A Guide To A Dolls House by BM Clean

A STUDY GUIDE TO
A DOLL’S HOUSE
BY HENRIK IBSEN
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www.arena.co.ke 0713779527
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mechanical, photocopying or otherwise without prior
written permission by the publisher.
First Edition 2018
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. About the author………………………………………..5
2. Genre……………………………………………............6
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3. About the title…………………………………………..7
4. Tone………………………….…………………………8
5. Setting…………………………………………….…….9
6. Structure………………………..…………………......10
7. Character list………………………………….……....12
8. Synopsis……………………………………………….16
9. Plot summary and analysis…………………………....17
10. Character, characterization and role………………......27
11. Themes………………………………………………….61
12. Stylistic/literary devices……………………………......83
13. Revision questions…………………………...………..108
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Henrik Ibsen was born on March 20, 1828, in Skien,
Norway. He was the second son in a wealthy family that
included five other siblings. When he was about 8 years old, his
~4~
family was thrown into poverty due to complications with his
father's business. It was after this when Ibsen started to invest his
time reading, writing, painting, and doing magic tricks.
Ibsen wrote his first play, Catiline, in 1850 which generated
little interest. His second play, The Burial Mound, however, was
performed at the Christiania Theatre on September 26, 1850.
Later, he wrote a series of plays which included Lady Inger
(1855), The Feast at Solhoug (1856), Olaf Liljekrans (1857), The
Vikings at Helgeland (1858), The Pretenders (1863), Peter Gynt
(1867), The League of Youth (1869), Emperor and Galilean
(1873), Pillars of Society (1877), A Doll’s House (1879), Ghosts
(1881), An Enemy of the People (1882), The Wild Duck (1884),
Hedda Gabler (1890), The Master Builder (1892), Little Eyolf
(1894), John Gabriel Borkman (1896) and When We Dead
Awaken (1899). He also wrote a dramatic epic poem, “Brand”
(1866).
He married Suzannah Thoresen in 1858 and their only child,
Sigurd, was born the following year. In 1900, Ibsen suffered his
first of several strokes and poor health ended his writing career.
He died on May 23, 1906.
GENRE
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A Doll's House is a family drama for the obvious reason
that it concerns a family. It is a "drama" because it is a play—a
piece of literature that is never fully realized until it is put on
stage in front of an audience.
It is also a modern tragedy because it focuses on the trials
and tribulations that face women in a patriarchal society. The
play explores not only the status of women, but how they are
victims of social forces to the extent that they are left with the
role of a “doll-wife.” In this tragedy, we don't get blood and
death at the end; we get the death of a marriage and of the
characters' old selves. Ibsen shows Nora, and maybe all the other
characters, trapped in a society defined by restrictive gender
roles. In order to become more than a doll, Nora must shatter the
cornerstone that her entire society is based on: marriage.
The play can also be categorized as a realist drama. In a
realist drama, the characters talk in a close approximation of
everyday speech. The speeches are straightforward,
conversational and concerned with normal, everyday things;
which makes the play really easy for a modern audience to
associate with.
Example
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MRS. LINDE: “You must not forget that I had a helpless mother
and two little brothers. We couldn't wait for you, Nils; your
prospects seemed hopeless then.” (Pg 86)
The vast majority of modern plays, TV shows, and movies
are written in a similar style.
ABOUT THE TITLE
Just before Nora leaves her husband and children at the end
of the play, she has the following to say to her husband, Torvald:
“Our home has been nothing but a playroom. I have been your
doll-wife.”(Pg 111-112)
It is therefore not too hard to guess where the play's title
might have come from. Torvald has never treated Nora as
anything more than a plaything. He admires her beauty. He gets
her to dance for him. He even dresses her up in costumes. In
effect, she is his doll. The home they live in seems perfect and
picturesque, but in reality it is just like the Helmers' marriage: all
for show.
Nora adds, “at home I was papa's doll-child.”(Pg 112) She
has never been anything but a man's plaything. Every house she's
ever lived in has been just as artificial; first her father’s house,
and now her husband’s house.
~7~
No wonder the play is titled A Doll’s House!
TONE
In the beginning, the play seems to be biased toward Nora.
We are definitely inclined to sympathize with her. It is very hard
to be on Torvald's side. From his reaction toward Nora for eating
macaroons, we know that he is overbearing. His demeaning little
pet names for Nora further confirm this.
Torvald, however, redeems himself in the end with the last
line, “The most wonderful thing of all?”(Pg 120) The line seems
to indicate that he is heading toward the same spiritual
awakening as Nora.
This makes us move from seeing Nora as Torvald's prisoner
to seeing that all the characters, Torvald included, have been
prisoners in some way.
In the end, the tone of the play becomes more objective.
Sympathy can be found for all its characters. Hence the play can
be said to end with a serious, intense and somber tone.
SETTING
Setting can be discussed from three dimensions:
Geographical, historical and social setting.
Geographical setting
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This refers to the place or location where the events in the
play are taking place. In the play A Doll’s House, the events take
place in The Helmers' Living Room. The dwelling contains
comfortable and stylish furniture and such items as a china
cabinet, a bookcase with well-bound books, and a piano on
carpeted floor—all of which demonstrate a stable financial
situation. On a broader level, it is assumed that the events take
place in Norway in Europe; however there are no references to
anything specially Norwegian. This assumption is made because
that is where Ibsen was born and raised.
Historical setting
This refers to the time in history when the events in the
play took place. The events in A Doll’s House took place in The
Victorian Era, presumably around the late 1870s. During this
time, gender roles were very stiff and clearly outlined. Women
were expected to be submissive to their husbands; husbands were
expected to dominate. Women raised the children; men went out
to work. Anyone who challenged these deeply entrenched values
faced some serious consequences. This charged atmosphere of
gender division was the reason that the play became such a
phenomenon.
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Social setting
Social setting refers to the kind of a society in which the
events in the play are taking place. The play involves a middle-
class society of family and friends who are reeling under the
pressure of strict Victorian values which eventually result to
conflicts.
STRUCTURE
Henrik Ibsen's A Doll’s House is divided into three Acts.
Ibsen followed the form of a well-made play. Features of a well-
made play include increasing suspense by methodical plotting,
introducing past events early on and unraveling a secret, which
leads to the climax of the play.
The play circumvents through four major stages:
1. Major conflict – This comes in the form of Nora’s struggle
with Krogstad, who threatens to tell her husband about her past
crime, incites Nora’s journey of self-discovery and provides
much of the play’s dramatic suspense. Nora’s primary struggle,
however, is against the selfish, stifling, and oppressive attitudes
of her husband, Torvald, and of the society that he represents.
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2. Rising action – This comes in Nora’s first conversation
with Mrs. Linde; Krogstad’s visit and blackmailing of Nora and
Krogstad’s delivery of the letter that later exposes Nora.
3. Climax – This is reached when Torvald reads Krogstad’s
letter and erupts angrily.
