A Doll House, .Page 784-843 in and The secret miracle, Page 157-162 in the Norton introduction to literature - Essay Example

Due: Critical Analysis: Doll House The play A Doll House, by Henrik Ibsen is carried out around the time of Christmas with the main theme of having the wife as a doll. The plot of the play goes around hiding the truth behind something Nora’s protection of a lie she told towards the happiness of the family where she took a loan from Krogstad while telling the husband that her father gave it to her. The play has many critical points where it depicts the true meaning of the play. It is written in a very modern direct play form that shows a clear cut meaning towards the problems persistent in the society. Title justification Most of the classical drama/plays have the meaning clearly told by the end of it, so is the case present, as before the famous door slamming Nora says: “Our home has been nothing but a playroom. I have been your doll-wife” The play throughout also carries the same idea as Torvald doesn’t treat her wife any different. His acts of making her dance, having her dress in different costumes, and admiring her beauty all depict that she lived in an artificial world. Setting Analysis Beside the fact the writer is Norwegian, the setting of the house is very modern and to the date. It has all the elements in a regular middle class family that is present today hence all the elements in the house and ethical balance is also present. This shows that the writer intention is directed towards all the times in majority of the households. In this regard the major emphasis is at the women, where they are kept towards thinking that they care of the house. In the setting of the household that is the major point that is conveyed, as all the female characters show that they want to take care of their children and don’t have much voice. They are secretive to their knowledge about other matter and show the sign of respect when men walk in the room. Tragedy in the drama The drama is much more understandable when presented, with reference to facts; the concept of tragedy is majorly present by the end of the drama. Ibsen’s drama is related towards the individual VS corrupt society. This is clearly present as seen that one person is trying to protect against the corrupt blackmailing society with personal goals (Törnqvist 12). Concept of Doll is played with immensely with the tragedy as it is the reality for Nora. For the complete drama, it encompasses all the phases of society it the play to be morally corrupt. For this to break, Nora is pushed towards breaking the marriage which is the apex of tragedy in the play. The play is very modern in the scene that the solution isn’t towards having bloodshed or killings but a rational society where Nora realizes her true potential than just being a doll and puts the death to the relationship in order to learn more about herself. Conclusion The most critical point of the play is perhaps the writing style. It doesn’t evolve any tough poetry references. It has a great flow and is directly to the point, keeping the reader in the story. The love affairs, the problems, the secrets all of them are overwhelmingly direct and leave no word to waste. The representation of both sex’s dominance and weakness is clearly represented within the language. Major advantage of such simplicity by Ibsen is that the concept about inequality of women is clearly represented. Through all the phases of the drama, it is shown that the breaking point of Nora is challenged over and over again. At the end even though the husband tries to take his words back, he has crossed the limits and the realization phase for Nora happens as she breaks the stereotype and moves on with her life. Critical Analysis: The Secret Miracle The Secret Miracle is a short story written by an Argentine poet and writer, Jorge Luis Borges. It was first published in February 1943 in a magazine called Sur. This story takes place in Prague during the World War II while it was occupied by the Nazis. The main character is named Jaromir Hladík. He is charged and arrested for being a Jewish and opposing the Anschluss and was sentenced to death by firing squad (Balderston 43). Setting Questions such as When and Where are answered in the very first line of this story. “Morning of March 15, 1939” tells us when and Hitlers army is invading Prague tells us where. The initial setting tells us the main points of the story, Jaromir is a young Jewish man opposing the Anschluss which is enough for him to be picked up by the authorities. Nazis then decide to use Jaromir as an example for others and sentence him to death. Setting place of author’s residence is of great importance. Writing style Seriousness is written all over the writing of the story. In just his first line he has given a lot of information to the readers. Initial sentences makes the readers aware of lead characters logical career, when and how and Jaramir’s dream. In the story the writer keeps giving references of other works of literature, historical figures and foreign languages. By his references we can conclude that Borges is a incredibly educated author. Tone The writer uses a very objective tone, i.e. he uses a very unbiased and an unemotional tone while talking about Jaromirs execution and captivity, he tells the story in such a way like he is a news presenter on the television. Details we get regarding Jaromir’s undue destiny, the mental torture he puts himself through makes us sympathetic towards his character. Another distinctive feature regarding tones is that Borges uses a portentous tone, which tells us that something unpleasant will take place in the story. “The clocks chimed the hour of the inescapable game” the authors tone in this sentence gives us the hint that the worlds burden is levied upon Jaromir’s shoulders. This tone is used all over the story. Title It is very hard to interpret the story line through the title. Only a hint of the plot can be understood through the title. However the miracle taking place in this story is not an obvious miracle that would attract the attention of everyone, it is a miracle that takes place in ones heart and it is a miracle known to just one person. The references of time used in this story can be considered as subjective; one person has a completely different experience with time as compared to others around him. The title of this story puts light on the most important theme of this story that is subjectivity. Subjective experiences of time is the miracle Borges is referring to. Genre The Secret Miracle is a philosophical book; it asks us deep questions about time. This book gives us a psychological thriller, most of the action and drama takes place in Jaromir’s own head. This books deals with the terror of World War II, it has some postmodern characters, however it does not treat World War II with the same darkness as other authors did. This story shows that people are capable of being respectable to one another even when they are standing on opposite sides (Balderston 43). Narrator’s point of view Third perspective writing is applied towards the story. One does not really think about the narrator’s existence, he is just some guy who has all the information regarding what is happening in Jaramir’s head. The narrator does not always stick to the main way of telling the story; the narrator adds his own comment which shifts the reader’s attention to his point of view. Conclusion Much acclaimed story was later added to Borges best pieces of writings. Plot of the story was well explained, the narration was very clear. The first line attracts the consumers to read the entire story, the title of the story tells the readers about the depth of the story. Works Cited Balderston, Daniel. Out of Context. Historical References and the Representation of Reality in Borges. Durham, London: Duke University Press, 1993. Print. Borges, Jorge Luis. "The Secret Miracle". In Collected Fictions. London: Penguin Books, 1999. Print. Ibsen, Henrik. "A Doll House", in Mays, Kelly. (Ed). The Norton Introduction to Literature - Eleventh Edition. London: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. Print. Törnqvist, Egil. Ibsen, A Dolls House. Plays in Performance. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1995. Print. Read More