As the title would suggest, this story shows a pretty pink surface of a shrouded interior. It would appear that inside the pristine doll's house exists a brooding secret, perhaps the purpose of the facade.
Nora from the getgo appears disillusioned with something, but it's not readily apparent what. Her attitude towards others, her ignorance, her blind devotion to Torvald (not as a lover, but as a provider) builds a house a cards that begins to shake when demons from her past, and not coincidentally from the one action in her life where she did not ask anyone's permission, and begins to peel away the pretty exterior and reveal the slum that is Nora's marriage to Torvald. Nora knows that even though her actions may very well have saved Torvald's life, if Krogsdad were to reveal the truth of the matter, Torvald would certainly be furious. Torvald takes pleasure in being the stronger one of the relationship, the provider, the father figure, not a partner. He feels he should be the one to pity others, not to be pitied. Nora understands this deep within herself, but has hidden these feelings away for the benefits of her marriage (monetary and socially.)
Thusly the story becomes more about the facade of Nora's marriage than the events surrounding her. Eventually she seems to forget about her reputation and the unscrupulous characters surrounding her, and for the first time at the very end of the story she confronts Torvald honestly and without consideration for anyone's but her own feelings. It is only then that she really understands why she had covered up her emotions, and in a shocking move, walks out on Torvald.
Because the story is about relationships, it's not too surprising that Christina and Krogsdad end up together, a poor widow looking for a family to care after, and a older man with a family to support looking to get away from his previously dubius practices. The match almost presents itself, although the way it comes about is odd. Another odd relationship is between Nora and the Doctor. This is true love, and can be seen from a mile away. Unlike the superficial relationship between Nora and Torvald, the Doctor and Nora flirt, have real emotions for eachother, but only when the Doctor reveals his true love does she realize that it can never be. He blows it by ruining their good friendship when she needs a friend the most, not a lover.
The complicated nature of the story is intertwined into the complicated nature of relationships, while there are only a handful of central characters, each one has a special need or quality to desire of fufill.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
"Too Late" and Greek Tragedy
If Antigone can teach us anything, it's to not ignore the signs and let our pride overshadow our reason. Creon, whilst setting an important principle in his mind and, originally, with some degree of reasonableness, also shunned several important people who may have been able to save him from the tragedy to befell his family at the end of the play.
Creon's hubris was his downfall, even though he felt he was doing the right thing for Thebes, he let his ego dictate all of his actions, and eventually struck Thebes with such fear that no one felt comfortable or safe disagreeing with his increasingly hostile actions except for his own son, who even then sacrificed his life for his principles and love. The Leader of the Chorus represents an interesting side to the story, while he tells Creon the truth, he often does it with tongue in cheek because he is so afraid of what the King may do in anger if he feels as though HIS right is being questioned. Creon forgets very quickly that the King is to protect the right of Thebes, not his own, and becomes more and more filled with his own egomania until eventually everyone dies who he held dear.
He acted too late, a theme characteristic of Greek Tragedy. After finally understanding his foolishness (with finally being the important word) he finds that he has taken too long to come to truth, and all that he could have saved are gone. Creon's hubris is just that, it exists to show what happens when Pride and Ego supersede logic and fairness. Creon began the story with a somewhat level head, regressed into lunacy and as his son put it, behavior like a "child", and eventually ended the story a damn fool who had found out just too late that his previous foolishness was pointed out to him and made apparent, but he was too full of himself to notice.
Important lessons can be taken from this, as even a King, if not especially a King, can find himself thrown off of his high horse with his high ego and his high "rights" and down onto the ground with logic and reason; and more often than not, the actions he made will come down with him, damning both him and the ones he loves.
Creon's hubris was his downfall, even though he felt he was doing the right thing for Thebes, he let his ego dictate all of his actions, and eventually struck Thebes with such fear that no one felt comfortable or safe disagreeing with his increasingly hostile actions except for his own son, who even then sacrificed his life for his principles and love. The Leader of the Chorus represents an interesting side to the story, while he tells Creon the truth, he often does it with tongue in cheek because he is so afraid of what the King may do in anger if he feels as though HIS right is being questioned. Creon forgets very quickly that the King is to protect the right of Thebes, not his own, and becomes more and more filled with his own egomania until eventually everyone dies who he held dear.
He acted too late, a theme characteristic of Greek Tragedy. After finally understanding his foolishness (with finally being the important word) he finds that he has taken too long to come to truth, and all that he could have saved are gone. Creon's hubris is just that, it exists to show what happens when Pride and Ego supersede logic and fairness. Creon began the story with a somewhat level head, regressed into lunacy and as his son put it, behavior like a "child", and eventually ended the story a damn fool who had found out just too late that his previous foolishness was pointed out to him and made apparent, but he was too full of himself to notice.
Important lessons can be taken from this, as even a King, if not especially a King, can find himself thrown off of his high horse with his high ego and his high "rights" and down onto the ground with logic and reason; and more often than not, the actions he made will come down with him, damning both him and the ones he loves.
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