Posted by admin | Posted in Miniature | Posted on 06-06-2009
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"A Doll's House" and "Wuthering Heights", an investigation into setting
While the word setting suggests a study of place, (be it through its development of character or the symbols it projects), it also holds the notion of time and the way in which things are placed throughout it’s passing. Importantly, the two intertwine not only to be a vehicle for the events of the texts, but also a reflection of the themes and ideas going on within them. So, “Wuthering Heights” and “A Doll’s House” can be compared through objects, physical and emotional boundaries, and situation- as well as through their use of time spans and the significance of when certain events occur.
The house in “A Doll’s House” is situated in what seems like the middle of a large set of apartments; people come up the stairs to get to the Helmer’s and the ballroom of Counsel Stenborg is further up the house. Their physical situation then places them in a sort of limbo between everyday normality and the high-class world of above. So perhaps this is a symbol of aspiration, of where certain characters would like to be but cannot.
An obvious example is Nora. She is a complete fantasist, constantly living in a dreamlike state where the normality of the real world passes her by. She yearns for the ball, for all its glamour and dressing up and has a limited grasp on the idea of the struggle for money. Therefore she aspires to the top of the building, where Counsel Stenborg resides. He is a man who would have been less aware of the everyday struggles for normal people and so is somewhat detached from the harsher realities of life. This love for dressing up and going to parties is an appropriate representation of Nora’s idealistic view of love and marriage, and her obliviousness to the aspects that they should entail. Her view is a fantasy version where everything is fun, perfect and glamorous. Where the balls and parties may be these things marriage is not, so the way Nora acts around Torvald can not be her true self- it is all part of the fantasized life she leads in the house, which clearly is very much like a doll’s house. Her longing for the “miracle” to happen encapsulates this fantasy. In Act 1 she believes that this freedom will come if she is able to repay her debt and go back to the normality of life, the same life of falsity that she has always led and is all she has ever known. Indeed just as she dresses up physically for the glamorous life of upstairs, so Ibsen dresses her up with the idiosyncrasies that create a character that is isolated from the realities of life. For example the extreme childishness of her language with words like “pooh”, and her childish mannerisms as she “ …tiptoes across and listens at her husband’s door”. She is also lacking in the emotional intelligence which comes with leading a life in society-like when Mrs. Linde enters and Nora proceeds to tell her how the last eight years have “been such a happy time for me”. She disregards the obvious state of Mrs. Linde and tells her, on the other hand, how well she is doing. So t is clear that she has no position in society and cannot even interact properly in society until she has shed all of the “top floor” aspects of her character.
In contrast Torvald is closer to the bottom of the house. He has a realistic view of the future, knows the importance of saving and is very intent on maintaining the reputation he has earned as a banker, all of which contribute to his grounded character. On the face of it these seem like good qualities to have in one’s character. However his personality is so rigid and fixed that he lacks the ability to change in any way-causing him to be stuck in this way of life which is so shallow and yet seem completely content with things just as they are. The couple’s positions at the start of the play create a necessity for change and development by the end, as each are too extreme in those positions.
The play is set around the time of Christmas, which would have been a time of relative hardship in Norway because of the harsh winter. People like Mrs Linde, enter the house in their winter clothing and do so as symbols of real life’s struggles, they have been outside in the cold and snow and endured it. These people coming into the house present the opposite of Nora, who rarely leaves the house and is not aware of what it is to have hardship. She needs to change, just like the Christmas tree, which goes through a process reflective of Nora’s experience.
The tree is an object of charm and pleasure, and its only real purpose is as something to look at. This is parallel to Nora’s role in the house, as someone that is, to Torvald at least, merely pleasurable. Also at the start of act 2 the tree is described as “stripped and disheveled, its candles burned to their sockets.” At this time in the play Nora is being blackmailed by Krogstad and at the same time keeping her secret from Torvald, so has undergone personal hardship which undoubtedly she has never experienced before. Therefore this vulnerability of character is reflected in the vulnerability of the Christmas tree, which has so quickly changed from something of beauty to somethingugly and disfigured.
