How would you perform the role of Helmer

How would you perform the role of Helmer

How would you peform the role of Helmer to reveal his attitudes towards Nora?

The play ‘A Doll’s House’ written by Henrik Ibsen is a three act Norwegian play first premiered at the Royal Theatre in Denmark, on 21 December 1879. The play is based around the 19th century typical marriage and the gender equality within this. The characters Nora and Helmer particularly represent the way in which women are undermined by men as Helmer treats her like a child. However it does challenge the place women had in the 19th century as Nora contrasts a typical wife and mother of that time. Helmer depicts the attitudes of a 19th century husband, a dominate figure in the marriage. The actor playing Helmer can portray this to an audience through the use of staging, body language, tone of voice and dialogue. This can reveal certain attitudes Helmer has towards Nora in the play in which the audience are able to identify through the way it is performed.
The character of Helmer is presented in the play to be controlling and manipulative in accordance to the way he treats Nora. This interpretation is shown through the way he speaks to Nora in a patronising tone of voice “what a sweet little featherbrain it is.” If I was acting this role I would deliver the line in a way that a father would speak to its child, very softly and in a patronising manner. This would reveal Helmer’s attitudes towards Nora as male orientated and dismissing Nora as just a child who is incapable of making her own decisions. I would gently pat her head when delivering this line to represent ‘petting’ a dog, to imply how Helmer thinks of Nora as just a pet, him being the owner. The audience would be able to understand how Krogstad does not treat Nora as a human being, let alone the normal response a husband would have for his wife, but instead as a master and follower. The staging space would be of limited use as I would perform this very close to her face, almost to intimidate the actor playing Nora and make...

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