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A Doll’s House, Part 2: Resistance and Resonance in the Patriarchy

  • Journal of Modern English Drama
  • Abbr : JMBARD
  • 2019, 32(3), pp.85-108
  • Publisher : 한국현대영미드라마학회
  • Research Area : Humanities > English Language and Literature > English Literature > Contemporary English Drama
  • Published : December 31, 2019

Kim JaeKyoung 1

1중앙대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The expectation that a woman will prioritize caring for her family above all else, sometimes at the expense of her self-identity, was common in Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen’s time, and still exists today. Ibsen addressed this one-sided reality in A Doll’s House through Nora Helmer, who slammed the door behind her as she chose liberation in 1879. American playwright Lucas Hnath recreates this issue with a contemporary viewpoint by taking Nora back through the door 15 years after her departure. In Joining the Resistance, American feminist and psychologist Carol Gilligan argues that it is necessary to reconsider care as a human ethic within a democratic system rather than a feminist ethic within a patriarchal scope. With the aid of Gilligan’s feministic approach, this article examines Hnath’s A Doll’s House, Part 2, the 2017 Broadway sequel to Ibsen’s play. Hnath focuses on the dialogic confrontation between Nora, who rebels against the patriarchal system, and the others (including Torvald, Anne Marie, and Emmy) who conform to it. Paralleling their different voices on the issues of marriage, divorce, and child-rearing, this article traces each character’s dialogic transition from silence to resistance, regardless of his/her stance on patriarchy or feminism. I examine the potential of resonance among them based on humanistic sympathy, and define the meaning of another open ending, which presents neither a clear winner nor loser. By doing so, I argue that Hnath’s extension of Nora’s issue to the other characters allows the play to be reflective of contemporary America, where gender equality is vital to the democratic spirit of individual freedom and human rights.

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