Our third essay is on Drama, to be specific the genre we experienced during the week 3 reading of A Doll's House.
I am going to give you two choices for this essay--write either one, but be absolutely certain that you have an essay--that is to say, not a paragraph. Unless you have a complete essay, you will not generate any points of the 100 points allocated for this assigned writing.
The first choice, I suspect the most popular, will be to go to Youtube, as some of you have already done, and view the play, A Doll's House, and then write an essay on the difference between reading the play as opposed to seeing it. As you know, a play is made to be seen, not read, so the experiences in most cases and for most people are quite different. Do not, no matter what you write, regurgitate the plot--that does not address the question and cannot generate one point.
The second option might be interesting, perhaps a bit more challenging, but I suspect will be addressed by some few students. Write an essay examining any similarities between A Doll's House and Alice Walker's novel The Color Purple. For the comparison you may use text or film versions of either one, but you are to examine something you see as perhaps a common theme or subject. As always, if you have any questions, please email me at once.
Regardless of your choice, you are graded on an MLA essay in Formal Standard English with proper grammar and punctuation. We write on a variety of topics during the course, but the goal is to leave this class and move on in your degree program with a greater ability and confidence to deal with the writing requirements of your future courses. To that end we write, receive and process feedback, produce improved second drafts and, hopefully, become better writers and students.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO CHOOSE THE FIRST CHOICE, here is my thought for A Doll’s House, it may help.
What subjects are still relevant today?
Whether in socialist or capitalist societies, gender discrimination is deeply rooted in culture, which has a history of thousands of years. When it comes to women's liberation, in the final analysis, it is to liberate women's labor force and creativity, to liberate women from the social situation of gender inequality and the shackles of social relations, to realize women's own values, and to develop women's independent personality.
Men's economic strength transforms the original equal dependence relationship between men and women on each other into women's dependence on men's economy after women are weakened economic strength, which in turn leads to women's dependence and subordination on men in personality. This also leads to the superiority of men in family status and the sense of rightful domination of women.
The issue of women's liberation is not just an economic one. However, economic liberation is the premise of women's liberation. Women's struggle for liberation and freedom is not only to strive for and embody the equality of political and economic status but also to rely on women's constant self-improvement and correct understanding and realization of their own values.
Do you think the play can still shock audiences today?
Yes, I think so. Nora's marriage seemed as perfect as most people expected: her husband earned a lot of money and loved her very much, her children were innocent and lovely, lived in a big house with servants, had good social relations and friends, and her financial situation, husband-wife relationship, parent-child relationship, and social relations made her look "enviable".
Nora worries that her husband's love for her will fade when she gets old. She has felt Helmer "not quite so happy when I dance for him, and dress for him, and play with him". Whenever Helmer kindly calls her "Skylark" or "Squirrel", Nora jumps happily and responds to him. At this time, her self-awareness is a kind of unconscious perception, not conscious awakening. In the final act, Nora's self-awakening has risen from subconscious to thought. In her declaration to her husband, she has been able to clearly tease out how her life has been "dollized", "petted", and her determination to escape and resist.
A Doll House has always been regarded as a manifesto of the feminist movement. At last, Nora bravely resisted and left resolutely. Of course, it can be clearly seen that women's struggle against male chauvinism. After watching this play, I was not exhilarated by Nora's ultimate resistance but deeply affected by its tragic color. In my opinion, the life of the characters in the play is tragic. Although Nora eventually had an epiphany in her personal consciousness, she changed from her father's doll to her husband's doll, found out that her husband was not the man she wanted, and decided to abandon her children and family, even though she eventually had an epiphany in her personal consciousness, which is an absolute tragedy.
It is one-sided to characterize the play as a declaration of women's rights, which at least impairs the depth of the work's thought. The author calls not only for the awakening and independence of women but also for every member of society and for the awakening and independence of human beings. The question of what to do after Nora's leaving is worth studying, but we can't deny the choice of leaving itself. Going away is only the beginning, the beginning of getting rid of the fate of dolls and seeking liberation and independence. Perhaps dolls are the inescapable destiny of human beings, but we still have to work hard to get rid of this inescapable destiny.