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Literature Teaching Sequence 1: Drama (Ibsen)

A Doll House
Lesson Plan

Day One:
Hand out Ibsen's notes, photographs.  Discuss what a contemporary production would have looked like.  Garner initial responses to play.  Talk about whether drama should have a social function--and whether ADH does.  If so, what is it?  Talk about the different perspective a modern audience would bring to a production of ADH.  Try to identify genre of play and discuss what elements elude categorization.
Day Two:
Think about the social institutions Ibsen is examining.  Discuss how the play is seen through a feminist lens and validity of Ibsen's disclaimer.  Perhaps some group work on Wollstonecraft's ideas in relation to ADH.  Get students to identify what other issues are at stake besides the role of women--class pressure, etc.  Have a writing exercise about definitions:  morality, duty, and other tough words to define for Ibsen's culture and ours.
Day Three:
Group work--either thematic questions.
Day Four:
Production troupe.  After performance, troupe must give presentation on their interpretation.  Questions from audience.  Thinking about interpretation usually leads to discussion of possible readings for essays.
 
Group Work- 105W - A Doll House

Group One:  This tragic moment....

What is tragedy?  What connotations does that word carry for our culture?  What is the classical definition?  Does A Doll House qualify as a tragedy?  What are its tragic elements?  What does Ibsen mean when he calls it "a modern tragedy"?

Group Two:  What's with these extra people?
What is the function of the minor characters in the play:  Doctor Rank, Kristine Linde, and Krogstad?  Look farther than the ways in which they carry the plot forward.  Why does Doctor Rank confess his love for Nora before he dies?  What impact does his death have in the play?  What motivates Mrs. Linde's decision to leave the mail in the slot?  What is the nature of the relationship she forges with Krogstad in the end?  Is Krogstad the villain of the play?
Group Three:  Who's hiding what?
What is the role of secrecy in the play?  What is being hidden throughout?  How does Nora's attitude toward her biggest secret develop throughout?  What is Torvald's reaction to secrets when they are uncovered?
Group Four:  Love and Marriage....
These are among the hardest words to define for any culture. What is the nature of marriage in A Doll House?  What are Nora and Torvald's ideas about it?  What is love in this play?  What happens to both concepts?  Why?  What other social institutions does Ibsen question?
Group Five:  Living in a Material World
What is the nature of money in A Doll House?  Think about materialism and how it affects all of the characters past and present.  What ideals depend on money?  What happens to those ideals?  What is Ibsen saying about the class structure Nora and Torvald inhabit?