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DOCTOR RANK
Your proposed thesis: Ibsen presents Rank as a symbol a sick ideal to be a revelatory role to Nora’s self-discovery, dooms Rank’s character arc and exposes the fundamental pathology behind the Victorian Norway’s rigid social conditioning that one must shed in order to acquire individuality. through the parallelism between him and Nora, being Nora’s foil, as a product of their upbringing and respective relationship to Torvald (society)’s.
Act 1 – morals and macaroons
Stage directions say that Rank ‘enters the through Helmer’s room’. This friendship shows that Rank is the pathology behind and a product of Torvald’s society. He is a presented as a respected doctor, his speech style typical of the upper class intelligentsia “I shall, seems to be…” However, Rank is not necessarily morally superior – he shares forbidden macaroons with Nora, a symbol of both deception and happiness, thus becoming complicit in her conceits and this foreshadows Rank’s future involvement in Nora’s lies to Torvald. His hypocrisy is also similar to torvald. This first pathology – moral pathology – manifests in Rank. Yet he still condemns Krogstad, Thus, this duality in personality and foiling relationship is introduced and as Nora develops thorughout the play, Rank is inadvertently doomed.
‘Moral affliction’a
Act 2 – degeneration
In act 1
In Act 2, Rank suffers degeneration as Nora begins to question her society. Rank could be seen as an ideal that Nora develops under the oppression of society – a better version of it. However, as Rank proposes love to her in the minutes of his sickness, “I shall lie rotting in the church-yard.” Nora realizes the similarity between Rank and Torvald in treating her, and her ascetic, presentable and somewhat hypocritical ideal is “most wretched of all his patients”. Hence, as Nora becomes more conscious of her surroundings, she realizes that Rank is in love with an ideal version of her just as she is of him, and she must reject this in order to break the cyclicality of societal influence. As Nora becomes more independent, Rank becomes deprecated since plot-wise she does not need to depend on a fantasy anymore and thematically, she is disillusioned about the ideal and slowly moving away from the social pathology. Hence, Rank’s “spinal sickness” manifests with Nora’s development, as she and the audience realize that even as a perfect, model member of society Rank is sick, questioning if society itself could be fundamentally sick. Here, the irony of presenting him as a doctor who suffers terminal illness as a result of his father’s actions is not lost, and reiterates this cyclicality into the play, – just like how Nora’s passed from her father’s hand into Torvald’s hands – which Nora will go on to break in Act 3..
“ then it’s their place I have taken
Act 3 – here, Rank is truly free
AS NORA TRIES TO ACQUIRE INDIVIDUALITY, RANK TRIES TO DEPART FROM HIS INDIVIDUALITY. Rank adopts a much more liberal personality in Act 3 under the influence of alcohol and cigarettes, playfully ‘slapping torvald on the shoulder.’ informally and questions his former self in his own aphorism, ‘Why shouldn’t one take one’s share of everything in this world?’ further showing this liberation or regression. It is interesting to note that for all his upkeep of appearance, in his final moments Rank still becomes his father’s son. Rank’s final meeting with Nora is filled with references to the termination of their relationship, and Torvald’s oblivious involvement in this conversation shows not only society’s blindness to its member’s relationships but also Rank and Nora’s freedom and escape from it. A moment of strange felicity in an otherwise tense moment of the play, Rank entertains Nora by further encourage her to “She has simply to wear her everyday dress.”, in a masquerade and thus acquire individuality. As Rank adopts further hedonistic decisions ““give me a cigar”, Nora lights his cigar. This dramatic spectacle mark’s Nora’s farewell to her formal psychology and idealistic pathology: perhaps it is her who need to “thank Rank for the light”. Rank’s death coinciding with Nora’s future escape could mean that society is cured of illnesses once its members are free – Rank by death, and Nora by leaving the household.
Hedonism as individual liberty
| Authorial craft and intent | Ideas, examples and evidence (embed short key quotations wherever possible) and use as varied and precise vocabulary as possible. | |||
| The central tension(s)/conflict in Ibsen’s construction of the character (potential thesis) |
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| Key adjectives/adjectival phrases to describe the character’s qualities |
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| Characteristics of their speech style (diction, register, tone, pace, figurative language) | Polite, very sophisticated diction and a general gentleman/upper-middle class tone. | |||
| Their mannerisms and body language (stage directions) | Negligible | |||
| Significant moments of dramatic visual spectacle/theatricality | [Act 2, reveals sickness and his love to Nora]
“I’m the most wretched of all my patients…” In this regard, he is a foil to Torvald. Why should I suffer for another man’s sins? Hints that he suffers from his fathers hedonistic lifestyle, yet he turns into his father’s lifestyle in final appearance during “You can do nothing for me now… unnecessary…” another push in her self-realization, etc |
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| Key quotations that show the character’s values, priorities and motivations (potential thesis strand) | (Linde:Still I think the sick are those who most need taking care of.)