To compare with Wuthering Heights it is important to note the duration of the action of each. They are vastly different- “A Doll’s House” is set over a period of a few days during Christmas, whereas in “Wuthering Heights” the story lasts for almost 50 years. Ibsen’s use of the Classical Unities allows him to create an isolated and insular space that in turn provides the necessary sense of confinement that we come to associate with Nora’s predicament. Limiting the play to one room enhances the image of Nora being trapped and unable to break free from the restrictions of her marriage and the narrow life that she lives. She is at the centre of a microcosm of conflicts that are revealed fully in such a restricted environment. Clearly then it is a different kind of masterpiece to Wuthering Heights, one that presents the struggle of the Victorian woman and the pressures of Victorian society through a clear and single plot and a single place.
Wuthering Heights is in direct opposition to the classical unities, it covers a huge time span, has more than one plot with several sub plots, and is not confined to a certain place or space. However it was still just as groundbreaking as “A Doll’s House”. It explores ideas about gender and class that would have been just as shocking to a Victorian audience so used to the relatively gentile novels of Austen or Gaskell. It is perhaps the immediacy of theatre that creates a “shock factor”, as opposed to a difference in the structure of setting within the two pieces.
Another clear comparison can be drawn between the physical setting within both pieces of prose. In “Wuthering Heights” there is a clear opposition between the civilized world of Thrushcross Grange and the desolation and savagery represented by “The Heights”. “The Grange” is described as somewhere that is “beautiful” and “civilized”, whereas “The Heights” are described as having “large jutting stones”. This can be represented by the kitchen, which seems to be a symbol of the blurring of social boundaries, with everyone from the lowest servants to Heathcliff himself living out their lives there. There is also a clear gender difference between the two. The phallic image of Wuthering Heights with it’s “jutting stones” and hardened, bare appearance compares drastically with the femininity of the Grange-a more civilized and pretty building. “Peniston Crag” also represents the masculinity of the Wuthering Heights environment. One cannot avoid the reference to penis, and its clear suggestion of something that is definitely male. However as well as this it is a reference to Heathcliff himself. He is a man often described in elemental terms, and in chapter 18 the Crag is described as attractive to the young Cathy especially when “…the setting sun shone on it”. This fits with Heathcliff’s “anti-hero” status, something that is somehow attractive despite all of its ugliness, (in his case of character) and bluntness. Setting is a vehicle for such ideas in Wuthering Heights. The opposing houses and places like “Peniston Crag” allow characters to be more defined, and ideas surrounding them (for example Heathcliff’s extreme masculinity) more developed.
The stark difference in setting between the two places allows for the transformation of Catherine. When she spends a lot of time at “The Grange” she matures and becomes a woman, indeed Hindley remarks on her return that “You look like a woman now”. Catherine has been changed dramatically due to uprooting and physically moving. In contrast Nora’s transformation comes from her prolonged stay in a specific environment, as opposed to a change emerging from moving. Therefore, In Cathy’s situation, it can be said that a higher social standing does not always reap benefits, her transformation torments Heathcliff and there becomes a distance between the two that was not present before. Bronte is saying then that however rich or reputable one can become, such things are not the “be all and end all”, and certainly are no match for true feeling and love. Of course their story ends in tragedy with both of them dying in very unhappy circumstances-a fitting end to such and allegory. But love does succeed in the end with the marriage of Cathy and Hareton. That was something that flourished out of the young Cathy’s willingness to teach Hareton to read-an act that would no have occurred if she had been prejudiced towards Hareton because of his lower social standing. Just as the old Cathy married Edgar arguably because of his social position, the young Cathy married despite Hareton’s, and so the injustice is eventually reversed. In the case of “A Doll’s House” the comment on the social situation of the time is that the desire to become more than you are leads to emotional distance or even separation. Torvald’s constant attempts to uphold himself in society make him immune to the real needs of Nora, and susceptible only to the shallow sides of her, (her beauty and token affection). And Nora herself was trying to be who she wasn’t by always being complicit to Torvald, all of which created a marriage based on false feeling and oppression. The passing of time is also important here. “Wuthering Heights” spans fifty years, whereas events in “A Doll’s House” happen over a period of around 60 hours. Although these are drastically different, in both there is a dramatic change of character. Nora’s change comes in a matter of days, but the change seen in “Wuthering Heights” is from one generation to the next, represented by the difference in relationship between Cathy and Heathcliff, and the young Cathy and Hareton.
