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A Doll's House

Henrik ibsen, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

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A Doll's House: Introduction

A doll's house: plot summary, a doll's house: detailed summary & analysis, a doll's house: themes, a doll's house: quotes, a doll's house: characters, a doll's house: symbols, a doll's house: theme wheel, brief biography of henrik ibsen.

Historical Context of A Doll's House

Other books related to a doll's house.

• Full Title: A Doll’s House (Norwegian: Ett dukkehjem )
• When Written: 1879
• Where Written: Dresden, Germany
• When Published: Published and first performed in December 1879
• Literary Period: Realism; modernism
• Genre: Realist modern prose drama
• Setting: A town or city in Norway
• Climax: When Torvald discovers the letter from Krogstad revealing Nora’s secret
• Antagonist: At first Krogstad, then Torvald

Extra Credit for A Doll's House

A True Story: A Doll’s House is based on the life of Ibsen’s family friend Laura Kieler, whose actions inspired the story of Nora’s secret debt. In reality, however, Kieler did not forge a signature, and when her husband, Victor, discovered her secret, he divorced her and forced her to be committed to an insane asylum. Ibsen, appalled by Kieler’s committal, wrote A Doll’s House in part as a way of defending her. After two years in the asylum Kieler returned to live with her husband and children and became a famous author in Denmark.

Scandalous: When it was first performed and for many years afterwards, A Doll’s House caused quite the scandal for its criticism of 19th-century marriage customs and portrayal of a woman abandoning her family in order to gain a sense of self. Pressured by several theatres and even the actress who was supposed to play Nora in a German production of the play, Ibsen wrote an alternative ending, in which Nora, upon seeing her children, changes her mind and stays with Torvald. He later regretted doing this, calling the adapted ending “a barbaric outrage.”

A Doll's House

By henrik ibsen, a doll's house study guide.

Ibsen’s A Doll’s House (1879), written while Ibsen was in Rome and Amalfi, Italy, was conceived at a time of revolution in Europe. Charged with the fever of the 1848 European revolutions, a new modern perspective was emerging in the literary and dramatic world, challenging the romantic tradition. It is Ibsen who can be credited for mastering and popularizing the realist drama derived from this new perspective. His plays were read and performed throughout Europe in numerous translations like almost no dramatist before. A Doll’s House was published in Copenhagen, Denmark, where it premiered.

His success was particularly important for Norway and the Norwegian language. Having been freed from four centuries of Danish rule in 1814, Norway was just beginning to shake off the legacy of Danish domination. A Doll’s House was written in a form of Norwegian that still bore heavy traces of Danish. Ibsen deliberately chose a colloquial language style to emphasize local realism, though Torvald Helmer does speak in what Michael Meyer has described as “stuffy Victorianisms.” Ibsen quickly became Norway’s most popular dramatic figure. But it is the universality of Ibsen’s writings, particularly of A Doll’s House, that has made this play an oft-performed classic (see “A Stage History” for details of the play in performance).

It is believed that the plot of A Doll’s House was based on an event in Ibsen’s own life. In 1870 Laura Kieler had sent Ibsen a sequel to Brand , called Brand’s Daughters , and Ibsen had taken an interest in the pretty, vivacious girl, nicknaming her “the lark.” He invited her to his home, and for two months in the summer of 1872, she visited his home constantly. When she married, a couple of years later, her husband fell ill and was advised to take a vacation in a warm climate–and Laura, like Nora does in the play, secretly borrowed money to finance the trip (which took place in 1876). Laura falsified a note, the bank refused payment, and she told her husband the whole story. He demanded a separation, removed the children from her care, and only took her back after she had spent a month in a public asylum.

Laura and Nora have similar-sounding names, but their stories diverge. In Ibsen’s play, Nora never returns home, nor does she ever break the news to her husband. Moreover—here the difference is most striking—it is Nora who divorces her husband. The final act of the play reveals Torvald as generous and even sympathetic.

A Doll’s House was the second in a series of realist plays by Ibsen. The first, The Pillars of Society (1877), had caused a stir throughout Europe, quickly spreading to the avant garde theaters of the island and the continent. In adopting the realist form, Ibsen abandoned his earlier style of saga plays, historical epics, and verse allegories. Ibsen’s letters reveal that much of what is contained in his realist dramas is based on events from his own life. Indeed, he was particularly interested in the possibility of true wedlock as well as in women in general. He later would write a series of psychological studies focusing on women.

One of the most striking and oft-noted characteristics of A Doll’s House is the way it challenges the technical tradition of the so-called well-made play in which the first act offers an exposition, the second a situation, and the third an unraveling. This was the standard form from the earliest fables until the time of A Doll’s House, which helped usher in a new, alternative standard. Ibsen’s play was notable for exchanging the last act’s unraveling for a discussion, one which leaves the audience uncertain about how the events will conclude. Critics agree that, until the last moments of the play, A Doll’s House could easily be just another modern drama broadcasting another comfortable moral lesson. Finally, however, when Nora tells Torvald that they must sit down and “discuss all this that has been happening between us,” the play diverges from the traditional form. With this new technical feature, A Doll’s House became an international sensation and founded a new school of dramatic art.

Additionally, A Doll’s House subverted another dramatic tradition. Ibsen’s realist drama disregarded the tradition of featuring an older male moral figure. Dr. Rank , the character who should serve this role, is far from a positive moral force. Instead, he is not only sickly, rotting from a disease picked up from his father’s earlier sexual exploits, but also lascivious, openly coveting Nora. The choice to portray both Dr. Rank and the potentially matronly Mrs. Linde as imperfect humans seemed like a novel approach at the time.

The real complexity (as opposed to a stylized dramatic romanticism) of Ibsen’s characters remains something of a challenge for actors. Many actresses find it difficult to portray both a silly, immature Nora in the first act or so and the serious, open-minded Nora of the end of the last act. Similarly, actors are challenged to portray the full depth of Torvald’s character. Many are tempted to play him as a slimy, patronizing brute, disregarding the character’s genuine range of emotion and conviction. Such complexity associates A Doll’s House with the best of Western drama. The printed version of A Doll’s House sold out even before it hit the stage.

A more obvious importance of A Doll’s House is the feminist message that rocked the stages of Europe when the play premiered. Nora’s rejection of marriage and motherhood scandalized contemporary audiences. In fact, the first German productions of the play in the 1880s used an altered ending, written by Ibsen at the request of the producers. Ibsen referred to this version as a “barbaric outrage” to be used only in emergencies.

The revolutionary spirit and the emergence of modernism influenced Ibsen’s choice to focus on an unlikely hero, a housewife, in his attack on middle-class values. Quickly becoming the talk of parlors across Europe, the play succeeded in its attempt to provoke discussion. In fact, it is the numerous ways that the play can be read and interpreted that make the play so interesting. Each new generation has had a different way of interpreting the book, from seeing it as feminist critique to taking it as a Hegelian allegory of the spirit’s historical evolution. This richness is another sign of its greatness.

Yet precisely what sort of play is it? George Steiner claims that the play is “founded on the belief…that women can and must be raised to the dignity of man,” but Ibsen himself believed it to be more about the importance of self-liberation than the importance of specifically female liberation—yet his contemporary Strindberg certainly disagreed, himself calling the play a “barbaric outrage” because of the feminism he perceived it as promoting.

