Dramatic Analysis of a Doll's House and Oedipus
Although Aristotle is very specific in his requirements for what defines a tragedy, those elements doesn't necessarily create one. A story may contain one or more of those elements and not be a tragedy. On the other hand, as in the example of Oedipus, it may contain all of those elements and be considered a tragedy. However, it is not only the elements themselves that make a character tragic- it is the story as a whole that determines it. In the case of A Doll's House, those elements do not make Nora a tragic character. The first element states that the tragic character is in conflict with internal and external forces. In the beginning it isn't obvious that Nora is in conflict with anything. She is perceived as a woman who is a bit self- absorbed and very willing to do anything to please her husband. Later, the audience sees that the external force she is in conflict with is her husband himself. Nora had to live the past eight years of her marriage to him believing that that is how a loving marriage should be. She couldn't step outside of the fishbowl and take an outsider's point of view on how their relationship really was. The internal conflict Nora has was the realization that her husband wasn't the kind of man she loves and
Some of Aristotle's requirements for a tragedy are clearly evident in A Doll's House but that fact doesn't make this play a tragedy. Nora's circumstances do not encourage pity from the audience. What exactly is supposed to make Nora a tragic character? That she couldn't help the situation she was put in? That she was treated in this manner her whole life? That when Torvald discovered her secret he gave her a big emotional "slap in the face"? None of these circumstances are able to gain great compassion. In a way, Nora has a happy ending because she is given an opportunity to discover herself and give herself an identity that she wants. The reader doesn't feel any real pity for the character because she doesn't undergo any extremely unfortunate incident. The chain of events was anticlimactic- the opposite of Oedipus. From the very beginning, Oedipus is able to arouse pity from the reader because it is known that no matter what actions he took his fate has been decided. One event after the next, the reader feels more pity because Oedipus is drawn deeper into a desperate situation and in the end, he's doomed to dwell on the consequences of his actions. that she had to make herself over. As the title implies, Nora is the doll that her husband plays with, and even her father before that. All her life, Nora was played like a puppet and neither her husband nor father gave her any real respect or credit for what she has accomplished. Aristotle's third element states that the character must be of noble birth or of superior status. Nora is of the upper middle class but that doesn't affect the fact that she i
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Approximate Word count = 1087
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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