After seeing the movie A Dolls house it did not change my opinion of either character, it portrayed Helmer as the man who takes control of the relationship and is feared by his wife. First you can see this where Nora brings the macaroons and eats one them. He then asks Nora later”hasn’t she paid a visit to the confectioners?” she then answers with a lie “no I assure you, torvald-“he is the man and the head of the house. He is dressed in black in the movie as men during the Victorian era dressed with a beard and seems very arrogant in his whole interaction with his wife.
He also controls the money with an iron fist. In one scene he is handing Nora the money very excitedly as though he is giving her a prize. It seemed strange for him because he was complaining about how to spend money saying “one would hardly believe how expensive little persons are!” I feel like he contradicts himself here. He wants to Christmas “extravagant” for the children but he doesn’t want his wife to spend the money on”foolish” things for Christmas. He asks her “has my little spendthrift been wasting money again?” implying they don’t have enough money to be spending so. The house is portrayed in the movie as one of richness.
The people who own the house obviously have money and shouldn’t be complaining about being in debt with all these lavish things. As Nora is the one who bought these pieces of furniture maybe the reason why they are in serious debt. In the video also, torvald is being fawned over showing she is groveling at his feet just to get his money because she can’t use her words to get what she wants. Also, in the olden days, owning a piano was a sign of being wealthy and they just happen to own one which also contributes to their not complaining of their money issues.
Also helmer is working in his office when Nora came home just as the man of the house should usually portrayed. He felt they as a couple shouldn’t be spending money but in yet Nora says “this is the first Christmas that we have not need to economies” showing in the past, they lacked the funds to have a sufficient holiday. It also becomes apparent when torvald says “then I merely have to pay up again” showing he mind doing this, but only to an extent. When paying his wife the money he hates it, in yet he does it which contradicts his character. He also says “it is a good that our hard times are over” according to torvald, his hard times are in the past and they are fine to money. He still says they shouldn’t spend their money foolishly and he said that they don’t have to worry which is contradicting.
The director portrays torvald as being very in love with his wife regardless of whether she is intimidated by him or not. He is seemingly willing to do anything for her in the movie. Everything she asks of him he does. Not once did I happen to see them arguing or fighting as they should be because of the Nora acts toward torvald. Also you can see that they are very happy together, but they do have underlying problems within their relationship. Torvalds’ mannerisms are also very touch-feely when he is with Nora so clearly they are in love. He often calls her “little”, “squirrel”, “skylark” which are all pet names only couples who are passionate toward each other speak of.
The tone of Torvald when he and Nora are speaking of the Christmas when he says “its delightful to think of, isn’t it?” sounds to me like he was being sarcastic to his wife even though he is trying to make his wife think he cared about the holiday to try and make her happy. The house is also very decorated and festive but there is still an underlying feeling of lies from Nora to torvald about money and tension of whether to spend it or not.
This film clip portrays torvald as a controlling man that is the head of his house and is very in love with his wife. The book was not portrayed all that differently in mind at all. What I envisioned of the setting, the characters, their costumes and the actual acting all worked very well and benefited the text.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Poem Explication:Red Shift by Ted Berrigan
Alex Jannuzzi
Prd 7 9/12/08
Poem Explication: Red shift By Ted Berrigan
In the poem, Red Shift By Ted Berrigan the poet suggests that a change has occurred within the speaker’s life that has caused him to become depressed and vent to the reader what is happening to the speaker mentally.
The speaker is going through a change from a woman leaving him. Now that she has, it sounds as of he will never be the same ever again. In the first stanza, he speaks of it being winter; even so the loss of this woman causes a chill to his soul. He says “The air is biting” showing it’s so cold that is so called “biting” at his whole person. He mentions drinking twice that being alcohol. This is something people do to get rid of their problems, their mental issues; they dround themselves in alcohol.
In the beginning where the changes first start to occur he states”I drink some American poison liquid” then he mentions it again saying “The calvados is being sipped on”. Quite often throughout the poem he speaks of air seeming ton be very concerned with it. This one would think, is the fact now he can’t come up for air because now he can’t breathe without that woman. He needs to be concerned now that woman was semi keeping him alive is now out of his life forever. He says “disappearing in the air” which is about one of his friend’s frank who is actually dead. This is another person gone out of his life that makes it harder for him to function.