There are many comic sections in the play—one might argue that Nora’s “songbird” and “squirrel” acts, as well as her early flirtatious conversations with her husband, are especially humorous. Still, like many modern productions, A Doll’s House seems to fit the classical definition of neither comedy nor tragedy. Unusually for a traditional comedy, at the end there is a divorce, not a marriage, and the play implies that Dr. Rank could be dead as the final curtain falls. But this is not a traditional tragedy either, for the ending of A Doll’s House has no solid conclusion. The ending notably is left wide open: there is no brutal event, no catharsis, just ambiguity. This is a play that defies boundaries.

A Doll’s House Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for A Doll’s House is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Explain why krogstad says he would ask for his letter back

The music of the tarantella is heard above, and Mrs. Linde urges Krogstad to be quick. Krogstad now grows suspicious, questioning whether she is saying all of this simply on behalf of Nora. She denies it, and he then offers to take the letter...

Meaning of Excesses with regards to A Doll's House

What act are you referring to?

Mrs Linde States "i want to be a mother to someone, and your children need amother. We two need each other. Nils, I have faith in your real character I can dare anything together with you ?Based on this reading What does she want from life?

Ultimately, Mrs. Linde decides that she will only be happy if she goes off with Krogstad. Her older, weary viewpoint provides a foil to Nora's youthful impetuousness. She perhaps also symbolizes a hollowness in the matriarchal role. Her...

Study Guide for A Doll’s House

A Doll's House study guide contains a biography of Henrik Ibsen, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About A Doll's House
• A Doll's House Summary
• Character List

Essays for A Doll’s House

A Doll's House essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's House.

• Influence of Antigone on A Doll's House
• Burning Down the Doll House
• Ibsen's Portrayal of Women
• Dressed to Impress: The Role of the Dress in Cinderella and A Doll's House
• A Doll's House: Revolution From Within

Lesson Plan for A Doll’s House

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to A Doll's House
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• A Doll's House Bibliography

E-Text of A Doll’s House

A Doll's House e-text contains the full text of A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen.

• DRAMATIS PERSONAE

Wikipedia Entries for A Doll’s House

• Introduction
• List of characters
• Composition and publication
• Production history

Literary Theory and Criticism

Home › Drama Criticism › Analysis of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House

Analysis of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on July 27, 2020 • ( 0 )

Whether one reads A Doll’s House as a technical revolution in modern theater, the modern tragedy, the first feminist play since the Greeks, a Hegelian allegory of the spirit’s historical evolution, or a Kierkegaardian leap from aesthetic into ethical life, the deep structure of the play as a modern myth of self-transformation ensures it perennial importance as a work that honors the vitality of the human spirit in women and men.

—Errol Durbach, A Doll’s House : Ibsen’s Myth of Transformation

More than one literary historian has identified the precise moment when modern drama began: December 4, 1879, with the publication of Ibsen ’s Etdukkehjem ( A Doll’s House ), or, more dramatically at the explosive climax of the first performance in Copenhagen on December 21, 1879, with the slamming of the door as Nora Helmer shockingly leaves her comfortable home, respectable marriage, husband, and children for an uncertain future of self-discovery. Nora’s shattering exit ushered in a new dramatic era, legitimizing the exploration of key social problems as a serious concern for the modern theater, while sounding the opening blast in the modern sexual revolution. As Henrik Ibsen ’s biographer Michael Meyer has observed, “No play had ever before contributed so momentously to the social debate, or been so widely and furiously discussed among people who were not normally interested in theatrical or even artistic matter.” A contemporary reviewer of the play also declared: “When Nora slammed the door shut on her marriage, walls shook in a thousand homes.”

Ibsen set in motion a transformation of drama as distinctive in the history of the theater as the one that occurred in fifth-century b.c. Athens or Elizabethan London. Like the great Athenian dramatists and William Shakespeare, Ibsen fundamentally redefined drama and set a standard that later playwrights have had to absorb or challenge. The stage that he inherited had largely ceased to function as a serious medium for the deepest consideration of human themes and values. After Ibsen drama was restored as an important truth-telling vehicle for a comprehensive criticism of life. A Doll’s House anatomized on stage for the first time the social, psychological, emotional, and moral truths beneath the placid surface of a conventional, respectable marriage while creating a new, psychologically complex modern heroine, who still manages to shock and unsettle audiences more than a century later. A Doll’s House is, therefore, one of the ground-breaking modern literary texts that established in fundamental ways the responsibility and cost of women’s liberation and gender equality. According to critic Evert Sprinchorn, Nora is “the richest, most complex” female dramatic character since Shakespeare’s heroines, and as feminist critic Kate Millett has argued in Sexual Politics, Ibsen was the first dramatist since the Greeks to challenge the myth of male dominance. “In Aeschylus’ dramatization of the myth,” Millett asserts, “one is permitted to see patriarchy confront matriarchy, confound it through the knowledge of paternity, and come off triumphant. Until Ibsen’s Nora slammed the door announcing the sexual revolution, this triumph went nearly uncontested.”

The momentum that propelled Ibsen’s daring artistic and social revolt was sustained principally by his outsider status, as an exile both at home and abroad. His last deathbed word was “ Tvertimod !” (On the contrary!), a fitting epitaph and description of his artistic and intellectual mindset. Born in Skien, Norway, a logging town southwest of Oslo, Ibsen endured a lonely and impoverished childhood, particularly after the bankruptcy of his businessman father when Ibsen was eight. At 15, he was sent to Grimstad as an apothecary’s apprentice, where he lived for six years in an attic room on meager pay, sustained by reading romantic poetry, sagas, and folk ballads. He later recalled feeling “on a war footing with the little community where I felt I was being suppressed by my situation and by circumstances in general.” His first play, Cataline , was a historical drama featuring a revolutionary hero who reflects Ibsen’s own alienation. “ Cataline was written,” the playwright later recalled, “in a little provincial town, where it was impossible for me to give expression to all that fermented in me except by mad, riotous pranks, which brought down upon me the ill will of all the respectable citizens who could not enter into that world which I was wrestling with alone.”

Largely self-educated, Ibsen failed the university entrance examination to pursue medical training and instead pursued a career in the theater. In 1851 he began a 13-year stage apprenticeship in Bergen and Oslo, doing everything from sweeping the stage to directing, stage managing, and writing mostly verse dramas based on Norwegian legends and historical subjects. The experience gave him a solid knowledge of the stage conventions of the day, particularly of the so-called well-made play of the popular French playwright Augustin Eugène Scribe and his many imitators, with its emphasis on a complicated, artificial plot based on secrets, suspense, and surprises. Ibsen would transform the conventions of the well-made play into the modern problem play, exploring controversial social and human questions that had never before been dramatized. Although his stage experience in Norway was marked chiefly by failure, Ibsen’s apprenticeship was a crucial testing ground for perfecting his craft and providing him with the skills to mount the assault on theatrical conventions and moral complacency in his mature work.

In 1864 Ibsen began a self-imposed exile from Norway that would last 27 years. He traveled first to Italy, where he was joined by his wife, Susannah, whom he had married in 1858, and his son. The family divided its time between Italy and Germany. The experience was liberating for Ibsen; he felt that he had “escaped from darkness into light,” releasing the productive energy with which he composed the succession of plays that brought him worldwide fame. His first important works, Brand (1866) and Peer Gynt (1867), were poetic dramas, very much in the romantic mode of the individual’s conflict with experience and the gap between heroic assertion and accomplishment, between sobering reality and blind idealism. Pillars of Society (1877) shows him experimenting with ways of introducing these central themes into a play reflecting modern life, the first in a series of realistic dramas that redefined the conventions and subjects of the modern theater.

