However, the play that stood out to me was “A Doll’s House”. I think it was the whole door slam at the end of the play. It was kind of funny. But what was more interesting is the fact that the writer, Henrik Ibsen, was asked to change the final scene of the play for an Italian production because, I guess, it was completely against society’s expectation of women to walk out of the house and abandon the family. The altered scene was that Nora would be “forcibly led by Helmer to the door of the children’s bedroom; a short dialogue takes place, Nora sinks down at the door, and the curtain falls.” Ibsen realized that this change was a “barbaric violence” to his work. I’m glad that he felt strongly about keeping the original ending. After all, the scenario is very realistic.

My biggest challenge while writing my essay was writing the introduction and conclusion paragraphs. For the intro, I’m never able to come up with anything “catchy” to put, so I end up with a poem summary and a thesis. Fortunately, I figured something out after an hour….or two. My conclusion paragraph was difficult to write, as it always is, because by the time I’ve written the rest of the paper, I almost always discover something new hidden in the text of the source. So I had to focus hard on what I was writing to prevent that from happening. I think the results were pretty good.

My biggest success was the thoroughness of analysis I was able to achieve. I feel like I was able to cover all of the important concepts and messages in the poem. Also, I was able to explain myself clearly, which rarely happens.

—-

The obscene hostess, mincing in the hall,
Gathers the guests around a crystal ball.
It is on the whole an exciting moment;
Mrs. Lefevre stares with her one good eye;
A friendly abdomen rubs against one’s back;
“Interesting,” a portly man is heard to sigh.

A somewhat unconvincing oriental leers
Redundantly; into the globe he peers,
Mutters a word or two and stands aside.
The glass grows cloudy with sulphorous fumes;
Beads rattle, latecomers giggle near the door.
A scene forms in the glass; silence invades the rooms.

The oriental glances up, conceals surprise
At such immediate success. Our eyes
Stare at the planes that fill the swelling globe,
Smoke-blue; blood, shelltorn faces. Suddenly a drum
Begins its steady beat, pursues us even here:
Death, and death again, and all the wars to come.

—-

The first stanza describes a party hostess as being loud a flirtatious towards her guests. And to liven up the party a little, she has invited a psychic to read a crystal ball. Everyone is so excited that they pack themselves like sardines around the table. Not to mention, there is that one person, the skeptic, who whisper’s,”Interesting….”

The psychic, who appears to be an obvious phony, has to put on a face of conviction, “[leering] redundantly,” and mumbling as though he has been possessed by supernatural forces. The party guests are slowly being hypnotized by the scene. It is a stereotypical scene: a cloudy crystal ball, rattling beads.…everything one needs to have a good fortune-telling party. Suddenly, “a scene forms in the glass; silence invades the room.”

At this point, the tone of the poem seems to change. It goes from a playful tone to a serious tone. The psychic seems to have actually predicted something! He looks up, concealing his surprise, while the party guests look down at the “swelling globe”. In it, they see planes, smoke, blood, and “shelltorn faces.” From the word choice, you can almost feel the tension that fills the room. Kees ends the poem with “Death, and death again, and all the wars to come.” This could be suggesting the inevitability of war and how war can reach any corner of the planet. It is almost like the party guests were so caught up in such a leisurely lifestyle (at least having the time to attend a party like this one) that they thought they were immune to war. Unfortunately, even they are no exception to war and its casualties.