4。1。3 Characters' dramatic functions 12

4。2 The reasons for their differences 12

4。2。1 Social backgrounds 12

4。2。2 Family backgrounds 13

4。2。3 Characters' dramatic functions 13

5。 Conclusion 15

References 16

1。 Introduction

1。1 Overview of Nora in A Doll’s House

As the female protagonist of A Doll’s House, Nora is a middle-class housewife who married a lawyer Helmer。 She met her husband Helmer at the Ministry when Helmer was conducting an investigation into her father。 Then Helmer helped Nora’s father to keep his job。 At the beginning of their married life, Nora needed 250 pounds to pay for a trip to Italy that would restore Helmer’s health。 Her father was dying at that time and she didn’t want to worry him, and her husband refused to take put a loan, so she borrowed the money secretly from an unscrupulous man, Krogstad, also a lawyer。 As a married woman, she cannot take out a loan without her husband’s consent, so she forged her father’s signature to secure the debt。 Krogstad realized the hoax because Nora had acted clumsily, but Nora did not realize that her misdeed had been unmasked。论文网

It is eight years later that the play itself starts。 At this time, Nora husband will be the manager of the bank soon, and Krogstad will be his subordinate。 When Nora’s childhood friend settles in town, Nora’s husband agrees to recruit her because of Nora’s request。 However, he decides to dismiss Krogstad, as Krogstad’s moral character is bad and he thinks that Krogstad is too familiar with him。 Krogstad tries to blackmail Nora, to make her persuade her husband to allow him to keep his place at bank, even to improve his social position。Nora fails, so Krogstad reveals her misdeed to Helmer, who realizes that he may lose his reputation, and so forbids her to look after their children。 He lifts this punishment when, at the request of Nora’s childhood friend, Krogstad gives them back the IOU。 Nevertheless, Nora decides to leave her home since she thinks that she has lived constrained life as if she is in a doll’s house。

1。2 Overview of Lu Shiping in Thunderstorm

Lu Shiping is one of the main characters in Thunderstorm。 She is the daughter of a maid who worked at the residence of Mr。 Zhou in Wuxi。 And she also worked as a maidservant like her mother。 As a humble maidservant, she unexpectedly fell in love the young Mr。 Zhou who had studied in Germany。 They loved each other very much so that they lived together for three years。 Shiping had two sons by him。 However, just three days after she’d given birth to the second son, the young Mr。 Zhou, who wanted to get rid of her and marry a rich, well-connected young lady, turned her out in a snow storm。 Mr。 Zhou’s family forced Shiping to leave her two babies behind at the house。 Eventually Shiping left the elder child behind with the family and took the ill baby with her。 The shock killed Shiping’s mother。 Driven by desperation, she threw herself and her child in the river on the New Year’s Eve, leaving a note on the band of the river。 

Luckily she was rescued。 But she was on her own, far from home, without any relatives or friends to help her。 In order to support her child and herself, she did everything, from begging to sewing, from working as a maid to being a servant in a school。 For the child’s sake she got married twice。 She finally married a poor man Lu Gui and they got a daughter Sifeng。 Coincidently, several years later Lu Gui and her grown daughter Sifeng worked at the Mr。 Zhou’s home。 Unluckily, Sifeng fell in love with her half-brother。 Lu Shiping decided to bear all the things alone and asked her children to leave secretly。 However, after the whole truth was uncovered, her daughter died in an accident caused by an electric cable and her elder child killed himself with the gun。