A Doll's House Translation

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Seemingly minor details within a script carry a specific significance if the author chooses to give the object, saying, or gesture more meaning. According to David Ball, the author of Backwards and Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays, “An image is something we already know or can easily be told that is used to describe, illuminate, or expand upon something we don’t know or cannot be told.” (69). Especially when repetition occurs, the author firmly communicates the importance of the presented image. Therefore, the audience then determines the message the playwright attempts to convey. When provided, “…images expand a communication beyond its own confines.” (75). Regardless of the complexity or simplicity of the image itself, the…show more content…
Without the reveal, the play in question lacks a key feature: drama. Though A Doll’s House retains perpetual drama because of the emotionally charged characters, this elevates especially when Nora must scramble in order to prevent her secrets from exposing. During the second act, Nora pleads Torvald to refrain from reading the letters he received after knowing he possesses one from Krogstad, which will reveal to her husband her defiant act of involving herself in financial matters as well as foraging a signature in order to acquire the monetary gain. As a distraction once the maid enters, Nora exclaims and requests, “Yes, a banquet—champagne till daybreak! And some macaroons, Helene. Heaps of them—just this once.” (2.797-800). Regardless of the request for Nora to not consume macaroons, the act of demanding for them counteracts the regulations under which Torvald forces her to abide by. Although two acts apart from the end, this small act of defiance suggests an uprising between Nora and Torvald, as shown within the final act. Additionally, the altering of subjects briefly covers the possibility of the financial circumstance between Krogstad and Nora revealing itself. The macaroons therefore “…provide a lot of information in a small space.”…show more content…
Often ignoring the fact Nora, similarly to Torvald, achieved adulthood, he still limits her actions as if she assumed the status of a small child. Though her actions suggest she requires such a limitation, his degrading tactics provoke her to act consistently in this way. Initially, Ibsen presents a “revelation of information needed by the audience to understand the play’s action.” (43) by revealing the situation and relationships within the exposition of his play. Although the significant conflict reveals itself later, he initially suggests the ensuing of future clashes through a meager initial introductory occurrence between Nora and Torvald. As Nora makes her first entrance onto the stage, the directions illustrate: “Drawing a bag of macaroons from her pocket, she eats a couple, then steals over and listens at her husband’s study door.” (669). Having arrived at home from shopping for necessities, the task of eating macaroons appears as a reward for the job done. Instead, without the audience understanding the symbol at first, the appearance of the macaroons suggest the rise of a conflict and the presentation of an important moment. “Putting the macaroon bag in her pocket and wiping her mouth,” (669) Nora prepares herself to greet her husband in a seemingly normal manner. Without making a fuss
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