Spring 2012
This edition—the first to be featured on MAPACA’s new website—features two articles, both of which offer incisive commentary on the effects of living in societies buffeted by the often harsh winds of change. Mary Grennen’s essay, “The Nature/Nurture Dichotomy of Ibsen’s Nora Helmer,” focuses on Nora’s evolution in Ibsen’s A Doll House, from a flighty, shallow woman—an embodiment of the Victorian stereotype—to one boldly willing to forsake her marriage in an attempt to satisfy her deep-seated desire for autonomy. John Hepler’s essay, “The Impact of Transformational Technology: Does Changing the Medium Change the Message?,” analyzes the ramifications of recent sea-changes to the music, film and television industries in the ways in which they deliver their products. He contends that the new methods of delivery alter—perhaps for the worse—our perception of these artistic creations. Thus, his essay represents an elegy for an earlier method, one that, he contends, successfully diminished the distance between the artistic production and its audience, a feat that modern delivery systems fail to accomplish.
We hope that you enjoy this edition of The Gazette and that you consider submitting your own essays, reflections, reviews, or artistic endeavors to the magazine. You may find information regarding submissions on our website. Thank you, and enjoy reading our two featured articles!
The Nature/Nurture Dichotomy of Ibsen’s Nora Helmer
The final door slam at the end of Ibsen’s controversial play A Doll’s House is one of the most famous exits in dramatic literature, one that has spawned ceaseless debate, horrifying disbelief, and even the invention of an alternate ending.
The Impact of Transformational Technology: Does Changing the Medium Change the Message?
In April 2011, I attended a concert at the Pittsburgh Philharmonic with friends from my university. The program that evening included Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 97, “Rhenish,” written in 1851; Franz Liszt’s Concerto No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra in A major, Op. 23, written in 1839 and 1849; and Richard Strauss’s Suite from Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59, written between 1909-1910. The orchestra was conducted by Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos.