A Doll's House
by Henrik Ibsen

Reading Questions

1. At the beginning of the play, Nora appears to be a stereotypical housewife of her day, self-centered and rather childish. Is the change in her personality over the course of the play a transformation or a revelation ?
2. How does the language that Torvald uses to speak to Nora help us understand his relationship with her?
3. Nora is about to ask Dr. Rank for help with her debts when he suddenly confesses his attraction for her. Upon hearing this, Nora decides not to make her request. Why do you think she makes this choice?
4. In what ways does Kristine Linde serve as a foil character for Nora? In what ways does Krogstad serve as a foil character for her?
5. What is the miracle that Nora is waiting for from Torvald?
6. Nora's decision to leave her husband and her children elicited a storm of controversy when the play was first produced, and for some productions Ibsen was forced to change the ending. In his alternative ending (which he despised), instead of leaving, Nora looks in on her children, then sinks down beside their beds. How does this alternative ending affect the ideas of the play, in your opinion?

STUDY QUESTIONS on
The Awakening by Kate Chopin

Written and adapted from various sources
by Dr. Tina L. Hanlon

Associate Professor of English
Ferrum College

1. What features make The Awakening a "local color" story? What customs and beliefs of Edna Pontellier's society are significant in relation to her psychological development? What attitudes and tendencies in the Creole characters does Edna have trouble adjusting to? 2. Why did Edna marry Leonce? Is he a model husband? What incidents reveal that he may not be a good husband for Edna? How do her reasons for marrying compare to those of other characters we have studied who do or do not marry? 3. How do Mlle. Reisz and Mme. Ratignolle function in relation to Edna and the novel's view of women as mothers and artists? What kind of mother is Edna? What kind of artist is she? 4. How are the background characters, such as the young lovers and the lady in black at the shore, significant in Edna's story? 5. How do the flashbacks to Edna's past function? How does her father compare to the other men in her life? 6. How does the view of romantic love develop in the course of the novel? What is the doctor's view of marriage and childbearing? 7. How do the emotional attachments and romantic obsessions of other characters you have studied compare to Edna’s emotional and romantic relationships? 8. What are the main images and symbols in the novel? Pay attention to details emphasized at the beginning and end and other recurring objects. 9. What is the role of birds in The Awakening? 10. Why does Edna get involved with Alcee Arobin? 11. How does this novel compare with A Doll's House on the subject of gaining self-knowledge? 12. Why were critics outraged at this novel in 1899, saying it committed "unutterable crimes against polite society" and it should be labeled “poison” to protect “moral babes”? Why has Edna been condemned by more recent readers for her selfishness as much as for her sensuality? 13. How does Edna’s unconventional behavior compare to Nora's (in Ibsen’s story “A Doll's House”)? Do Edna and Nora have anything in common? 14. What is your reaction to the end of the novel? Do you agree or disagree with the reasons for Edna's final action? 15. Why do you think the poet Walt Whitman had such an important influence on Chopin? How does her exploration of female sexuality compare to his treatment of male sexuality? (Research required) 16. How does The Awakening compare to other stories you have studied as a realistic work of literature? Why did Per Seyerstead (her editor) say the recognition her works finally received served to “elevate her from the status of a regional writer to a pioneer realist”?