“That is the attitude that is turning Society into a clinic.” |
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| Characters that they align or contrast with in a) values
b) behaviour |
a) Alignment with: Torvald
a) Contrast with: Krogstad/Nora b) Alignment with: Torvald b) Contrast with: Torvald |
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| Key moments (at least one per act) that show the conflicts they encounter, and their development as a character | Act One
Sharing macaroons – foreshadows love to Nora, complicit in her deceit Act Two Revealing sickness and love to Nora Act Three |
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| Symbols, metaphors and motifs associated with the character (potential thesis strand) | Sickness – he is a doctor who is sicker than his patients, he suffers sickness all his life – there is a strange cyclicality in that | |||
| The thematic issues embodied by the character (potential thesis strand) | ||||
| Other themes to which they contribute | Reality vs fantasy etc, role of social class in individual identity | |||
| Any other dramatic functions of the character? | Serves as Nora’s ideal, foil to Torvald |
- To some extent, they are both representations of society: Torvald a fully broken version and Rank a more idealistic one
Rotten to the core
It’s that attitude that’s turning society into a sickhouse
TORVALD
Your proposed thesis: Through the presentation of Torvald as both a respected member of society and society itself, Ibsen creates a complex and mutually demanding relationship between Torvald and Nora, using their respective identity, social roles and power dynamics, to expose the effect that the suppressive Victorian Norwegian social norms upon its individuals, households and wider society. The presentation of Torvald in this relationship directly influences Nora’s development throughout the play.
How does ibsen present torvald to?…
Immediately torvald is presented as a respected member of society, full of supposed things to say about it and expanding middle class etc, “little” 96 times throughout the entire play Nora does not speak when torvald is initially introduced except for agreements or syllabic exclamations. This exposes the power dynamics that firmly places Torvald above Nora, however Nora later takes advantage of this, hinting at the idividual’s exploitation of society; Their social roles are established as well: very specific gender stereotypes – almost father and child. And Nora does not have an identity. All the stability introduced here are built upon a faulty foundation of falsehoods and hollowed-out-people, which comes to be shaken in Act 2.
Torvald’s dramatic purpose is to bethere for Nora’s development???
By act 2 we see that Torvald doesn’t really have an identity – he is a static character whose sole purpose is to serve Nora’s self-realization, holding a strong power over her that she must learn to shed. Dance spectacle shows that Rank ‘plays for Nora’, hence showing his understanding of Nora tthrough music, yet Helmer will ‘tell her what to do’. This perfectly mirrors their relationship… As stage directions mark that Nora does not seem to hear, she is awakening to her self-awareness devoid of the society’s command or the ideal she creates for herself under the oppressive societal scheme. By acquiring individuality, Torvald marks this as ‘sheer madness’, foreshadowing the descent of their relationship Torvald also exerts further physical control, movement of ‘siezing her hands’ , instructing her to be not so wild and excitable, being his own little singing bird again. This shows that society denies claims of individuality and has further control over an individual, yet unbeknownst to the audiecne at this time, this can be easily broken.
At the end of the play, by reversing the roles between Torvald and Nora – the person who was infantalizing the other is now becoming the child, with his doll taken away. “Couldn’t we go on living her elike brother and sister?” his melancholic speech style here further accentuates the society in a rare, naive and weakened position. However, this strongly contrasts with his unbudging rhetoric he used just earlier, ‘nobody sacrifices his honour for the one he loves’ society will not change for you Torvald holds all the power and does not realize Nora’s significance in the power dynamic, and Torvald becomes, as he always were, an empty shell of a person that allows Nora to converse with her former self- the deformed self created by the rigidity of social expectations, This also further extends to the message Ibsen wants to convey to the audience through Torvald.
By portraying the society as a seemingly strong, unbulging but ultimately fragile character in Torvald- Ibsen exposes the reality of these schemes as despite all its control and rigidity, society cannot live without its individuals to support it. By having Nora leave the household, Ibsen invites the audience to challenge these social norms through the artistic action etcetc .
NORA HELMER
We’ll do just what we want after torvald’s raise
Nora is proud of her strength and work in Linde’s presence
Linde – you’re just like the rest of them
They were just trivialities
I know you rather tend to look down on me
Nora and Linde are both “proud and happy” about things they do for other people.
“This happy home of ours are never going to be the same again”
Tell him later… use as leverage.
Couldn’t let the children go about badly dressed
“It was almost like being a man”
“Without a care in the world… romp with the children, making the house nice and attractive, and having things just as Torvald likes to have them!” – the ideal life unable to conceive of anything else.
Waht do i care about your silly old society
That we… that torvald has power over so many people
doll-wife
linde
Nora [uncertainly] greets her
“I’m afraid you don’t recognize me.
Not even a broken heart to grieve over
[smiles sadly] to Nora’s naivete.
One long relentless drudge
Unutterably empty
Nobody to live for anymore [restlessly] couldn’t stand it anymore
I haven’t any father I can fall back on for the money
They become so bitter
Blunt – “pleased not so much sake as for mine”
You ahven’t known much in your own life
“What a child you are, Nora!”
“I think it was rash to do anything without telling him”
KROGSTAD
Entrance: Creeps into the household while the children plays, shows he’s a creepy person
Has your husband so little affection for you?
It didn’t seem a bit like my good friend Torvald Helmer to show that much courage.
“Rotten lawyer” ironic
Somebody like me has a bit of what you might call feeling
“Just keep it” – taunting
Bonds with Nora over suicide
“Tactful””entirely in my hand”
Work his way up the ladder step by step, foricing off the straight.
“Precious pampered little thing like you”
“Cold black water, washed up in the spring, bloated, hairless”
Cyclicality in relationship
IGCSE REVISION 