4. Falling action – This finally comes in Nora’s realization
that Torvald is devoted not to her but to the idea of her as
someone who depends on him and her decision to abandon him
to find independence.
CHARACTER LIST
Nora Helmer
Nora is the play's protagonist and the wife of Torvald
Helmer. She is the central character, who is a “doll” for her
husband to dress up, show off, and give direction to. She is
childlike and romps easily with her three children. She has never
~ 11 ~
lived alone, going immediately from the care of her father to that
of her husband. Inexperienced in the ways of the world as a
result of this sheltering, Nora is impulsive and materialistic. She
takes a loan from Krogstad to make her husband’s holiday
possible. Later, she emerges as a fully independent woman who
rejects both the false union of her marriage and the burden of
motherhood.
Torvald Helmer
Torvald Helmer is Nora's husband of eight years. At the
beginning of the play, he has been promoted to manager of the
bank. He was once gravely ill and needed to go to a southern
climate to improve his health. He has built his own legacy
through his own work and not from family money. He lives his
life according to society's norms - both professionally and
personally. He spends a great deal of his time at home in his
study, avoiding general visitors and interacting very little with
his children. In fact, he sees himself primarily as responsible for
the financial welfare of his family and as a guardian for his wife.
Torvald is particularly concerned with morality. He also can
come across as stiff and unsympathetic. Still, the last Act of the
play makes it very clear that he dearly loves his wife.
~ 12 ~
Dr. Rank
Dr Rank is a friend of the family of Torvald as well as his
physician. He is sick from consumption of the spine (tuberculosis
of the spine) as a result of a venereal disease contracted by his
father. He confesses his desire for Nora in the second Act and
dies in the third Act.
Mrs. Christine Linde
Mrs Linde is an old schoolmate of Nora's. She is a widow.
She comes back into Nora's life after losing her husband and
mother. She successfully asks Nora to help her secure a job at
Torvald's bank. Ultimately, she gets married to Krogstad.
Nils Krogstad
Nils Krogstad is a man from whom Nora borrows money to
pay for her family’s trip to Italy. He is an acquaintance of
Torvald's and an employee at the bank which Torvald has just
taken over. He is also a lawyer and moneylender. Krogstad was
involved in a work scandal many years previously; as a result,
his reputation is tainted because he once committed a forgery.
When his job at the bank is threatened by Torvald, he blackmails
Nora to ensure that he does not lose it. Dr. Rank calls Krogstad
“morally diseased.”(Pg 25)
~ 13 ~
Ivar, Bob, and Emmy
These are Nora's young children. They spend little time with
their mother or father: they are mostly with their nurse, Anne. In
the play, the children speak no individualized lines; they are
"Three Children." Ibsen facilitates their dialogue through Nora's
mouth.
Anne
Anne is the family nurse. She raised Nora too after she
(Nora) lost her mother to death. She stayed on to raise Nora's
children. Nora is confident that she can leave her children in
Anne's care. She gave up her own daughter to “strangers.”
Helen
Helen is a housemaid employed by the Helmers.
Porter
The porter brings in the Christmas tree at the very
beginning.
Nora's father
Although he never makes a physical presence during the
play, Nora's father's influence is felt throughout its course.
~ 14 ~
Torvald repeatedly brings up his loose morals and past scandals
to compare them to Nora.
SYNOPSIS
Nora Helmer once secretly borrowed a large sum of money
so that her husband, Torvald Helmer, could recuperate from a
serious illness in Italy. She never told him of this loan and has
been secretly paying it back in small installments by saving from
~ 15 ~
her household allowance. Her husband thinks her careless and
childlike, and often calls her his doll.
When he is appointed bank director, his first act is to relieve
a man who was once disgraced for having forged his signature on
a document. This man, Nils Krogstad, is the person from whom
Nora has borrowed her money! It is then revealed that she forged
her father's signature in order to get the money.
Krogstad threatens to reveal Nora's crime and thus disgrace
her and her husband unless Nora can convince her husband not to
fire him. Nora tries to influence her husband, but he thinks of
Nora as a simple child who cannot understand the value of
money or business. Thus, when Torvald discovers that Nora has
forged her father's name, he is ready to disclaim his wife even
though she had done it for him.
Later when all is solved, Nora sees that her husband is not
worth her love and she leaves him.
PLOT SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS
ACT I
SUMMARY
The play opens on the day before Christmas. Nora returns
home from shopping; although her husband is expecting a
~ 16 ~
promotion and payrise, he still criticizes her excessive spending.
In response, Nora plays around with her husband as a child
might, and, indeed, Torvald addresses her as he might a child. He
hands her more money but only after having criticized her
spending. Their relationship compares with that of a daughter
and father and, indeed, is exactly like the relationship Nora had
with her father. Early in this act the audience is aware that the
relationship between the Helmers is based on dishonesty when
Nora denies that she has eaten macaroons, knowing that her
husband has forbidden her to do so.
Nora is visited by an old friend, Christine Linde. Mrs. Linde
tells Nora that she has had some difficult problems and is looking
for employment. Nora confesses to Mrs. Linde that she, too, has
been desperate and reveals that she had been forced to borrow
money several years earlier when her husband was ill. The
money was necessary to finance a trip that saved her husband’s
life, but Nora forged her father’s signature to secure the loan and
lied to Torvald that her father had given them the money. Thus,
she has been deceiving her husband for years as she worked to
repay the loan. She tells this story to Mrs. Linde to demonstrate
that she is an adult who is capable of both caring for her family
~ 17 ~
and conducting business. Unfortunately, Nora’s secret is known
by Krogstad, an employee at Torvald’s bank. After a
confrontation with Krogstad, Torvald decides to fire Krogstad
and hire Mrs. Linde in his place.
Krogstad threatens Nora, telling her that if he loses his job
he will expose her earlier dishonesty. For her part, Nora cannot
believe that forging her father’s signature - an act that saved her
husband’s life - could lead to a serious punishment. Still, she is
concerned enough to plead with Torvald on behalf of Krogstad.
Torvald refuses to reconsider firing Krogstad and forbids Nora to
even mention his name.
ANALYSIS
The Helmers’ house is decorated tastefully, showing they
are relatively well-off. Nora’s happiness as she returns with the
Christmas shopping reveals that she enjoys both spending money
and doing nice things for her husband and children. At the same
time, it will soon become clear that eating the macaroons is an
act of deceit and disobedience, as she has been forbidden by
Torvald.
Torvald’s nicknames for Nora suggest that he thinks of her
almost as a child or a pet. This impression is emphasized when
~ 18 ~
Nora hides the macaroons, like a mischievous child afraid of
getting caught. Torvald’s parent-like attitude is highlighted by
the way he talks to Nora about money, implying that he thinks
she's not intelligent enough to be financially responsible.
Nora’s happiness shows she enjoys performing the role of a
wife and mother. At the same time, her request for money to buy
something for herself suggests she wants to be allowed to make
decisions for herself. But Torvald clearly doesn’t trust Nora with
the money.
