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Abigail Bromley

Doaa Omran Mohamed

ENGL 250-001

January 29, 2019

Aristotelian Elements in “A Doll’s House”

Tragedies, as a genre, are one of the most flexible and arguably complex works of

literature and theatre as there are many elements and theories that go into making them not only

popular among audiences but also conceivably understandable. However, this was not always the

case. Having composed his ​Poetics, ​Aristotle managed to convey this as a system of logical steps

and theories that are tied into one another through crucial elements that become driving forces to

the plot of a literature piece. Throughout this, he also makes known through frequent mention

that a tragedy’s main character must be a hero or someone of higher status and also, male.

Having written this guide for others to use, he established that one should follow and make use

of all elements in order for the tragedy to be considered “true” or “complete” while also adhering

to the old ways and traditions that made them as they are in the first place. And yet, as time

progressed, they became less so rules, but more a suggestion to the common writer as

experimental writing became increasingly popular and eventually lead to the conception of many

other genres within the realm of literature that we still use to this day. In looking to more modern

literature, Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” can be exemplified as he comes to use not only a

female but a common housewife as his protagonist and he also slights away from the use of all

elements whole as there is more emphasis placed upon the protagonist's ​hamartia​ and ​catharsis

which help progress the plot as well as give way to her resolution within the narrative.
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Referring back to Ibsen’s use of ​hamartia ​for his main character, it is the first of five

elements Aristotle stressed upon as it is often the first to be brought up due to its association with

the premise or groundwork to a story that then gives way to the trigger or turning point in which

a natural build up occurs until the climax and reveal of all unknowns. In defining this, he

describes it as a “tragic flaw” or “ignorance” (Aristotle) of certain facts by the hero protagonist

which in this case is Nora. Nora’s greatest flaw was that she was too naive and trusting to the

world around her which, naturally, left her in a perpetually exposed and defenseless state. She

relied on her husband for everything and was only aware of what was happening within the home

as was her role. This plays into her conflict as she is constantly belittled and patronized for what

she is perceived to not know or cannot understand. Even her old friend from school Mrs.Linde

believes so as she tells Nora “How kind you are, Nora, to be so anxious to help me! It is doubly

kind in you, for you know so little in the troubles and burdens in life” (Ibsen 26). In relation, her

husband almost never refers to her by her name but instead by nicknames that would be tender or

affectionate if he were talking to a child and not his wife and if he wasn’t always following up

with half reprimands about something she said or did. Also, on a larger scale, her misplaced trust

and misjudge of character is the basis for most of the plot as she constantly has Krogstad’s threat

to expose the loan looming over her head which causes her to grow anxious and distressed as he

uses it to coerce her into securring his job all the while she must keep with appearances lest

everything fall apart before her.

Transitioning to the element of ​catharsis,​ this is defined as a means of bringing about

“pity and fear” (Aristotle). In other words, it is essentially the character having fears or feelings

of pity for oneself and catharsis’s role is to act as a purging for them to expel themselves of these
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supposedly irrational and negative emotions that have plagued them for the entirety of the

conflict, or from the readers point of view, the story. As the protagonist, Nora too finds her

catharsis at the end of the story, however, in Ibsen’s more modernized take on this he diverges

from the traditional method of having his protagonist die either by their hand or by someone

else’s and instead has her simply leave what was once her associated life behind completely so

that she may come to know the her that is born in the wake of her enlightenment. She is

awakened to the reality that is her life and how manipulated she truly was to the point where she

even tells her husband that she has been his “doll-wife” and that “playtime shall be over” (Ibsen

162). Her great realization leaves her in a state of resentment and apathy that give way to her

declaring Torvald a stranger she no longer loves and her children no longer her responsibility as

she deems herself unfit to raise them. This concept, I believe, can also be related to the element

of ​peripeteia​ or the reversal of action and intent on a minor level. I think this because, at the

beginning of the story, she is greatly excited for Christmas and to spend money on presents and

other mundane and domestic things that were ultimately her only concern in life, however, when

you compare this to the end, this is dramatically different as she then shifts focus to herself and

detached herself from the family setting completely in order to become an independent woman

who may control her own person.

While Aristotle had a specific method and set of rules in mind when he made the ​Poetics,

just as Ibsen has, many have either changed or disregarded them completely in order to have

them adhere more closely with the problems of the times or to their characters as a whole. This

experimentation has allowed others to imagine any number of people as the hero and sometimes

this aspect is completely absent due to any number of circumstances. Ibsen’s use of Nora to
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showcase the plights of a housewife is one such example in displaying that there can be other

stories about more common people or people of low birth status that can still be labeled as

tragedies. Another aspect that comes to mind is that many could now become more flexible when

using the elements as they can have them stand out boldly or make emphasis on certain specific

elements in order to draw the reader to certain conflicts of the narrative. While the ​Poetics a​ nd

Aristotle might seem limiting, tragedy would not have had such a heavy basis and framework to

become evolved from if it weren’t for them and the message here is that writers are now more

liberated than ever as they can now implement both old and new to create works that can become

some of the most remembered in the world of literature.