Aleramo’s Una donna via Ibsen’s A Doll’s House

Enza De Francisci

doi:10.1177/00145858211046538

Abstract

This article provides a detailed comparison of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House (1879) and Sibilla Aleramo's novel Una donna (1906), focussing specifically on the similar endings of both works where the respective protagonist walks out on her family. It begins by examining the various contexts and collaborative networks that enabled the theatre of Ibsen to travel into late nineteenth-century Italy, namely Luigi Capuana's translation of the play, Casa di bambola, and early interpretations of the lead role by Italy's star actress, Eleonora Duse. The article proceeds to offer a close reading of Casa di bambola and Una donna, elucidating how Aleramo's first-person novel is able to expand on key issues which are only dealt with briefly in Ibsen's play. In so doing, the analysis illustrates what it was about Aleramo's narrative technique which both aligns her with, but also sets her apart from, her predecessor, shedding new light on the connective associations between the two authors.

Highlights

In a diary entry of 24 November 1940, Sibilla Aleramo openly acknowledged the impact of Henrik Ibsen’s Nora in Et dukkehjem [A Doll’s House], published in 1879,) on both her life and writing, stating that ‘senza quella voce “ottocentesca”, forse non sarei “divenuta quella che sono”’ (Aleramo, 1979: 14)
Despite later dropping the role of Nora from her repertoire, Duse, in particular, became one of the most prominent actresses to enable the role to travel around the world once she included it in her international repertoire, performing the role of Nora in Vienna in 1892, Bucarest the same year, and London’s Lyric Theatre in 1893. Though it is unclear whether Aleramo saw Duse’s performances, the actress had a significant impact on the circulation of Ibsen’s play in and outside of Italy, a play which was to have an everlasting effect on rising women authors, such as Aleramo who, like the narrator in her Una donna, followed closely in Nora’s footsteps
As for Una donna, whereas in A Doll’s House Ibsen does not offer the audience a profound understanding of Nora’s family history, Aleramo devotes the majority of the narrative to providing the reader with a full and detailed background into the suffering endured by the narrator’s mother as a result of her deeply unhappy marriage

Summary

Introduction

In a diary entry of 24 November 1940, Sibilla Aleramo openly acknowledged the impact of Henrik Ibsen’s Nora in Et dukkehjem [A Doll’s House], published in 1879,) on both her life and writing, stating that ‘senza quella voce “ottocentesca”, forse non sarei “divenuta quella che sono”’ (Aleramo, 1979: 14). Keywords Ibsen, A Doll’s House, Aleramo, Una donna, Capuana, Duse, Translation and Performance

Results

Conclusion