Even though Torvald and Nora appear to be in love,
Torvald does not trust her, and Nora on her part doesn’t hesitate
to lie to him; she was eating macaroons earlier.
Money is central to Torvald and Nora’s happiness.
Torvald’s emphasis on their new prosperity suggests how
important money is to him as well.
Mrs. Linde has been visibly changed by her life experiences.
Nora’s happiness in the last eight years has left her remaining
girlishly innocent and naive, whereas Mrs. Linde seems much
older. Mrs. Linde’s decision to travel alone was unusual for
women at the time, and Nora’s admiration of her “courage”
~ 19 ~
suggests a desire for independence. Mrs. Linde’s status as a
widow adds to the impression that she is much older than Nora.
In this part of the play Nora is childishly impolite. Mrs.
Linde is obviously in a bad situation following the death of her
husband, yet instead of listening to her Nora begins to
insensitively boast about her and Torvald’s good fortune. Her
speech also shows that she believes money leads to freedom and
happiness.
Mrs. Linde’s story shows how difficult it was for women to
survive without the financial support of men. The need for money
effectively forced her to marry her husband, and after his death
her struggle to support her family highlights the obstacles
women faced in earning a reasonable income.
Both Mrs. Linde and Nora have strange and suspicious
reactions to Krogstad’s arrival. Thus when Krogstad claims he is
here on “routine” business matters, we are tempted to believe
there is more to the story.
Here, Krogstad reveals more about Nora’s deceitful nature;
not only did she lie to Torvald (and everyone else) about where
the money for the trip to Italy came from, but she also committed
forgery, an illegal act. He threatens to reveal the secret unless
~ 20 ~
she does him a particular favour. Nora is terrified to the point
that she even seems to be going mad.
ACT II
SUMMARY
Mrs. Linde stops by to help Nora prepare for a costume ball.
Nora explains to Mrs. Linde that Krogstad is blackmailing her
about the earlier loan. After Nora again begs Torvald not to fire
Krogstad, her husband sends Krogstad an immediate notice of
his dismissal. Nora is desperate and decides to ask help from Dr.
Rank, a family friend, for a loan, to clear Krogstad. Before she
can ask him for his help, Dr. Rank makes it obvious that he is in
love with her and Nora decides that because of this it would be
unwise to ask his help. Krogstad visits Nora once again and this
time leaves a letter for Torvald in which Nora’s dishonesty is
revealed. To divert Torvald’s attention from the Krogstad’s letter
in the mailbox, Nora engages him to help with her practice of the
dance she is to perform, the tarantella. Finally, Nora asks Torvald
to promise that he will not read the mail until after the party.
ANALYSIS
In the opening of the second act, the stripped Christmas tree
not only shows that time has passed, but also symbolizes a
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negative shift from the joy of Christmas to a sense of ruin and
chaos. Nora’s obsession in checking to see if any person or letter
has arrived and assurances that no one will come for two days
gives a sense of time running out and impending disaster.
Nora cannot think of anything else but her secret and the
possibility of someone finding out. She tries to occupy herself
with the clothes but is unable to.
As the play progresses, it becomes more and more clear
how possessive Torvald is. Nora’s pride at saying Dr. Rank is
“her” friend suggests she doesn’t really have many friends now
that she is married. Nora believes that the reason that Torvald is
so controlling is because he is so in love with her.
Nora seems increasingly desperate and crazed. Her
mutterings to herself when she is alone show the effect that
concealing her secret in front of others is having on her. She lies
easily to Dr. Rank, showing how natural lying has become to
her.
Nora flirts with Dr. Rank in a very provocative manner.
When she teases him with the stockings, this is a very explicit
sexual gesture. Her promise to dance for him likewise betrays a
~ 22 ~
disregard for the boundaries of her marriage and a delight in
displaying her femininity and sexuality.
Nora is almost asking Dr. Rank to help with keeping the
secret of the debt from Torvald, but she is stopped by his
confession of love. The confession changes her view of Dr. Rank
completely. Where before she perhaps thought flirtation was
harmless, the fact that Dr. Rank seems to genuinely love her
becomes too much to handle, and she retreats in a rather
childlike way.
Krogstad is determined to keep his position at the bank, to
the extent of lacking etiquette for Nora, which shows he is
desperate. Meanwhile, Nora must cover her tracts in front of
everyone—even the maid—hence increasing her isolation.
ACT III
SUMMARY
In this act, it is revealed that Krogstad had years earlier been
in love with Mrs. Linde. At the beginning of this act they agree
to marry, and Krogstad offers to retrieve his letter from Torvald.
~ 23 ~
However, Mrs. Linde disagrees and thinks that it is time that
Nora is forced to confront the dishonesty in her marriage. After
the party, the Helmers return home and Torvald opens the letter
from Krogstad. While Torvald reads it in his study, Nora pictures
herself as dead, having committed suicide by drowning in the icy
river. Torvald interrupts her fantasy by demanding that she
explains her deception.
However, he refuses to listen and is only concerned with the
damage to his own reputation. Torvald’s focus on his own life
and his lack of appreciation for the suffering undergone by Nora
serve to open her eyes to her husband’s selfishness. She had been
expecting Torvald to rescue her and protect her, and instead he
only condemns her and insists that she is not fit to be a mother to
their children.
At that moment another letter arrives from Krogstad telling
the Helmers that he will not take legal action against Nora.
Torvald is immediately excited and is willing to forget the entire
episode. But having seen her husband revealed as self-centered,
egoistic and hypocritical, Nora tells him that she can no longer
live as a doll and expresses her intention to leave the house
~ 24 ~
immediately. Torvald begs her to stay, but the play ends with
Nora leaving the house, her husband, and her children.
ANALYSIS
Here, Mrs. Linde radically disrupts the course of events in
the play. While it would have been easier for her to ask Krogstad
to get his letter back, thereby ensuring that life between the
Helmers went on as normal, Mrs. Linde’s belief in honesty
triumphs over her promise to Nora. This finally benefits Nora, as
Torvald’s behaviour when he reads the letter allows her to see
the reality of her situation and that she no longer wants to
remain in her marriage.
In this act it is clear that Torvald is thinking of Nora far
more as a possession that he can display in order to impress
other people than a real person with her own thoughts and
feelings. To him, Nora was at the party merely to perform for the
enjoyment of him and others, not to have a good time herself.
Nora’s bitterness toward Mrs. Linde because she did not get
Krogstad to retrieve the letter shows that she has cut herself off
even from her close friends in her obsession with the secret of the
debt. All the hope and innocence seems to have drained out of
her, and she has become a much more serious, grave person.
~ 25 ~
In his speech we see that Torvald’s love and desire for Nora
is revealed to be cosmetic, rather than an appreciation for whom
she truly is as a person. He talks about his sexual desire for her
with no consideration of whether she is feeling the same way at
the moment; indeed, when she tells him that she doesn’t want to
be with him that night, he dismisses her feelings by saying she
must be playing a game. In reminding her that he is her husband,
Torvald is suggesting that their marriage means Nora does not
have the right to refuse sex with him, a commonly held belief at
the time.
Nora is preparing to kill herself, perhaps the ultimate
symbol of self-sacrifice. Her whispering murmurs on the stage
suggest that she is becoming mad.
Throughout this whole section of the play Torvald only
thinks of himself and doesn’t pause to consider the way Nora has
been and will be affected by Krogstad’s threats, or that Nora did
what she did purely out of love for him.
Nora has evidently undergone a transformation both
visually and in the way she speaks to Torvald. For the first time,
she is addressing him as an equal and demanding that he treats
her with respect by listening and not interrupting.
~ 26 ~
Finally, Nora conducts what can be considered an
unofficial divorce ceremony. Although Torvald doesn’t want her
to go, the fact that he agrees to give her his ring and not to write
or try to help her shows that he finally respects her wishes and
ability to make decisions for herself.
CHARACTERS, CHARACTERIZATION AND

ROLE
NORA HELMER
Nora Helmer is the protagonist or the main character or
the heroine in the play. Still a young woman, she is married to
Torvald Helmer and has three children. Nora is by far the most
~ 27 ~
interesting character in the play. Her whole life is a construct of
societal norms and the expectations of others.
CHARACTER TRAITS
1. Impulsive and a spendthrift
-In her first moments onstage, we see her give the porter an
overly generous tip.
-She comes in with tonnes of Christmas presents, and shrugs at
the idea of incurring debt.
-Unbeknown to Torvald, Nora borrowed money so that they
could afford a year-long trip to Italy.
2. Loving
-Nora borrowed money so that they could afford a year-long trip
to Italy. Doctors said that Torvald would die without it—but that
he shouldn't know how bad his condition was.
-Nora brings home lots of Christmas presents for everybody in
her house.
-She plays hide-and-go-seek with her kids.
3. Independent and farsighted
-In the past, Nora was always a passive child-like possession
who followed Torvald's orders, but towards the end of the play,
she is an independent adult and is able to dominate Torvald.
~ 28 ~
4. Wise and intelligent
-Nora uses wisdom and intelligence to confront an emergency.
She forges her father’s signature in order to secure a loan from
Krogstad so as to save her husband’s life.
-Nora realizes that her understanding of herself, her husband, her
marriage, and even her society was all wrong. She decides that
she can no longer be happy in her life and marriage, and resolves
to leave Torvald and her home in order to find a sense of self and
learn about the world, a newly empowered woman boldly
escaping the oppressive clutches of her old life.
-Nora has been leading a double life. She has not been
thoughtlessly spending their money. Rather, she has been saving
to pay off a secret debt.
5. Childlike, immature, ignorant and whimsical

-She happily accepts the pet names “little lark”, “little squirrel”,
and “Little Miss Extravagant” that her husband calls her without
any opposition. In fact she seems to enjoy and even play into it.
-The maturity level Nora exhibits demonstrates that the
relationship between Torvald and Nora is more like father and
daughter than husband and wife.
~ 29 ~
6. Irresponsible and reckless
-Her first act on stage is paying the porter. Though his service
only costs sixpence, she gives him a shilling. (Pg 1) The casual
way in which she gives it to him is indicative of her
irresponsibility. She hands him the shilling and before he can
thank her, she decides in the middle of the transaction that she is
not patient enough to wait for change.
-She forges loan documents to raise money for an expensive trip
to Italy. Even if the documents were not forged, Nora did not
have any means to repay the loan anyway.
-She has never spent serious time with her husband of nearly a
decade, and is always dumping her children on the nurse rather
than bonding with them herself.
7. Dishonest and deceitful

-She falsely blames Mrs. Linde for smuggling forbidden
macaroons into the house.
-She has been eating macaroons, something she has been
forbidden by her husband, despite her promises of total
obedience to him.
~ 30 ~
- At the beginning of her marriage, she secretly borrowed money
from Nils Krogstad and forged her father’s signature in order to
finance a trip to Italy that was necessary to save Torvald’s life.
8. Unfeeling
- She blames Mrs. Linde for smuggling forbidden macaroons
into the house. Though she is just trying to hide her indiscretions,
she does not care whom she hurts in the process.
9. Materialistic
-She is always trying to make herself happy by buying things:
dresses, toys, candy etc., rather than doing anything meaningful
with her life.
- She is infatuated with the acquisition of possessions.
10. Decisive, resolute and independent-minded
- At the end of the play, it becomes clear to Nora that “[she] had
been living all these years with a strange man, and [she] had
born him three children.”(Pg 117-118) This realization forces
her into the real world and she ceases to be a doll. At the end of
the above statement, she adds “Oh, I cannot bear to think of it!”
-She tells her husband, “Our home has been nothing but a
playroom. I have been your doll-wife, just as at home I was
papa's doll-child.”(Pg 118) In the end, Nora has a sort of
~ 31 ~
spiritual awakening. She walks out into the night alone but, for
perhaps the first time in her life, she's on the path to becoming a
fully realized, fully independent human being.
- She decides to desert her family to go on a quest of personal
enlightenment.
-The act of concealing the ill-gotten loan signifies Nora's
independent streak. She is proud of the sacrifice she has made.
Although she says nothing to Torvald, she brags about her
actions with her old friend, Mrs. Linde.
- Nora is independent enough to negotiate the loan to make her
family’s holiday possible, and over the course of the play, Nora
emerges as a fully independent woman who rejects both the false
union of her marriage and the burden of motherhood.
11. Manipulative
-At the end of the play, Nora seats Torvald at the table and
explains her situation to him. She does not let him speak until she
has finished what she wants to say.
- Other examples of manipulation are having a nanny take care of
her children, having Mrs. Linde repair her dress, behaving
~ 32 ~
seductively around Dr. Rank, influencing Torvald to give her
money, and most importantly convincing Krogstad to overlook
the similarity between her penmanship and her “father's.”
12. Selfish
- She does not want to forgive Torvald. She would rather start
another life than try to fix her existing one.
13. A dreamer
- Until she comes to the realization that her life is a sham, she
spends her whole life in a dream world in which she does not
take anything seriously.
- In her dream world, Nora takes a back seat approach to life and
becomes like an object, reacting to other’s expectations rather
than advancing herself.
14. Trusting and naïve

-She trusted that Krogstad would not blackmail her and it
therefore comes as a rude shock when he does so.
-Until she comes to the realization that her life is a waste, she
spends her whole life in a dream world of naivety. In this dream
~ 33 ~
world, Nora does not take life seriously, an attitude that led to
many of the plot’s complications.
-She believes that Torvald loves her enough to take all blame
upon himself, but she is mistaken. When she realizes that he is
more concerned with appearances and respectability than with
her happiness, she decides to leave him and find her own way in
life.