The first inklings of his next play, A Doll’s House , are glimpsed in Ibsen’s journal under the heading “Notes for a Modern Tragedy”:

There are two kinds of moral laws, two kinds of conscience, one for men and one, quite different, for women. They don’t understand each other; but in practical life, woman is judged by masculine law, as though she weren’t a woman but a man.

The wife in the play ends by having no idea what is right and what is wrong; natural feelings on the one hand and belief in authority on the other lead her to utter distraction. . . .

Moral conflict. Weighed down and confused by her trust in authority, she loses faith in her own morality, and in her fitness to bring up her children. Bitterness. A mother in modern society, like certain insects, retires and dies once she has done her duty by propagating the race. Love of life, of home, of husband and children and family. Now and then, as women do, she shrugs off her thoughts. Suddenly anguish and fear return. Everything must be borne alone. The catastrophe approaches, mercilessly, inevitably. Despair, conflict, and defeat.

To tell his modern tragedy based on gender relations, Ibsen takes his audience on an unprecedented, intimate tour of a contemporary, respectable marriage. Set during the Christmas holidays, A Doll’s House begins with Nora Helmer completing the finishing touches on the family’s celebrations. Her husband, Torvald, has recently been named a bank manager, promising an end to the family’s former straitened financial circumstances, and Nora is determined to celebrate the holiday with her husband and three children in style. Despite Torvald’s disapproval of her indulgences, he relents, giving her the money she desires, softened by Nora’s childish play-acting, which gratifies his sense of what is expected of his “lark” and “squirrel.” Beneath the surface of this apparently charming domestic scene is a potentially damning and destructive secret. Seven years before Nora had saved the life of her critically ill husband by secretly borrowing the money needed for a rest cure in Italy. Knowing that Torvald would be too proud to borrow money himself, Nora forged her dying father’s name on the loan she received from Krogstad, a banking associate of Torvald.

The crisis comes when Nora’s old schoolfriend Christina Linde arrives in need of a job. At Nora’s urging Torvald aids her friend by giving her Krogstad’s position at the bank. Learning that he is to be dismissed, Krogstad threatens to expose Nora’s forgery unless she is able to persuade Torvald to reinstate him. Nora fails to convince Torvald to relent, and after receiving his dismissal notice, Krogstad sends Torvald a letter disclosing the details of the forgery. The incriminating letter remains in the Helmers’ mailbox like a ticking time-bomb as Nora tries to distract Torvald from reading it and Christina attempts to convince Krogstad to withdraw his accusation. Torvald eventu-ally reads the letter following the couple’s return from a Christmas ball and explodes in recriminations against his wife, calling her a liar and a criminal, unfit to be his wife and his children’s mother. “Now you’ve wrecked all my happiness—ruined my whole future,” Torvald insists. “Oh, it’s awful to think of. I’m in a cheap little grafter’s hands; he can do anything he wants with me, ask me for anything, play with me like a puppet—and I can’t breathe a word. I’ll be swept down miserably into the depths on account of a featherbrained woman.” Torvald’s reaction reveals that his formerly expressed high moral rectitude is hypocritical and self-serving. He shows himself worried more about appearances than true morality, caring about his reputation rather than his wife. However, when Krogstad’s second letter arrives in which he announces his intention of pursuing the matter no further, Torvald joyfully informs Nora that he is “saved” and that Nora should forget all that he has said, assuming that the normal relation between himself and his “frightened little songbird” can be resumed. Nora, however, shocks Torvald with her reaction.

Nora, profoundly disillusioned by Torvald’s response to Krogstad’s letter, a response bereft of the sympathy and heroic self-sacrifice she had hoped for, orders Torvald to sit down for a serious talk, the first in their married life, in which she reviews their relationship. “I’ve been your doll-wife here, just as at home I was Papa’s doll-child,” Nora explains. “And in turn the children have been my dolls. I thought it was fun when you played with me, just as they thought it fun when I played with them. That’s been our marriage, Torvald.” Nora has acted out the 19th-century ideal of the submissive, unthinking, dutiful daughter and wife, and it has taken Torvald’s reaction to shatter the illusion and to force an illumination. Nora explains:

When the big fright was over—and it wasn’t from any threat against me, only for what might damage you—when all the danger was past, for you it was just as if nothing had happened. I was exactly the same, your little lark, your doll, that you’d have to handle with double care now that I’d turned out so brittle and frail. Torvald—in that instant it dawned on me that I’ve been living here with a stranger.

Nora tells Torvald that she no longer loves him because he is not the man she thought he was, that he was incapable of heroic action on her behalf. When Torvald insists that “no man would sacrifice his honor for love,” Nora replies: “Millions of women have done just that.”

Nora finally resists the claims Torvald mounts in response that she must honor her duties as a wife and mother, stating,

I don’t believe in that anymore. I believe that, before all else, I’m a human being, no less than you—or anyway, I ought to try to become one. I know the majority thinks you’re right, Torvald, and plenty of books agree with you, too. But I can’t go on believing what the majority says, or what’s written in books. I have to think over these things myself and try to understand them.

The finality of Nora’s decision to forgo her assigned role as wife and mother for the authenticity of selfhood is marked by the sound of the door slamming and her exit into the wider world, leaving Torvald to survey the wreckage of their marriage.

Ibsen leaves his audience and readers to consider sobering truths: that married women are the decorative playthings and servants of their husbands who require their submissiveness, that a man’s authority in the home should not go unchallenged, and that the prime duty of anyone is to arrive at an authentic human identity, not to accept the role determined by social conventions. That Nora would be willing to sacrifice everything, even her children, to become her own person proved to be, and remains, the controversial shock of A Doll’s House , provoking continuing debate over Nora’s motivations and justifications. The first edition of 8,000 copies of the play quickly sold out, and the play was so heatedly debated in Scandinavia in 1879 that, as critic Frances Lord observes, “many a social invitation in Stockholm during that winter bore the words, ‘You are requested not to mention Ibsen’s Doll’s House!” Ibsen was obliged to supply an alternative ending for the first German production when the famous leading lady Hedwig Niemann-Raabe refused to perform the role of Nora, stating that “I would never leave my children !” Ibsen provided what he would call a “barbaric outrage,” an ending in which Nora’s departure is halted at the doorway of her children’s bedroom. The play served as a catalyst for an ongoing debate over feminism and women’s rights. In 1898 Ibsen was honored by the Norwegian Society for Women’s Rights and toasted as the “creator of Nora.” Always the contrarian, Ibsen rejected the notion that A Doll’s House champions the cause of women’s rights:

I have been more of a poet and less of a social philosopher than people generally tend to suppose. I thank you for your toast, but must disclaim the honor of having consciously worked for women’s rights. I am not even quite sure what women’s rights really are. To me it has been a question of human rights. And if you read my books carefully you will realize that. Of course it is incidentally desirable to solve the problem of women; but that has not been my whole object. My task has been the portrayal of human beings.

Despite Ibsen’s disclaimer that A Doll’s House should be appreciated as more than a piece of gender propaganda, that it deals with universal truths of human identity, it is nevertheless the case that Ibsen’s drama is one of the milestones of the sexual revolution, sounding themes and advancing the cause of women’s autonomy and liberation that echoes Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and anticipates subsequent works such as Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own and Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique.

