the end to pursue finding herself. What ever that means.
You have to love Ibsen’s picture on the essay we had to read that accompanied the play. The fellow was way ahead of his time. You can decide if it is for the better or worse. When this play was written it was probably crazy to hear of a wife and mother just abandoning her family to pursue her own happiness. Double standard for sure but I believe an accurate assessment.
The usual familial set up was what they had in this play. But it seems that Henrik was trying to make his statement about with as much emphasis as he could. He did.
The play started off with a happy and carefree tone, but quickly turned into a spiral of deceit and cover-up’s that got beyond the control of Nora. I was expecting a happy ending until about two thirds of the way through.
I’m sure there was some deeper point but I found it very ironic that Krogstad and Nora had done the very same offense that Helmer had despised. I also noted that Helmer was willing to forgive Nora in the end but she was past the point of no return. And in the end the social statement that Nora wanted to be an individual more than she wanted to be a wife and mother was driven home with force.
I was wondering why this play was called the Doll House all the way up until the very end. Nora shed her responsibilities and duties at the end to pursue finding herself. What ever that means.
Monday, July 11, 2011
A Doll House- Kelli Firmin
This play was an easy read. The characters were few in comparison to the others. Maybe I am finally getting the hang of this after 7 weeks. The main character Nora and her husband Torvald Helmer were a married couple of eight years. Nora went from living with her father whom cared for her to being married to Torvald. She referred to herself as her father's doll then to Torvalds. Nora made decision that would affect her future, but her decision was done out of love for her husband. Nora borrowed money from Nils Krogstad and forged her dying fathers signature on the agreement of repayment without his knowledge. She made timely payments and all was going accordingly til Krogstad lost his position at the bank that Tarvold was promoted at. Krogstad exposed Nora through a letter and Tarvold found out the truth. She had confessed what see had done to her long lost friend Mrs. Linde. She borrowed the money to allow her husband to travel to become well. All her actions were for the love of her husband and family.
The miracle Nora was hoping for did not happen. Tarvold would not take the fall for Nora's actions. He had to withhold his honor and integrity. I think at that moment an aha moment happened for Nora. She realized she did not know herself. She had never been able to stand on her own two feet. She had her father than her husband. She needed to discover who she was, educate herself and find her place in this world. She left her husband and her children to go off on her own for self realization. I do not agree with abandoning your children,but I do understand her need to realize who she was. I enjoyed Anthony Hopkins performance on the video as well.
The miracle Nora was hoping for did not happen. Tarvold would not take the fall for Nora's actions. He had to withhold his honor and integrity. I think at that moment an aha moment happened for Nora. She realized she did not know herself. She had never been able to stand on her own two feet. She had her father than her husband. She needed to discover who she was, educate herself and find her place in this world. She left her husband and her children to go off on her own for self realization. I do not agree with abandoning your children,but I do understand her need to realize who she was. I enjoyed Anthony Hopkins performance on the video as well.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
The Country Wife/Performance analysis / Helen Williams
This play is very interesting, though with so many characters . The settings and costumes are appropriate for the time. Once again , we are dealing with a play that brings to life social ills and problems specifically adultery in a high social class.
One of the scenes I found highly fascinating is when Mrs Pinchwife went to a play with her husband and she was compelled to dress in male clothes. An example of an oppressive act by her domineering husband, things did not actually work for Mr Pinchwife a expected. Margery look very attractive in male attire. Mr Horner quickly took advantage of the situation and starts to flirts with Margery.
Here again, you see an overly jealous Mr Pinchwife in action as he turns on his wife. His plot to disguise his wife backfires.
One of the scenes I found highly fascinating is when Mrs Pinchwife went to a play with her husband and she was compelled to dress in male clothes. An example of an oppressive act by her domineering husband, things did not actually work for Mr Pinchwife a expected. Margery look very attractive in male attire. Mr Horner quickly took advantage of the situation and starts to flirts with Margery.
Here again, you see an overly jealous Mr Pinchwife in action as he turns on his wife. His plot to disguise his wife backfires.
Matthew Chenevert: The Country Wife Text v Prod
The Country Wife: Text vs Production
I think Kelli said I would like this production and I did. The main character was very “weasly” (if that is a word) looking and a little more hyper than I had pictured him. Which worked better in my opinion when portraying the character.
The women were all very appropriately cast even though I had them all pictured differently. The women Horner seemed to prey on were the middle-aged and strong-willed.
The scene with the Quack was funny. Never before would a man be sooooo enthusiastic about getting a false rumor spread around town that would in a way diminish his prowess.
But Horner was actually more confident in what he was trying to accomplish to the extent that he did not care what people thought.
In reading the play I actually had a fairly easy time of it compared to others. I guess it is because it was in the not too distant past. The actual production was pretty true to text but my image of Horner was much more laid back. Sort of a cool cucumber versus the way he was in constant motion in the video production.
I did enjoy it. I guess I’m getting more accustom to reading and reviewing plays. I am going to award myself a small victory for getting to this point. It’s not as much work as it was a month ago and I imagine that plays like this one (ones that I find funny with a crazy premise) only help me along!
I think Kelli said I would like this production and I did. The main character was very “weasly” (if that is a word) looking and a little more hyper than I had pictured him. Which worked better in my opinion when portraying the character.
The women were all very appropriately cast even though I had them all pictured differently. The women Horner seemed to prey on were the middle-aged and strong-willed.
The scene with the Quack was funny. Never before would a man be sooooo enthusiastic about getting a false rumor spread around town that would in a way diminish his prowess.
But Horner was actually more confident in what he was trying to accomplish to the extent that he did not care what people thought.
In reading the play I actually had a fairly easy time of it compared to others. I guess it is because it was in the not too distant past. The actual production was pretty true to text but my image of Horner was much more laid back. Sort of a cool cucumber versus the way he was in constant motion in the video production.
I did enjoy it. I guess I’m getting more accustom to reading and reviewing plays. I am going to award myself a small victory for getting to this point. It’s not as much work as it was a month ago and I imagine that plays like this one (ones that I find funny with a crazy premise) only help me along!
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