-She naively thought that Torvald would selflessly give up
everything for her. When he fails to do this, she accepts the fact
that their marriage has been an illusion. Their false devotion has
been merely play acting. She has been his “child-wife” and his
“doll.”
15. Determined
-Whenever Nora would get money from Torvald, she would
reserve half of it to repay the debt, determined to clear it all one
fine day.
-She was so determined to save her husband that she committed
fraud to do so.
16. Hardworking
-She has been secretly working odd jobs to pay back the debt.
17. Courageous, bold, daring and tenacious
~ 34 ~
-To save her husband from poor health, she committed fraud.
She valued love over the law.
-She courageously confronts Torvald about the demeaning way
he treats her at the end of the play.
-She slammed the door on her husband as she left.
-Although she has been forbidden from eating macaroons by her
husband, she still does it anyway despite her promises of total
obedience to him.
18. Calculating
-She is blackmailed by Krogstad, so she begs Torvald to let
Krogstad keep his job.
-She flirts with Dr. Rank in the hope of borrowing money from
him.
- She gets Christine to go and talk to Krogstad on her behalf
regarding the withdrawal of the letter.
-She dances the tarantella to distract Torvald from the mail.
19. Principled and firm
-She decides against borrowing from Rank when he reveals that
he is dying and is in love with her.
-She rejects Torvald's drunken advances after the party.
20. Secretive
~ 35 ~
-She has never told Torvald where the money for their trip to
Italy came from, as his pride would suffer.
-She also hides her thoughts and actions from her husband even
when there is no real benefit in doing so.
21. Suicidal
-She contemplates committing suicide in order to eliminate the
dishonour she has brought upon her family.
22. Rebellious
-She eats macaroons even though she has been forbidden by her
husband.
ROLE
1. Advancement of the plot - Nora is the central character in the
play around whom the play circulates. As a result of her
borrowing money from Krogstad, the conflict in the play is born
as Krogstad tries to blackmail her with that secret, in order to
make Nora’s husband, Torvald, to allow him keep his former job
at the bank. When Torvald refuses, Krogstad sends him a letter to
inform him about Nora’s indebtedness. Torvald’s reaction to this
letter not only betrays his true nature, but also leads to Nora
leaving him and her children to seek independence and freedom.
~ 36 ~
2. Development of themes - Nora helps in developing themes
such as love and marriage, women and feminity, lies and deceit,
money and materialism, the sacrificial role of women, parental
and filial obligations, the unreliability of appearances, gender
roles, individual vs. society, growth and development and
betrayal
3. Revealing character traits of other characters - Nora helps in
revealing the character traits of other characters. For example,
she helps in revealing Torvald as selfish and egoistic, naïve,
strict, loving, hypocritical and hardworking. Through her, we
learn that Krogstad was on one hand, vicious and ruthless, but on
the other hand, merciful and forgiving. Dr Rank’s friendly but
immoral nature is revealed through Nora. Mrs Linde traitorous
nature is also revealed through her.
4. Enhancing style – Nora helps in enhancing the style of
symbolism (through the symbols like the Christmas tree,
tarantella, the dolls, macaroons), dramatic irony, foreshadow, etc.
TORVALD HELMER
Torvald Helmer is a lawyer who at the start of the play has
recently been promoted to Bank Manager. He is married to Nora
Helmer, with whom he has three children. He does not seem
~ 37 ~
particularly fond of his children; even once saying that their
presence makes the house “will only be bearable for a mother
now!”(Pg 30) His best friend is Dr. Rank, who visits him every
day.
1. Loving and affectionate
-He loves and is very affectionate towards Nora. That is why he
showers her with endearments like “My little skylark”, “My little
squirrel”, “My little singing bird,” “My pretty little pet,” “My
little sweet-tooth,” and “My poor little Nora.” and “Little Miss
Extravagant.” With every term of endearment, the word “little” is
always included to show affection.
- His despair as Nora exits at the very end of the play suggests
that, despite his patronizing and unjust treatment of her, Torvald
really does love Nora.
2. Generous
-He treats Nora generously, giving her extra money when she
asks for it.
3. Proud
-Typical of many contemporary heads-of-the-family, he is a
proud specimen of a middle-class husband.
4. Morally upright
~ 38 ~
- He sees Krogstad as irredeemably morally tainted, and hence
decides to give his job to Mrs Linde.
- He is keenly concerned with his place and status in society and
wouldn’t allow anybody to threaten his reputation, including his
own wife.
5. Selfish
-He considers Nora merely as an ornamental sex object instead
of an equal partner in their marriage and the mother of his
children.
-He maintains amorous fantasies toward his wife: he dresses her
as a Capri fisher girl and encourages her to dance in order to
arouse his desires.
-At the end of the play, Nora imagines that Torvald will defend
her honour and not allow Krogstad to blackmail the Helmers.
Nora imagines that Torvald would sacrifice his own reputation
and future to save her, but Torvald tells her that he would not
make the sacrifice, shattering Nora's dream world. At this point it
becomes clear to her that she had been living all these years with
a strange man, and she had born him three children.
~ 39 ~
-He planned to cope with the scandal resulting from blackmail by
stripping Nora of her spousal and motherly duties, but would
keep her in the house for appearance sake.
-He is overly concerned with his place and status in society, and
he allows his emotions to be swayed heavily by the prospect of
society’s respect and the fear of society’s scorn.
6. Hardworking and diligent
-He spends a great deal of his time at home in his study working,
avoiding general visitors and interacting very little with his
children. In fact, he sees himself primarily as responsible for the
financial welfare of his family and as a guardian for his wife.
7. Dictatorial, authoritarian and patronizing
-He restrains Nora with rules, much as a father would have to
inhibit a child, forbidding her from eating macaroons and other
temporal pleasures.
8. Manipulative
-He insists on Nora wearing the fish girl costume for the
tarantella. The costume and dance are part of Torvald's fantasy of
gazing upon Nora from across the room at a party and pretending
that she is something exotic. Torvald made Nora take on a
foreign identity; he used her as a doll.
~ 40 ~
9. Unforgiving
-When he finds out about the debt, he fails to forgive her until he
is sure that his reputation is safe.
10. Heartless and unfeeling
-At the end of the play, Torvald seems untroubled and even a
little relieved at the thought of Dr. Rank’s death.
-When he finds out about Nora’s secret debt, he instantly turns
on her until he confirms that his reputation is safe.
-His heartless and unfeeling nature makes Nora not to tell him
the truth about her loan, and Dr Rank not to tell him about his
imminent death.
11. Conservative and traditional
-Torvald's focus on status and being treated as superior by people
like Nils Krogstad points at his obsession with reputation and
appearances.
-He has straightforward and traditional beliefs about marriage
and society.
-When Nora tells him she is leaving him, Torvald at first reacts
by calling her mad and saying she is acting like a stupid child.
-He is unable to cope with the disagreeable truths of life.