The belief that he was married came about when he mentions that” smilingly attentive woman” then directly in that second sentence he says “love, children, hundreds of them, money” which are all things that people dream of when they first are newly weds and only in the beginning. He also says “marriage” which corresponds with the heartache that comes about in the stanzas to come.
To let the audience become more personal with him he tells of how they first meet. He says “not that practically a boy” showing that he was a child when he met her yet he still had adult feelings for her, saying “serious’ in one word even as a boy. He also called her a “pretty girl” showing he did care for her as she aged with him.
Changes occur within the speaker quickly. He says “when will I die? I will never die” like the pain of living is too much to bear and living now is worse than death itself. The speaker feels as though he “will live to be 110” then it will be too late for him to care by then. When the speaker says that “I will never go away and you will never escape from me who am always and only a ghost despite this frame, spirit who only lives to nag”, showing when he does die eventually he will haunt this woman. “Nagging” is an interesting word choice because it is so inappropriate to the circumstance of the speaker being a spirit and haunting the woman forever. He has changed for the worse. As the poem progresses toward the end he mentions “ I slip softly into the air” signifying the spirit of his being floating into the air taken awy from this as he vented to the reader ever so slightly.
The importance the theme is having someone there to witness your life. When you lose that person your life will never be the same. When the speaker lost this woman he changed for the worst because he cared so deeply for this woman.
Prd 7 9/12/08
Poem Explication: Red shift By Ted Berrigan
In the poem, Red Shift By Ted Berrigan the poet suggests that a change has occurred within the speaker’s life that has caused him to become depressed and vent to the reader what is happening to the speaker mentally.
The speaker is going through a change from a woman leaving him. Now that she has, it sounds as of he will never be the same ever again. In the first stanza, he speaks of it being winter; even so the loss of this woman causes a chill to his soul. He says “The air is biting” showing it’s so cold that is so called “biting” at his whole person. He mentions drinking twice that being alcohol. This is something people do to get rid of their problems, their mental issues; they dround themselves in alcohol.
In the beginning where the changes first start to occur he states”I drink some American poison liquid” then he mentions it again saying “The calvados is being sipped on”. Quite often throughout the poem he speaks of air seeming ton be very concerned with it. This one would think, is the fact now he can’t come up for air because now he can’t breathe without that woman. He needs to be concerned now that woman was semi keeping him alive is now out of his life forever. He says “disappearing in the air” which is about one of his friend’s frank who is actually dead. This is another person gone out of his life that makes it harder for him to function.
The belief that he was married came about when he mentions that” smilingly attentive woman” then directly in that second sentence he says “love, children, hundreds of them, money” which are all things that people dream of when they first are newly weds and only in the beginning. He also says “marriage” which corresponds with the heartache that comes about in the stanzas to come.
To let the audience become more personal with him he tells of how they first meet. He says “not that practically a boy” showing that he was a child when he met her yet he still had adult feelings for her, saying “serious’ in one word even as a boy. He also called her a “pretty girl” showing he did care for her as she aged with him.
Changes occur within the speaker quickly. He says “when will I die? I will never die” like the pain of living is too much to bear and living now is worse than death itself. The speaker feels as though he “will live to be 110” then it will be too late for him to care by then. When the speaker says that “I will never go away and you will never escape from me who am always and only a ghost despite this frame, spirit who only lives to nag”, showing when he does die eventually he will haunt this woman. “Nagging” is an interesting word choice because it is so inappropriate to the circumstance of the speaker being a spirit and haunting the woman forever. He has changed for the worse. As the poem progresses toward the end he mentions “ I slip softly into the air” signifying the spirit of his being floating into the air taken awy from this as he vented to the reader ever so slightly.
The importance the theme is having someone there to witness your life. When you lose that person your life will never be the same. When the speaker lost this woman he changed for the worst because he cared so deeply for this woman.
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