Summary:
The characters in Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House" and Anton Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" are presented as victims of social change. The upper class, nonprogressive characters are the ones whose lives crumble because their lives were built on their property and social status that loses its value.
Despite Henrik Ibsen's insistence that he was 'more of a poet and less of a social philosopher' and Anton Chekhov's intention to make 'The Cherry Orchard' into a 'light comedy', both 'A Doll's House' and 'The Cherry Orchard' present themes of social change; the first through a 19th century woman's struggle for self liberation, and the latter through the unfulfilled longings and eventual collapse of a Russian upper class family at the turn of the century.
In both plays the 19th century upper class complacence and reluctance to yield to social evolution perhaps even portray them as victims of social change - in 'A Doll's House' through Nora's betrayal of her husband and his social values, and in 'The Cherry Orchard' through the family's nostalgia, frustration and disappointment when faced with their unavoidable loss of power.....
This is a free excerpt of 135 words. There are 1,495 words (approx.
5 pages at 300 words per page) in the full essay.
Read the rest of this Essay with our Social Change in "A Doll's House" and "The Cherry Orchard" Access Pass.