~ 41 ~
-However, he can be said to be flexible because when he realizes
how resolute Nora is in her decision, he offers to change and
desperately searches for a way to make her change her mind.
12. Shallow and vain
-He is incapable of understanding his wife or of properly
returning her love.
13. Hypocritical and self-righteous
-Though he regards her as his wife, he never considers her an
equal partner in the relationship.
-Many times throughout the play, Torvald criticizes the morality
of other characters. He trashes the reputation of Krogstad, one of
his lesser employees. He speculates that Krogstad’s corruption
probably started in the home. Torvald believes that if the mother
of a household is dishonest, then surely the children will become
morally infected. He also complains about Nora’s late father.
When Torvald learns that Nora has committed forgery, he
blames her crime on her father’s weak morals.
-In the beginning of Act Three, after dancing and having a merry
time at a holiday party, Torvald tells Nora how much he cares for
her. He claims to be absolutely devoted to her. He even wishes
~ 42 ~
that some calamity would befall them so that he could
demonstrate his steadfast, heroic nature.
Of course, a moment later, such an opportunity arises.
Torvald finds the letter revealing how Nora has brought scandal
and blackmail into his household. Nora is in trouble, but Torvald
fails to come to her rescue as he had promised.
14. Naïve
-Throughout the play, Torvald is oblivious to his wife’s
craftiness. When he discovers the truth at the end, he is outraged.
ROLE
1. Advancement of the plot – Torvald is also a major character in
the play who plays an instrumental role in the development of the
plot. It is as a result of his illness and the subsequent one-year
stay in Italy that caused Nora to get into a debt trap with
Krogstad. When he refuses to reinstate Krogstad to his former
job at the bank, he intensifies the conflict because this makes
Krogstad to send him a letter exposing his wife’s secret. The fact
that he at first refuses to forgive her leads to Nora’s sudden
discovery that he was a selfish, egoistic man. She has no
alternative but leave him and her children to seek independence
and freedom.
~ 43 ~
2. Development of themes - Torvald also helps in developing
themes such as love and marriage, pride, honour, respect and
reputation, money and materialism, parental and filial
obligations, the unreliability of appearances, gender roles,
individual vs. society, and betrayal.
3. Revealing character traits of other characters - Torvald helps
in revealing the character traits of other characters. For example,
he helps in revealing Nora as impulsive and a spendthrift,
childlike and immature, irresponsible and reckless, dishonest and
deceitful, manipulative, calculating and traitorous. Through him
also, we learn that Krogstad was unscrupulous, vicious and
ruthless but merciful and forgiving.
4. Enhancing style – Torvald helps in enhancing the style of
imagery through his pet names for Nora such as “My little
skylark”, “My little squirrel”, “My little singing bird,” “My
pretty little pet,” “My little sweet-tooth,” and “My poor little
Nora.” He also enhances the style of symbolism like his
insistence that Nora should wear the dancing costume, similes
like when he says he will protect her “like a hunted dove,”
dramatic irony, verbal irony, hyperbole, etc.
~ 44 ~
MRS CHRISTINE LINDE
Mrs. Linde is an old schoolfriend of Nora's. She is a woman
whose marriage was loveless, and based on a need for financial
security, and who doesn’t have any children. She and Krogstad
had been in love before, but he was too poor to support her
family. She arrives in town in search of a job in order to earn
money and survive independently.
CHARACTER TRAITS
1. Honest and Truthful
-She tells Krogstad that Nora must eventually conclude, through
her own sufferings, that the only way of life which can survive
crises is one based on truthful relationships.
-She believes very deeply in honesty and stops Krogstad from
taking the letter he wrote to Torvald back, thereby ensuring that
Torvald finds out about Nora’s secret.
-She insists that, “Helmer must know everything. This unhappy
secret must come out!”(Pg 90) Even though she has the power to
change Krogstad’s mind, she uses her influence to make certain
that Nora’s secret is discovered.
~ 45 ~
2. Hardworking
-Towards the end of the play, she explains to Krogstad that she
finds joy and meaning in work.
-She worked hard to support her helpless mother and two
younger brothers since the death of her husband.
3. Independent-minded
-She arrives in town in search of a job in order to earn money
and survive independently. In this way, she is a fairly modern
woman.
4. Traitorous
-She stops Krogstad from taking the letter he wrote to Torvald
back, thereby ensuring that Torvald finds out about Nora’s
secret, which seems like betrayal to her friend Nora.
5. Conservative and traditional
-She tells both Krogstad and Nora that she is miserable without
other people to take care of, thereby fitting into the traditional
role of women as caretakers and nurturers. It is this conviction
that causes her to marry Krogstad towards the end of the play.
6. Selfish and materialistic
-She ended up marrying another man in order to have enough
money to support her dying mother and young brothers.
~ 46 ~
Apparently, Krogstad was too poor at this time to marry her. This
left Krogstad lost and embittered, unhappy in his own marriage,
and is presented as the reason behind his moral corruption.
7. Resilient
-She has lived an independent life as a single working woman.
She has struggled financially and now that she has no one to look
after, she feels empty.
ROLE
1. Plot development- she lets the audience know the inner
thoughts of the protagonist. She has a major effect on events that
happen in the play.
2. Reveals character traits of Nora and Krogstad - Mrs. Linde
functions as a convenient device for exposition. She enters Act
One as an almost forgotten friend, a lonely widow seeking a job
from Nora’s husband. However, Nora does not spend much time
listening to Mrs. Linde’s troubles. Rather selfishly, Nora
discusses how excited she is about Torvald Helmer’s recent
success. Through Mrs Linde, Nora launches into a dramatic
explanation of all her secret activities (obtaining a loan, saving
Torvald’s life, paying off her debt). Mrs Linde therefore
functions as the primary means by which the audience learns of
~ 47 ~
Nora’s secret and her character traits. She is the first character to
see that Nora is not a child.
3. Develops themes- she introduces the theme of deception.
Through Mrs. Linde, Nora reveals that she has lied to save
Helmer’s life and therefore deceived him with her cleverness.
3. Enhances style- she foreshadows how Nora will confront a
bitter future after learning that her marriage is based on
deception by recounting how she herself sacrificed her rights to
love and self-determination by marrying for financial security.
DR RANK
Dr. Rank is a medical doctor who is best friends with
Torvald and Nora, who he visits every day. He suffers from
spinal tuberculosis; a condition he believes was caused by his
father’s vices, which included having extramarital affairs and
consuming too much luxurious food and drink. He is unmarried
and lonely, and over the course of the play it is revealed that he is
in love with Nora.
CHARACTER TRAITS
1. Friendly and loyal
-Nora explains how she always feels at ease around Dr. Rank
because he does not have any expectations or demands of her.
~ 48 ~
-He visits the Helmers every day.
2. Immoral
- It is revealed that he is in love with Nora, his best friend’s wife.
3. Courageous
-He is unconcerned with what others think of him.
-He has accepted his fate and his impending death.
4. Cynical
-He rejoices when he finds out that his illness is terminal, and
insists that neither Torvald nor Nora visits him in his dying days.
As he predicted, he is not particularly missed by the other
characters.
5. Trusting
- He trusts Nora completely. He refrains from telling Torvald of
his imminent death because it is too “ugly” an idea for him to
tolerate, but he does tell Nora, an indication of the bond between
them. He talks with her about his coming death in a code that
excludes Torvald and protects him from the harsh reality.
7. Hypocritical
-Dr Rank is not as straightforward as he appears. His real motive
for visiting the Helmers is that he is in love with Nora.
~ 49 ~
8. Realistic
- On the subject of the costume party, Dr. Rank suggested that
Nora should go as herself and that Torvald should be invisible.
Under the surface, Rank is suggesting that Nora should not be a
doll. With an invisible chaperon, Nora would not be dominated
by a figure placing an identity over her.
ROLE
-To provide amusement for Nora as a change from the tiresome
rules of Torvald, just as she used to seek the conversation of the
maids as a refreshing change from the strictness of her father.
- Dr. Rank adds to the somber mood of the play; he is not
essentially useful to the conflict, climax, or resolution.
NILS KROGSTAD
Nils Krogstad Krogstad is an employee at the bank at which
Torvald is made manager. He leant Nora the money to take
Torvald to Italy to recuperate. He is, at least at the beginning, the
main antagonist: Everything is going well for the Helmers until
Krogstad enters the story. Known to the other characters as
unscrupulous and dishonest, he blackmails Nora, who borrowed
money from him with a forged signature, after learning that he is
being fired from his job at the bank. In the past, he too
~ 50 ~
committed the crime of forgery, an act that he did not go to
prison for but that nonetheless ruined his reputation and made it
extremely difficult to find a respectable job.
CHARACTER TRAITS
1. Morally Corrupt
-In the past, he too committed the crime of forgery, an act that
ruined his reputation, though he did not go to prison. But it made
it extremely difficult for him to find a respectable job.
-He was once in love with Kristine Linde, who ended up
marrying another man in order to have enough money to support
her dying mother and young brothers. This left Krogstad lost and
embittered, unhappy in his own marriage, and is presented as the
reason behind his moral corruption.
-Torvald, who sees Krogstad as irredeemably morally tainted,
decides to give his job to Mrs Linde.
2. Merciless, vicious and callous
-At first he treats Nora without mercy when demanding his
money. He argues that no mercy has been shown to him in life.
~ 51 ~
3. Unscrupulous and dishonest
-He blackmails Nora with the threat of exposing her indebtedness
unless she talked her husband Torvald into giving him back his
job at the bank.
-Unless Nora persuades Torvald to keep Krogstad in his job (he
later extends this to a promotion), he will tell Torvald about her
loan and her forgery of her father's signature.
4. Forgiving and remorseful
-At first he treats Nora without mercy on the basis that no mercy
has been shown to him in life; however, after Mrs. Linde and he
decide to marry, he becomes happier and rescinds his threats to
Nora, saying he regrets his behaviour.
-He removes his threats to the Helmers and sends Nora's bond
back to her, relinquishing his power over her.
-After engaging in a conversation with his lost love, the widow
Mrs. Linde, they reconcile, and once again their romance is
reignited, Krogstad no longer wants to deal with blackmail and
extortion. He is a changed man!
-Although Mrs. Linde suggests that he should leave the first
letter in the mailbox so that Nora and Torvald can finally have an
honest discussion about things, he later drops off a second letter
~ 52 ~
explaining that their secret is safe and that the IOU is theirs to
dispose of.
-He has been trying to remake his life after having made earlier
mistakes.
- Although he has been labeled as corrupt and “morally sick,”
Krogstad has been trying to lead a legitimate life. He complains,
“For the last year and a half I have not had a hand in anything
dishonourable, amid all that time I have been struggling in most
restricted circumstances. I was content to work my way up, step
by step.”(Pg 75) Then he angrily explains to Nora, “And be sure
you remember that it is your husband himself who has forced me
into such ways as this again. I will never forgive him for
that.”(Pg 76)
- He is one of several examples in the play of a person being
forced into morally questionable action as a result of the rigid
and unmerciful forces of society.
5. Loving and responsible
-As soon as Mrs Linde tells him that she has always loved him
and asks him to resume their relationship, he reveals himself as a
more loving, joyful and merciful character.
~ 53 ~
-In matters concerning his children, we find the true measure of
the man. Nils Krogstad is a good father and is not afraid of doing
whatever it takes to make sure his family is secure.
- Despite the financial strain that he found himself under as a
single parent Nils Krogstad still brought up his two boys as best
he could.
- Although at times Krogstad is vicious, his motivation is for his
motherless children, thus casting a slightly sympathetic light on
his otherwise cruel character.
6. Hardworking and resilient
- Here is a man who is a single parent of two boys who is totally
unsupported by the society he exists in. He has been dealt many
blows by life, first by Mrs. Linde who rejected him on financial
grounds many years ago, and then by the death of his wife. He
has to work multiple jobs to support himself and his family; by
day he is a lowly bank clerk and by night he is a moneylender
and he even finds time to write for a paper.
8. Frank and sincere
-When Mrs. Linde proposes they resume their old relationship,
Krogstad remains truthful and makes sure she is aware of his past
~ 54 ~
deeds as well as what people think of him. He even makes sure
she knows about his current dealings with the Helmers.
ROLE
1. He advances the plot - Krogstad initiates the conflict by
attempting to blackmail Nora Helmer. He serves as a catalyst.
Basically, he initiates the action of the play. He sparks the flames
of conflict, and with each unpleasant visit to the Helmer
residence, Nora’s troubles increase. In fact, she even
contemplates suicide as a means of escaping his torments.
2. Develops themes - Krogstad helps to develop the themes of
love and marriage, pride, honour, respect and reputation, money
and materialism, parental obligations and individual vs. society.
3. Reveals character traits of other characters- Through him we
are able to know that Nora is secretive and deceitful, and Mrs
Linde is traitorous and materialistic for leaving him when he was
poor.
NURSE
She is a nurse to both Nora and Nora's children. Her name is
Anne Marie. The nursemaid is an example of a woman in bad
circumstances forced to do anything in order to survive.
~ 55 ~
CHARACTER TRAITS
1. Kind
-She was forced to give up her own child, who it is suggested
was born out of wedlock.
2. Reliable and responsible
-When Nora first thinks of leaving, she considers the fact that her
children will be raised by the nursemaid and, remembering what
a good mother the nursemaid had been to her, decides that she
would also raise Nora’s children well.
3. Immoral
-She gave birth to a baby out of wedlock,
4. Irresponsible
-She had to give up her own child in order to take up her position
as the nursemaid at the Helmers.
5. Self-sacrificial
-She had to give up her own child in order to take up her position
as the nursemaid at the Helmers. Nora finally leaves her children
in her care, believing that they will be better off than they would
be with her.
