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Essay Questions
1. Using specific examples, discuss how Ibsen's "progress from one work to the other" is due to a "perpetual scrutiny of the same general questions regarded from different points of view."
2. Do you feel that Ibsen's drama is "dated"? To defend your view, cite dramatic themes in these plays which you consider to be universal, or limited in scope.
3. Show how the first act forewarns the audience of almost all the forthcoming events in the rest of the drama.
4. Point out some instances where Ibsen is able to "externalize" inner problems by using effective symbols.
5. At least one character in each play prefers an imaginary view of life to a realistic viewpoint. With this in mind, discuss the life-view of Torvald Helmer.
6. In what ways does the vocation of Torvald Helmer provide additional insight into his character?
7. Devise an alternative ending for A Doll's House, trying not to violate Ibsen's dramatic thesis. Defend either your new conclusion or the inviolability of Ibsen's original ending.
8. Explain the symbolic significance of hereditary disease in A Doll's House.