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A Doll’s House Essay

A Doll’s House was written by Henrik Ibsen in 1879. A Doll’s House is not only one of Henrik Ibsen’s most famous plays, but it has also been seen as the starting point for realist drama. A Doll’s House, along with Brand and Peer Gynt, are often considered to be the first modern plays written in Europe. A Doll’s House is a play about power, money, guilt, duty, and family relationships.

A Doll’s House starts with Mrs. Nora Helmer who decides that her family should have an evening at home to celebrate Torvald’s birthday even though there are various outside activities planned earlier on that day. After getting all the children to bed Nora makes some coffee and brings some cake for herself and Torvald. She notices that the maid is not coming in to clear the table, despite several requests. As it turns out, Aune (the maid) is sick and unable to come to work. Nora remarks on Aune’s “poor condition”, saying she will take up Aune’s duties while Aune is ill.

Eventually, Nora forgets about Aune entirely as she becomes engrossed in her own thoughts of how their life together has become stifling; all play rather than essential sustenance of family life had ceased, with Torvald preferring to read newspapers alone in his study each evening rather than engaging with his wife or children. Nora decides she must break free from the chains that bind her. Aune, who turns up at one point is too sick to help with Nora’s children. Nora promises Aune that she will hire a nurse for Aune once Aune has recovered from her illness.

Aune leaves and Torvald enters. He asks about Aune, not believing that an important event would prevent Aune from attending work. The two converse until Nora suggests that they go out to visit Mrs. Linde (who had earlier announced temporary departure due to poor health). Torvald becomes irate over this suggestion as he does not have time to waste on “unimportant” people currently immersed in newspaper reading. He complains of the dinner being cold, further displaying his ignorance of his family and Aune’s conditions.

Nora sees past Torvald’s narrow-mindedness and decides to sit down and play the piano without his permission. He becomes even angrier because Nora has lost track of time while playing; instead of taking up Aune’s duties, she should be finishing the housework such as what Aune would typically do. Nora sees that her husband is quite ignorant in not understanding why Aune is unable to come into work, yet he will not allow Aune a few days’ leave when needed. She tells Torvald about Aune’s illness, but he does not believe it to be a serious affliction.

Not wanting to argue with him so late night, Nora decides to postpone Aune’s endeavor to find a nurse for Aune. The play moves to the following morning, as Nora narrates her daily routine (how she is to be “the perfect wife”). She is aware of Torvald’s explicit caresses every time he returns home from work, but his attentions are merely symbolic gestures signifying their financial arrangement. Aune enters, having recovered from her illness enough to return to work.

Aune relates that one of Mrs. Linde’s family friends has offered Aune a better-paid position in another town. Aune asks Nora whether she believes she is doing the right thing by leaving Nora in need of help with the children and housework. Aune also asks Nora if Torvald will speak to Aune about her departure. Aune requests that Nora not mention Aune’s leaving to Torvald, because Aune does not want him to feel obliged to give Aune a reference. Aune also discloses why she has taken the position, stating she is leaving for “personal reasons”.

Mrs. Linde enters, stating that an old friend of hers who works as a lawyer in Rome has offered her well-paid work caring for his motherless daughter. She requests permission from both Aune and Nora before accepting the job offer. The two are supportive; they will need help while Aune is gone. Mrs. Linde remarks on how overjoyed she is by the prospect of finding employment once again after such a long period of unemployment. Aune also shares her plans of finding a nurse for Aune, but Nora is reluctant to share the news, Aune, leaving with Torvald because he will be disappointed at Aune’s departure.

Aune warns Mrs. Linde that she must not mention Aune’s departure to Torvald either. Aune leaves and Mrs. Linde takes over Aune’s duties in the kitchen while Nora continues playing the piano. Torvald once again returns from work, ruining his routine when he finds no one in the sitting room waiting for him. He calls out “Nora”, and Nora responds by going into her bedroom where Torvald sits on a chair reading a newspaper. She tells him about Aune having left the house. Aune, Nora points out, will definitely provide a reference for Aune.

Torvald begins to worry about Aune leaving, citing that Aune’s work has been outstanding and she would be an exceptional nurse even to his children. He accuses Nora of not being considerate enough towards Aune in allowing Aune the choice of whether or not to stay. Torvald proceeds with his newspaper reading while Nora returns to playing the piano; he comments on how well-played the piece is and praises her talent at playing it so excellently together with such speed and agility. Torvald remarks that Nora never ceases to amaze him (“”Det star mig sa n? som for/Og det driver mig saa forf? rdeligt til vanvidd””).

Aune returns from the kitchen, where Aune has been packing her belongings. Aune asks Nora if she could have a few moments alone with Torvald to say goodbye. A few minutes later Aune asks Mrs. Linde to take a peek at Aune and Torvald to see whether they are finished talking yet because Aune cannot hear anything from Aune’s bedroom. Mrs. Linde enters first before calling for Aune; she tells Aune that it would be best for Aune not to come inside as it appears that there is trouble between them.

Aune stays anyway, deciding that enough time should have passed by now as Mrs. Linde re-enters Aune’s room. Aune enters the bedroom to see Torvald embracing Aune; they are back in love. Aune overhears that Torvald has no idea Aune is leaving until Aune hears Torvald describe how it feels like Aune has left him all alone with three children—he knows exactly how much Aune means to Nora (and vice versa); he wants Aune to stay, even though he can offer her very little except for his gratitude and admiration of Aune’s work.

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A Doll's House

53 pages • 1 hour read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

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Discussion Questions

Examine the pet names Torvald uses for Nora , like “skylark” and “squirrel.” What do these names say about how Torvald sees Nora? Why might Ibsen have chosen these particular nicknames?

There are three women in this story: Nora , Kristine , and Anne Marie. What do their different experiences say about the pressures women faced at the end of the 19th century?

Every scene in the play takes place in the living room of Torvald and Nora’s house. Why do you think Ibsen chose to confine the action to this single room?

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Kcse Exams Revision Material

EXCERPTS FROM A DOLL’S HOUSE KCSE REVISION QUESTIONS- EXCERPT 1-5

Get Questions on The Excerpt 6-10

Excerpts from a doll’s house kcse revision questions, doll house questions and answers.

Read the excerpt below and then answer the questions that follow

Mrs. Linde: Yes, that was what I was thinking of. 

Nora: He must, Christine. Just leave it to me; I will broach the subject very cleverly- I will think of something that will please him very much. It will make me so happy to be of some use to you.           

Mrs. Linde: How kind you are, Nora, to be so anxious to help me! It is doubly kind of you, for youknow so little of the burdens and troubles of life. 

Nora: I -? I know so little of them? 

Mrs. Linde: (Smiling) My dear! Small household cares and that sort of thing! – You are a child,Nora. 

Nora: (tosses her head and crosses the stage) You ought not to be so superior, Mrs. Linde: No? 

Nora: You are just like the others. They all think that I am

incapable of anything really serious- 

Mrs. Linde : Come, come – 

Nora: – that I have gone through nothing in this world of cares. 

Mrs. Linde: But, my dear Nora, you have just told me all your troubles. 

Nora: Pooh! – those were trifles. (Lowering her voice) I have not told you the important thing. 

Mrs. Linde: The important thing? What do you mean? 

Nora: You look down upon me altogether, Christine – but you ought not to. You are proud, aren’t you, of having worked so hard and so long for your mother? 

Mrs. Linde: Indeed, I don’t look down on anyone. But it is true that I am both proud and glad to think that I was privileged to make the end of my mother’s life almost free from care.

Nora: And you are proud to think of what you have done for your brothers? 