It is important when talking about physical setting to mention boundaries, and the differences between them. In “A Doll’s House” the boundaries are very obvious, the isolation of the position of the house and, although it is seemingly her choice, the expectation that Nora should not have any need to leave the house. As well as these, there are the physical boundaries of the office and the letterbox. Such boundaries are a reflection of behavioral boundaries in the house. Nora is forbidden access to the letterbox as Torvald holds the key (another phallic image of his masculine superiority) and she is seemingly not allowed into the office as she is forced to “…listen at her husband’s door.” These restricted areas run parallel to the restrictions that Nora is subject to. However we see this starting to unravel when she dances the “Tarantella”. It is significant firstly because it is a tool of defiance towards Torvald-she is attempting to stop him from going to the letterbox by dancing wildly. Secondly the symbolism of this wild dancing and her hair becoming loose is important. It is the breaking of a boundary of propriety. She is doing something in opposition to the Victorian expectations placed on women; she is letting herself go, letting her hair become wild and doing something totally against the norm. Importantly, Torvald is horrified, saying, “This is sheer lunacy. Stop it, I say!” she has broken a boundary set out by his controlling actions towards her, and as soon as he feels he is losing control of her he becomes agitated. Thrushcross Grange in “Wuthering Heights” also has clear boundaries; it has a surrounding wall and is enclosed by the landscape. This is clear at the beginning of the book when Cathy and Heathcliff sneak up to The Grange, it is obvious that they are not supposed to be there, and a bulldog is set upon them when the alarm is raised. On the other hand Cathy and Heathcliff and are free to go onto the moors when they choose at Wuthering Heights. There are less boundaries there, and the moors represent the freedom that the two had, whereas when Cathy spent time at the Grange she became more restrained. Also, at Wuthering Heights windows are often being thrown open. For example when Heathcliff looks for Cathy’s ghost he opens the window and shouts for her. This kind of act only happens at the Grange with Cathy. She is someone that links the opposite images of the Heights and The Grange by throwing open a window at the height of her fever; she is breaking the boundaries of The Grange-something that she could do at her will as a child at Wuthering Heights. The windows are a symbol for the freedom and unrestricted life that Cathy and Heathcliff lived when they were young.
To conclude it is evident that Ibsen focused greatly on heavy symbolism to portray his message, the House and the Christmas tree being good examples. This implies that “A Doll’s House” had a very clear purpose of informing the audience on the social trends of the time, emphasized also by the use of the Classical Unities. “Wuthering Heights” differs in that it is an epic and at times melodramatic novel, and so does not immediately strike the audience as a piece of social commentary. However it certainly is, and would have been truly shocking to a Victorian reader just as “A Doll’s House” was to the Victorian audience. The messages coincide: that social standing should not overtake the real and lasting things in life, something that would have been a hard truth for many Victorians of the time and so is a testament to the challenges presented by both pieces. In terms of setting, both in physicality and time, the writers use it as a constant vehicle for ideas such as boundaries, gender, expectation and class. It is a centre point for “A Doll’s house” and “Wuthering Heights” in development of character as Nora and the old Cathy go through dramatic change because of their setting. As well as this, the differences in time span allow for portrayals of change that are very different but equally striking, significant because of the importance of dramatic change in both pieces.
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