This study will examine the role that the past, and the portrayal of the past, plays in the development of the theme and characters in two plays, Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. The argument of the study is that Ibsen's use of sometimes awkward exposition in his play weakens his portrayal of the past and its role in the development of the theme and characters; Miller's more dramatic and experimental portrayal of the past, on the other hand, is much more successful. Miller avoids the threadbare use of artificial exposition of the past which weakens Ibsen's more traditional drama, especially when we consider how heavily Ibsen depends on that exposition.
Both authors rely heavily on significant events from the past in their development of theme and characters. The protagonists Nora and Willy in the two plays are forced to confront the past as it bears its terrible fruit in the present. Therefore, it is crucial for the success of the play and the presentation of its theme that that past is shown to the audience is a way which will unite that audience emotionally and/or psychologically with that past. If the audience does not relate emotionally or psychologically to the past events, then it will be less likely to relate meaningfully to the outcome of those events in the protagonist's present life. Again, in this regard, the argument here is that, overall, Ibsen is less successful than Miller.
To be fair, Ibsen's conventional use of exposition is not completely unsuccessful. For example, we do not need to see the Helmers in their days of dire economic straits to know that they went through such times and that now they are far better off. It would not benefit the play to see them toiling in poorer days. It is enough that Nora and Torvald discuss the "hard times" (Ibsen 1324) of the past and repeat several times how happy and grateful they are that they are now enjoying economic comfort and are o...