Mrs. Linde: I think I have the right to be. 

Nora: I think so, too. But now, listen to this: I too have something to be proud and glad of. Mrs. Linde : I have no doubt you have. But what do you refer to? 

Nora: Speak low. Suppose Torvald were to hear! He mustn’t on any account – no one in the world must know, Christine, except you. 

Mrs. Linde: But what is it? 

Nora: Come here. (Pulls her down on the sofa beside her.)  Now I will show you that I too have something to be proud and glad of. 

Questions   

• What does Mrs. Linde refer to when she says “that was what I was thinking of”? (2mks) 
• How do you compare Mrs. Linde’s reference to Nora as a child and Torvalds Helmer’s of her from the text? (2mks) 
• Describe characters of: (4mks) 

i) Mrs. Linde:  ii) Nora: 

• What is Mrs. Linde’s attitude towards Nora? (2mks) 
• From your knowledge of the text, why does Nora refuse to tell her secret to her husband? (3mks) 
• Rewrite the following in reported speech (2mks) 

Nora: You look down upon me altogether, Christine – but you ought not to . 

• What is ironical about Nora’s assertion that ‘no one in the world must know, Christine, except you.’ And what does this reveal about Nora’s character? (3mks) 
• Identify and illustrate any theme evident in this excerpt (2mks) 
• Change the sentence below into a interrogative one. (1mk)   I think I have the right to be. 
• Explain the meaning of the following expressions as used in the passage. (2mks) 

i)  Broach      –      ii)  Look down on

EXCERPTS FROM A DOLL’S HOUSE KCSE REVISION QUESTIONS NUMBER 2 

Nora : ( jumping up and going to him ) oh, dear, nice Doctor Rank, I never meant that at all. 

But surely you can understand that being with Torvald is a little like being with Papa – ( enter MAID from the hall )  Maid: if you please, ma’am. ( Whispers and hands her a card ) Nora : ( glancing at the card ) oh! ( Puts it into her pocket ) Rank : is there anything wrong? 

Nora : No, no, not in the least. It is only something – it is my new dress –  Rank: what? Your dress is lying there.  Nora : Oh, yes, that one: but this is another. I ordered it. Torvald mustn’t know about it –  Rank : Oho! Then was the great secret.  Nora : Of course. Just go in to him: he is sitting in the inner room. Keep him as long as –  Rank : Make our mind easy; I won’t let him escape ( goes into HELMER’S room ) Nora : ( to the MAID ) And he is standing waiting in the kitchen? Maid : Yes; he came up the back stairs.  Nora : But didn’t you tell him no one was in? Maid : Yes, but it was no good. 

Nora: He won’t go away? 

Maid : No; he says he won’t until he has seen you, ma’am. 

Nora : Well, let him come in – but quietly. Helen you mustn’t say anything about it to anyone. It is a surprise for my husband. 

Maid : Yes, ma’am, I quite understand. ( exit ) 

Nora : This dreadful thing is going to happen! It will happen in spite of me! No, no, no, it can’t happen – it shan’t happen! 

  QUESTION 2  (25 marks)  

• Place this excerpt in its immediate context                  (3 mks) 
• Indentify and illustrate  the character trait of the following characters    (4 mks)

 i)Rank              ii)Nora 

• Who is in the kitchen and why has he come?      (3mks) 
• Identify and illustrate the dominant theme in the excerpt.  (2mks) 

h) “This dreadful thing is going to happen. “ Rewrite

                             in reported speech.                                                       (1mk)

i)Explain the dreadful thing that Nora fears  happen?                                                                         2 mks) 

   j) Explain the meaning of the following expressions as used in the excerpt.                                                       (3 mks

i) Make your mind easy – 

ii) I won’t  let him escape –  

iii) It was no good 

iv) Dreadful  –  

• “……… being with Torvald is a little like being with papa” what does Nora mean by this 

                                             statement?                                                             (2mks)

• Explain an incidence of dramatic irony  from the excerpt.                                                           (2mks)
• Why is Nora quick to usher Dr. Rank out          2 mks) of the room?   

EXCERPT 3  Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House Revision

Read the extract below and answer the questions that follow. (25 marks)  

Nora :  It’s a shame to say that. I do really save all I can.  Helmer: (laughing) That’s very true, – all you can. But you can’t save anything! 

Nora: (smiling quietly and happily) You haven’t any idea how many expenses we skylarks and squirrels have, Torvald. 

Helmer: You are an odd little soul. Very like your father. You always find some new way of wheedling money out of me, and as soon as you have got it, it seems to melt in your hands. You never know where it has gone. Still, one must take you

as you are. It is in the blood: for indeed it is true that you can inherit these things, Nora. 

Nora : Ah, I wish I had inherited many of papa’s qualities. 

Helmer: And I would not wish you to be anything but just what you are, my little skylark. But do you know, it strikes me that you are looking-rather—what shall I say- rather uneasy today? 

Nora: Do I? 

Helmer : You do, really. Look straight at me.  3

Nora : ( looks at him) well? 

Helmer : (wagging his finger at her) Hasn’t Miss Sweet Tooth been breaking rules in town today? 

Nora:  No; what makes you think that? 

Helmer: Hasn’t she paid a visit to the confectioner’s?   Nora: No, I assure you, Torvald- Helmer : Not been nibbling sweets? 

Nora:  No, certainly not. 

Helmer : Not even take a bite at a macaroon or two? 

Nora:  (going to the table on the right) I shouldn’t think of going against your wishes. 

Helmer: No, I am sure of that: besides, you gave me your word – (Going up to her) Keep your little Christmas secrets to yourself, my darling. They will be revealed tonight when the Christmas tree is lit, no doubt. 

Nora: Did you remember to invite Doctor Rank? 

Helmer : No. But there is no need; as a matter of course, he will come to dinner with us. However, I will ask him when he comes this morning. I have ordered some good wine. Nora, you can’t think how I am looking forward to this evening. 

Nora: So am I! And how the children will enjoy themselves, Torvald! 

Helmer: It is splendid to feel that one has a perfectly safe appointment, and a big enough income. It is delightful to

think of, isn’t it? 

Nora : It’s wonderful! 

• Place this extract in its immediate context. (4 marks) 
• Explain the dramatic irony in this extract.  (3marks) 
• Helmer says here, “it is splendid to feel that one has a perfectly safe appointment”. 

What is he referring to? (1 mark) 

• marks) 
• What do we learn about the character of Nora in this extract? (4 marks) 
• Imagine you are directing this play. Which quality would you look for in an actor to play the role of Torvald?

(2marks) 

• Explain the meaning of the following expressions as used in the extract? (3 marks) 
• Wheedling money out of me  ii) Confectioner’s    iii) You gave me your word 

EXCERPT 4 : Revision of A Doll’s House 

Read the excerpt below and then answer the questions that follow.  

Nora. What right have you to question me, Mr.Krogstad?–You, one of my husband’s subordinates! But since you ask, you shall know. Yes, Mrs. Linde is to have an appointment. And it was I who pleaded her cause, Mr. Krogstad, let me tell you that. 

Krogstad. I was right in what I thought, then. 

Nora ( walking up and down the stage ). Sometimes one has a tiny little bit of influence, I should hope. Because one is a woman, it does not necessarily follow that–. When anyone is in a subordinate position, Mr. Krogstad, they should really be careful to avoid offending anyone who–who– Krogstad. Who has influence?  Nora. Exactly. 

Nora. What? What do you mean? 

