Realism started in the late eighteenth century but by the beginning and middle of the nineteenth century it was in full swing. Theater has been a part of culture for hundreds and hundreds of years but the plays were not normally about the middle class or average Joe. The play that I think best symbolizes the change in theater is A Doll’s House.
Henrik Ibsen wrote A Doll’s House in the late nineteenth century. It was one of the first realist plays that were written and it is about the troubles in a marriage. Nothing spectacular like a king or nothing about the gods but it is about a couple eight years wed and the troubles of the time. Nora is the wife and the husband is Torvald. It is quite a play that shows both the good and the bad things in marriage. Nora has done something behind Torvald’s back and she has spent years hiding it. Finally the man that Nora has borrowed money comes and tries to blackmail her to advance his career. They both have problems and they are quite evident throughout the play. Torvald seems to love Nora but he might love his reputation just a little more. Nora seems childish and loves to spend money. Neither seem good at communicating and I’m surprised especially at how Torvald treats Nora. I won’t give the ending away but it isn’t that they lived happily ever after and this especially seems to be part of the realism that we see.
Many of the things that the realists did in theater had great effects in the next generations of theater. They influenced theater in so many ways and you can see it if you sit down and read A Doll’s House.
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I read "A Doll's House" this last year in high school for my A.P. English class. It was interesting to realize how the art form of the time affects everything being produced in that time. It is also incredible the multiple connections between Ibsen's "A Doll's House" and Chopin's "The Awakening". I liked your insite on the play.
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