Krogstad. You will be so kind as to see that I am allowed to keep my subordinate position in the Bank. 

Nora. What do you mean by that? Who proposes to take your post away from you? 

Krogstad. Oh, there is no necessity to keep up the pretence of ignorance. I can quite understand that your friend is not very anxious to expose herself to the chance of rubbing shoulders with me; and I quite understand, too, whom I have to thank for being turned off. 

Nora. But I assure you– 

Krogstad. Very likely; but, to come to the point, the time has come when I should advise you to use your influence to prevent that. 

Nora. But, Mr. Krogstad, I have no influence. 

Krogstad. Haven’t you? I thought you said yourself just now– 

Nora. Naturally I did not mean you to put that construction on it. I! What should make you think I have any influence of that kind with my husband? 

Krogstad. Oh, I have known your husband from our student days. I don’t suppose he is any more unassailable than other husbands. 

Nora. If you speak slightingly of my husband, I shall turn you out of the house. 

Krogstad. You are bold, Mrs. Helmer. 

Nora. I am not afraid of you any longer. As soon as the New Year comes, I shall in a very short time be free of the whole thing. 

Krogstad ( controlling himself ). Listen to me, Mrs.Helmer. If necessary, I am prepared to fight for my small post in the Bank as if I were fighting for my life. 

Nora. So it seems. 

Krogstad. It is not only for the sake of the money; indeed, that weighs least with me in the matter. There is another reason–well, I may as well tell you. My position is this. I daresay you know, like everybody else, that once, many years ago, I was guilty of an indiscretion. 

Nora. I think I have heard something of the kind. 

Krogstad. The matter never came into court; but every way seemed to be closed to me after that. So I took to the business that you know of. I had to do something; and, honestly, I don’t think I’ve been one of the worst. But now I must cut myself free from all that. My sons are growing up; for their sake I must try and win back as much respect as I can in the town. This post in the Bank was like the first step up for me–and now your husband is going to kick me downstairs again into the mud. Nora. But you must believe me, Mr. Krogstad; it is not in my power to help you at all. Krogstad. Then it is because you haven’t the will; but I have means to compel you. 

• Krogstad asks four questions just before this excerpt. Which are they?  (4marks) 
• For what reasons has Krogstad visited Nora? Refer to what happens in the excerpt and in the rest of the play.     

                                                            (3marks) 

• “I was right in what I thought, then.” What do you think Krogstad thought?   (2marks) 
• Describe two-character traits of Nora as brought out in the excerpt.               (4marks) 
• Rewrite the sentences according to the instructions given after each without changing their meanings. (2marks)  i. If you speak slightingly of my husband, I shall turn you out of the house. Use: Unless…

ii. So it seems. supply a question tag  

• Highlight two themes evident in this excerpt.                      (4marks) 
• “Then it is because you haven’t the will; but I have means to compel you.” How does Krogstad plan to force Nora to talk to her husband?            (3marks) 
• Write a word with the same meaning as each of the following words as used in the excerpt.(3marks) 

         i. Necessity         ii) Pleaded            iii) Influence   

EXCERPT 5: A Doll’s House  

Helmer:  I have got authority from the retiring manager to undertake the necessary changes in the staff and in the rearrangement of the work and I must make use of the Christmas week for that, so as to have everything in order for the New Year, Nora. Then that was why this poor Krogstad- 

Helmer:  Hm! 

Nora:   ( Leans against the back of his chair and strokes his hair) If you hadn’t been so busy I should have asked you a tremendously big favour, Torvald. 

Helmer:  What is that? Tell me. 

Nora:   There is no one who has such good taste as you. And I do so want to look nice at the fancy dress ball. Tovarld.  Couldn’t you take my hand and decide what I shall go as, and what sort of dress I shall wear? 

Aha! So my obstinate little woman is obliged to get Helmer:  someone to come to her rescue. 

Nora:       Yes, Torvald, I can’t get along a bit without your help. 

Very well. I will think it over; we shall manage to hit Helmer:  upon something 

That is nice of you ( goes to the Christmas tree; a

Nora:  short pause ) How pretty the red  flowers look, but tell me, was it really something very bad that this Krogstad was guilty of? 

Helmer:  He forged someone’s name. Have you any idea what that means?  Nora: 

Isn’t it possible that he was driven by necessity?  Helmer: 

Yes; or, as in so many cases, by imprudence. I am not Nora:  so heartless as to condemn a man altogether because Helmer:  of a single false step of that kind. 

No, you wouldn’t, would you, Torvald? 

Nora: 

Many a man has been able to retrieve his character, if Helmer:  he has openly confessed his fault and taken his punishment. 

Punishment -? 

Nora:       But do you think it would -? 

Helmer:  Just think how a guilty man like that has to lie and play the hypocrite with everyone; how he has to wear a mask in the presence of those near dear to him, even before his own wife and children. And about the children ……… that is the most terrible part of it all, Nora. 

Nora:       How? 

Helmer:  Because such an atmosphere of lies infects and poisons the whole life of home. Each breath the children take in such a house is full of the germs of evil. 

Nora:       ( coming near him ) Are you sure of that? 

Helmer:  My dear I have often seen it in the course of my life

as a lawyer. Almost everyone who has gone to the bad early in life has had a deceitful mother.  Nora:  Why do you say ……….. mother? 

QUESTIONS  

• Explain the events that lead to this excerpt.                                           

(4marks)  

• In this excerpt, though Helmer and Nora are discussing about Krogstad, they are indirectly referring to Nora’s

predicament. Explain.                                             (4marks)  

• ‘……… so my obstinate little woman is obliged to get someone to her rescue? Explain the 

‘rescue’ Nora needs at this point in time.     (4marks)   7

• From your knowledge of the text, apart from the fact that Krogstad had forged a signature why else does Helmer

detest him?                                                               (2marks)  

• Describe any two styles used in this excerpt   (6marks)  
• Give one character trait of Nora from this excerpt. (2marks)  
• Add a question tag: I can’t get a long a bit without your help                                    (1mark)  
• The discussion with Helmer leaves Nora terrified. Explain why this is so going by what happens immediately after

this excerpt    

Get Questions and Answers For The Excerpt 11-15                    

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English set books questions and answers.

A Doll’s House

The following analysis reveals a comprehensive look at the Storyform for A Doll’s House . Unlike most of the analysis found here—which simply lists the unique individual story appreciations—this in-depth study details the actual encoding for each structural item. This also means it has been incorporated into the Dramatica Story Expert application itself as an easily referenced contextual example.

Story Dynamics

8 of the 12 essential questions

Once it is clear that Torvald puts himself and his reputation before his wife, Nora realizes she is no longer in love with him, gives her wedding ring back, and prepares to leave him.

Nora must stand on her own and start a new life.

As a child in her father’s home, and as a wife in her husband’s home, Nora does everything in her power to adapt herself to her environment-even to the detriment of her self-esteem and peace of mind:

“It’s perfectly true, Torvald. When I was at home with Papa he told me his opinion about everything, and so I had the same opinions; and if I differed from him I concealed the fact, because he would not have liked it. He called me his doll child, and he played with me just as I used to play with my dolls. And when I came to live with you…I was simply transferred from Papa’s hands to yours. You arranged everything according to your taste, and so I got the same tastes as you-or else I pretended to.” (Ibsen, 1879, p. 195)

Nora effectively assesses what she needs to do to maintain the balance in her marriage.

Mrs. Linde decides to visit Nora; Nora decides to forge her father’s signature to obtain a bond; Krogstad decides to threaten Nora with exposure if she doesn’t help him keep his position; Nora decides to leave her husband; and so forth.

Nora and Torvald’s marriage will strengthen if only “the wonderful thing happens”-it doesn’t.

Nora’s decision to leave Torvald ends their marriage.

By leaving Torvald, Nora will have the opportunity to explore who she really is and learn to stand on her own.

Overall Story Throughline

"Keeping House, Keeping Secrets"

Nora endeavors to maintain a happy marriage; Mrs. Linde comes to town looking for work (and Krogstad); Krogstad attempts to save his job and rehabilitate his nature; Torvald prepares to take on the position of bank manager; Dr. Rank readies himself for death.

Nora makes certain that Mrs. Linde understands she is not a superficial creature, but a strong woman who used her intelligence and wit to save her husband’s life; Krogstad is concerned that Mrs. Linde understand the desperate lengths he had to go to in the past; Dr. Rank informs Nora when he sends one of his cards with a black cross upon it, she is to understand the process of death has begun for him; Torvald cannot understand what he considers is Nora’s betrayal; and so forth.

What Mrs. Linde sees in the Helmer household she interprets as concealment and falsehood; Krogstad senses Nora’s desperation and determines she may be contemplating suicide; Torvald fails in fully employing his senses to correctly interpret his wife’s actions and emotions; Dr. Rank’s impending death heightens his senses:

“‘Why shouldn’t one enjoy everything in this world?-at any rate as much as one man and as long as one can. The wine was capital-’” (Ibsen, 1879, p. 185)

Thinking of others to the exclusion of oneself is the source of problems in the Objective Story, although Torvald claims “‘No man will sacrifice his honor for the one he loves’” (Ibsen, 1879, p. 199), Nora points out that “‘It is the thing hundreds of thousands of women have done’” (Ibsen, 1879, p. 200); Mrs. Linde’s sensitivity to her loved ones without regard to her own needs has left her alone, a childless widow of a loveless marriage-arranged only to provide for her bedridden mother and two younger brothers. As a physician, Dr. Rank is conscious of other people’s disorder’s without considering his own illness.

Mrs. Linde becomes self-appreciating and allows herself happiness by planning to marry her first love, Krogstad. Once he is certain his own end is near, Dr. Rank takes the time to appreciate his own existence; and so forth.

Mrs. Linde perceives Nora to be superficial; Torvald perceives Nora as his “doll”; Nora chooses to see her husband as a man who loves her absolutely and will protect her at all costs; it is Nora’s perception that once she pays her debt and obtains her bond back, her problems will be resolved; and so forth.

After spending time in the Helmer household, Mrs. Linde is able to determine the true state of affairs; Dr. Rank tells Nora the true state of his heart-he is in love with her; Mrs. Linde accepts Krogstad for who he actually is; and so forth.

Mrs. Linde’s observation of how the Helmers are accustomed to interacting, leads her to change her mind about enabling Nora in her deception, and making sure Torvald will discover the truth. Torvald discovers the truth when he conforms to his habit of reading his daily mail, even after a late night at the fancy-dress ball.

Because Nora is slow to realize her true self, an honest understanding between her and Torvald is long in coming; Dr. Rank’s revelation of his true self to Nora, and his feelings about her, stops her from asking him for a favor, a favor that may have put an end to her dilemma.

Mrs. Linde makes progress towards fulfilling an empty life as she relocates to the Helmer’s town, enlists Nora’s help in finding a job, and revives her relationship with her former love, Krogstad; Krogstad is not satisfied with the slow progress he is making in rehabilitating himself, avoiding dishonorable acts and working his way up in the bank are not enough; the more Nora is able to do to pay off her debt, the more progress she feels she is making toward becoming carefree; and so forth.

Additional Overall Story Information →

It is Nora’s wish to maintain her happy household; its only shadow being the payment of her debt to Krogstad. When Krogstad, driven by the fear of losing his position (and therefore, any chance at respectability) at the bank, ups the ante and threatens to blackmail Nora with exposure of the bond she forged, she frantically tries to satisfy his demand that she use her influence with her husband (the new bank manager) to keep his job. As Nora is unable to comply, Krogstad exposes her past actions to Torvald, who turns on Nora. Nora, expecting her husband to stand by her, is hurt and angered by his reaction. Once Krogstad, redeemed by the love of Mrs. Linde, returns the bond to Torvald, he forgives Nora and prepares to resume their marriage. In Nora’s eyes, the marriage is irretrievably damaged, and she leaves.

Main Character Throughline

Nora — Wife

Nora maintains the conviction that if she can keep Torvald from discovering her past indiscretion, all will be well in their marriage.

Nora is concerned with recalling the difficulty of obtaining the money necessary to save her husband’s life.

Krogstad has evidence that Nora forged her father’s signature and is blackmailing Nora to influence her husband to keep him on at the bank; Nora’s adherence to this pressure serves to arouse Torvald’s suspicions.

Nora is aware of her husband and children’s needs, without paying attention to her own.

Once Nora chooses to be self-aware, she will be a better person for herself and others:

“I believe that before all else I am a reasonable human being just as you are-or, at all events, that I must try and become one…I can no longer content myself with what most people say or with what is found in books. I must think things over for myself and get to understand them.” (Ibsen, 1879, p. 197)

Nora focuses on the motivation to change her situation.

Nora is able to improve her situation by work:

“Well, then, I have found other ways of earning money. Last winter I was lucky enough to get a lot of copying to do, so I locked myself up and sat writing every evening until quite late at night. Many a time I was desperately tired, but all the same it was a tremendous pleasure to sit there working and earning money. It was like being a man.” (Ibsen, 1879, p. 130)

If Nora can maintain the fabrication she has created-her happy marriage will be maintained as well.

Try as she might to prevent Torvald from discovering the truth, it is inevitable he find out about her past indiscretion, which will have a tremendous impact on their future (or lack thereof) together.

Nora judges Torvald’s true feelings for her by his immediate response to her confession.

Additional Main Character Information →

“Warm, vibrant, childish…a devoted wife and mother who romps with her children…” (Flaxman, 1959, p.9)

Influence Character Throughline

Torvald Helmer — Husband

Torvald is concerned with his and his family’s status in the home and community.

Krogstad’s past misconduct assures him of losing his position at the bank, and his past relationship with Torvald determines there is no chance of Torvald trying to understand he is a changed man; Torvald alludes to Nora’s father’s past transgressions, and how they may have influenced his wife’s nature; Torvald has no desire to share his wife with anyone from her past; and so forth.

Torvald is deciding upon the future state of affairs at the bank, and fending off his wife’s efforts to change the course he has pre-determined; when Torvald learns of Nora’s forgery and the impending ruination of the Helmers’ reputation, he determines how they will act in the future to minimize any damage done to their image-his plans are halted by Krogstad’s returning Nora’s bond.

Torvald has established what he thinks is the perfect marriage, based on his ideals and what he believes to be the right way of doing things, and he wants to keep it that way:

Helmer: Nora-can I never be anything more than a stranger to you?

Nora: Ah, Torvald, the most wonderful thing of all would have to happen.

Helmer: Tell me what that would be!

Nora: Both you and I would have to be so changed-Oh, Torvald, I don’t believe any longer in wonderful things happening. (Ibsen, 1879, p. 202)

If Torvald could change his possessive and unbending nature, he would have a chance at a happy marriage.

Torvald’s perception of Nora as a doll, (not a real woman) and their life in the doll’s house (not a real marriage), causes problems for Nora, and ultimately, for himself.

Torvald’s actual nature turns Nora away from him.

Torvald’s destiny as bank manager is what forces Krogstad to put pressure on Nora.

Torvald values the truth more than Nora.

Torvald measures the progress he is making in his career by how it affects his status in the community.

More Influence Character Information →

Self-righteous, concerned with his status in the home and in the community.

Torvald Helmer, a pompous and self-satisfied man, is preparing to take on an important position of bank manager. He does not understand why his wife, a woman he considers no more than a decorative doll, pleads with him to retain Krogstad, a shady lawyer and friend of his past. Once he finds out Nora had borrowed money (and forged her father’s signature) from Krogstad, he turns on his wife, despite the fact she did it to save his life. He is willing to forgive and forget after Krogstad returns the bond, but it is too late-Nora leaves him.

Relationship Story Throughline

"The Wonderful Thing"

Nora and Torvald come into conflict because their ways of thinking differ; Torvald’s basis of evaluation is honor, Nora’s is love.

What Nora visualizes as to what makes a happy marriage is at odds with what Torvald values and sees as important.

Nora and Torvald’s status as a respectable married couple must be maintained, regardless of circumstances that may cause difficulties, as explained by Torvald:

“‘The matter must be hushed up at any cost. And as for you and me, it must appear as if everything between us were just as before-but naturally only in the eyes of the world’” (Ibsen, 1879, p. 191).

Nora submits to Torvald’s awareness of what he thinks is the right way to run a marriage, keeping the two from ever addressing their personal issues.

If each becomes aware of their own concerns they stand a chance of a happy marriage, but as Nora becomes self-aware, and Torvald does not, their marital problems are not solved.

Nora is subjected to Torvald having the upper hand in their marriage, emotionally and economically.

Nora thinks once Torvald’s salary increases, and once she has paid off her loan to Krogstad, her marriage will be stable; Torvald has no intention of their marriage ever achieving emotional or financial parity.

Torvald’s concern for his self and family’s image, and lack of concern for Nora’s feelings, hastens the breakup of their marriage.

Nora’s instinct to keep her doings away from Torvald impedes understanding between them.

The lack of growth in the Helmers’ marriage is based upon how well Nora fulfills the role of a little doll to Torvald’s role of the benevolent master.

Additional Relationship Story Information →

Nora and Torvald operate within their marriage according to the rules Torvald has set forth. Because each has a different way of thinking, conflict occurs when Nora steps outside these boundaries, even though it is to save Torvald’s life.

Additional Story Points

Key Structural Appreciations

The goal of common concern is Torvald and Nora maintaining a happy marriage, with a complete and honest understanding between them.

As Torvald fails to understand Nora, he must visualize a life without her; Nora must visualize a life without her husband and children.

In order to achieve the goal of understanding between Nora and Torvald, the past must be exposed, which effectively destroys the marriage.

Mrs. Linde and Nora reminisce about their days as schoolgirls; Nora has fond memories of her Nurse raising her; Dr. Rank has happy memories of his time spent in the Helmer household; Mrs. Linde’s memory of the love she and Krogstad shared brings her to town; and so forth.

Krogstad must write a letter to Torvald exposing Nora’s actions; Mrs. Linde must stop Krogstad from retrieving his letter before Torvald reads it; Nora must let go of her fear of Torvald discovering her dealings with Krogstad; Torvald, upon discovering the truth, must stand up for his wife.

Torvald has to fulfill the role of bank manager; Mrs. Linde must be a good friend to Nora; Nora plays the role of a doll to Torvald’s role of benevolent master; and so forth.

The way things are going, Krogstad’s position at the bank is in jeopardy with Torvald assuming the job as bank manager; for Krogstad, Nora repaying the loan is no longer sufficient-she must help him save his position at the bank.

Torvald’s immediate response to Nora’s entreaties on Krogstad’s behalf is negative; Nora instinctively hides the forbidden macaroons from Torvald; when Dr. Rank confesses his love to Nora, she instinctively moves away, and so forth.

Plot Progression

Dynamic Act Appreciations

Overall Story

The Helmers’ household prepares for Christmas; Mrs. Linde arrives in town to renew her friendship with her childhood school-mate, Nora, and to look for work; Krogstad meets with Torvald in regard to his position at the bank; and so forth.

Krogstad asks Nora if the woman he saw Torvald with was Mrs. Linde, and if so, is she to have an appointment (his) at the bank; Nora learns that Krogstad has determined she had forged her father’s signature; Nora learns that the law cares nothing for motives; and so forth.

Nora wants to get her bond back; Dr. Rank lets Nora know he would give his life for her sake; Krogstad wants to obtain Torvald’s help in rehabilitating his reputation; and so forth.

Mrs. Linde tries to make Krogstad understand why she had to break with him in the past; Mrs. Linde makes clear to Krogstad she understands why he has acted as he has in the past; Mrs. Linde and Krogstad reach an understanding about their future together; Mrs. Linde explains to Krogstad why he must not retrieve his damning letter:

“‘Helmer must know all about it. This unhappy secret must be disclosed; they must have a complete understanding between them, which is impossible with all this concealment and falsehood going on’” (Ibsen, 1879, p. 180).

Once Torvald has read the letter, he demands of Nora her understanding of her actions. He condemns her without forgiveness until he receives Nora’s bond back from Krogstad. His harsh words and actions lead Nora to understand he has never loved her and she has been served a great injustice.

Main Character

Nora shares with Mrs. Linde her recollections of how she borrowed money years before to save Torvald’s life.

Nora’s unthinking responses to Krogstad’s prodding creates more animosity between the two, undermining Nora’s bid for understanding from the loan shark.

Nora is driven by the fear of discovery.

Once the truth is out, Nora considers all of Torvald’s words and reactions, and decides she can no longer live with him.

Influence Character

Torvald is in the dark about what really happened in the past, how Nora was able to raise the money to make their trip to the south to save his life, and how it has impacted their home life. For example, he recalls how dull the three weeks before last year’s Christmas were when Nora had shut herself away from the family every night, ostensibly to make ornaments, when in reality she was doing copy work to pay off her debt.

Torvald is concerned with moving forward on his new authority at the bank by making use of the Christmas week to implement staff changes.

Because of Torvald and Krogstad’s past association as youths, Torvald is concerned that if he does not dismiss Krogstad, it will make his future position in the bank intolerable.

Torvald is concerned with what he feels is his wife’s betrayal, and the fact that he is now to live without her.

Relationship Story

Nora and Torvald come into conflict over how Nora plans to spend the money they anticipate from his new position.

Torvald unwittingly airs his views to Nora about how those who do not openly admit their guilt and take their punishment are hypocrites, and “‘such an atmosphere of lies infects and poisons the whole life of a home’” (Ibsen, 1879, p. 147), silencing Nora, who does not think in the same black and white terms.

Representative of her daily subjugation, Torvald wants Nora to transform herself into a Neapolitan fishergirl and dance the tarantella for the Stenborg’s fancy-dress ball; Nora wants Torvald to overcome his narrow-mindedness in regard to Krogstad keeping his post at the bank.

Torvald cannot conceive of Nora’s “betrayal”; Nora initially cannot conceive that her husband does not understand the lengths she was forced to take to save him, and how he now refuses to stand by her side.

Plot Progression Visualizations

Dynamic Act Schematics

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