~ 56 ~
ROLE
1. Developing themes - She helps to develop the theme of the
sacrificial role of women by giving away her child to strangers so
that she could concentrate on her job.
IVAR, BOB, AND EMMY
These are Torvald and Nora's young children. Raised
primarily by Anne, the Nurse (and Nora's old nurse), the children
spend little time with their mother or father. The time they do
spend with Nora consists of Nora playing with them as if she
were just another playmate. The children speak no individualized
lines in the play; they are “Three Children.” Their dialogue is
facilitated through Nora's mouth, and they are often cut entirely
in performance.
CHARACTER TRAITS
1. Playful
-They asked their mother to play child games with them and they
played hide-and-seek.
2. Insistent
When their mother showed reluctance to participate in the
children’s game, they insisted until she gave in.
~ 57 ~
3. Loving
-They loved their mother dearly and would have wanted to spend
more time with her and to continue playing children’s games
with them.
ROLE
1. To bring out the character of Nora as a loving mother. She
showers them with Christmas gifts and even plays children
games with them. When Nora later refuses to spend time with
them because she fears she may morally corrupt them, she acts
on her belief that the quality of parenting strongly influences a
child’s development.
HELEN
She is a housemaid employed by the Helmers.
CHARACTER TRAITS
1. Humble
-She answers Nora with a lot of humility.
2. Hardworking
-She does her work diligently.
PORTER
This is the porter who brings the Christmas tree to the
Helmers house at the very beginning of the play.
~ 58 ~
CHARACTER TRAITS
1. Obedient
-He obediently delivers the Christmas tree to the Helmers house.
2. Grateful
-He thanks Nora for the tip that she gives him. (Pg 1)
3. Honest
-He honestly states his charges without exaggerating and was
already giving her back the change when she told him to keep it.
(Pg 1)
NORA’S FATHER
Though Nora’s father is dead before the action of the play
begins, the characters refer to him throughout the play. Though
she clearly loves and admires her father, Nora also comes to
blame him for contributing to her subservient position in life.
CHARACTER TRAITS
1. Manipulative
-He manipulated Nora to do according to his wishes and whims.
She complains that her father and her husband both treated her
like a doll.
~ 59 ~
2. Immoral
-Torvald criticizes him as having been a morally crooked man
who engaged in corrupt deals.
3. Insensitive
-The way he treated Nora was too insensitive for a father to treat
his daughter.
~ 60 ~
THEMES
MARRIAGE AND LOVE
At the beginning of the play, Nora and Torvald appear to be
very happily married, even to themselves. Nora talks joyfully
about her love for Torvald, and Torvald refers to Nora using
affectionate pet names. At first the Helmers seem happy, but
over the course of the play, the imbalance between them
becomes more and more apparent.
Their loving marriage stands in contrast with the lives of the
other characters. For example, the marriage of Krogstad and Mrs.
Linde was based on necessity rather than love, and were
unhappy. Dr. Rank, on the other hand, was never married, and it
is later revealed that he has silently loved Nora for years.
Yet although Nora and Torvald’s marriage is based on love
(as opposed to necessity, as was the case with Krogstad and Mrs.
Linde), it is still governed by the strict rules of society that
dictated the roles of husband and wife. It is clear that Nora is
expected to obey Torvald and allow him to make decisions for
her.
At first it seems that Nora and Torvald both enjoy playing
the roles of husband and wife in a way that is considered
~ 61 ~
respectable by society. However, Nora soon reveals to Mrs.
Linde that she secretly borrowed the money from Krogstad
behind Torvald’s back, and therefore has already broken both the
law and the rules of marriage at the time. This creates a dilemma:
Nora broke the rules of marriage, yet did so in order to save her
husband’s life - a true act of love.
By the end, the marriage breaks apart due to a complete lack
of understanding. Nora Helmer, the “doll” wife, realizes after
eight years of marriage that she has never been a partner in her
marriage. At the play’s conclusion, she leaves her husband in
order to establish an identity for herself that is separate from her
identity as a wife and mother.
The main message of A Doll's House seems to be that a true
marriage is a joining of equals. The play centres on the
dissolution of a marriage that doesn't meet these standards.
There is a lot of talk about love in A Doll's House.
Throughout the play we hear of and see many different forms of
love: familial, maternal, paternal, and fraternal. Romantic love
even blossoms for two of the secondary characters, namely
Krostad and Mrs Linde. However, for the main characters, the
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Helmers, true romantic love is elusive. They finally discovered
that true love never existed between them.
WOMEN AND FEMININITY
Nora has often been painted as one of modern feminist
heroines. Over the course of the play, she breaks away from the
domination of her dictatorial husband, Torvald. Also throughout
this play, there is constant talk of women, their traditional roles,
and the price they pay when they break with tradition.
When A Dollʼs House was written in 1879, a wife was not
legally permitted to borrow money without her husbandʼs
permission. On her wedding day, a woman transferred from
living under the authority of her father to under that of her
husband.
Poverty had already forced women into the workplace early
in the nineteenth century, and the Norwegian government passed
laws protecting and governing women's employment. By the
middle of the 19th century, Norwegian women were permitted
inheritance rights and the right to an education. But many of the
rights provided to women favoured the lower economic classes.
Employment opportunities for women were limited to low
paying domestic jobs, teaching, or clerical work. Middle class
~ 63 ~
women, such as Nora, noticed few of these new advantages. It
was the institution of marriage itself that restricted the freedom
of middle class women. Universal women rights were eventually
achieved in 1913, making Norway the first country in Europe to
have equal voting rights for men and women.
PRIDE, HONOUR, RESPECT AND REPUTATION
The men characters in A Doll's House are obsessed with
their reputation. Some have good names in their communities
and will do anything to protect it; others have lost their good
names and will do anything to get them back.
Honour
Honour is extremely important to Torvald; it is what
motivates his behaviour. Early in the play, his value for honour is
the reason he gives for sacking Krogstad, claiming that because
he once displayed a lack of honour, it means that Krogstad is
forever dishonoured. When he learns of his wife’s mistake,
Torvald’s first and foremost concern is for his honour. He cannot
appreciate the sacrifice that Nora has made for him; he is only
concerned with how society will react to his family’s shame. For
Torvald, honour is more important than family and far more
important than love; he simply cannot imagine anyone placing
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love before honour. This issue brings out the glaring difference
between Nora and Torvald.
Pride
Like honour, pride is another quality that Torvald upholds.
He is proud of Nora in the same way one is proud of an
expensive or rare item or possession. When her scandal threatens
to be exposed, Torvald is very fearful of losing his public pride.
Instead of accepting Nora with her misperfections, Torvald
instead rejects her when she is most in need of his support. His
pride in himself and in his possessions blinds him to Nora’s
worth and value. Nora is left with no choice but to leave him.
Only when she has made the decision to leave Torvald does she
begin to develop pride in herself.
LIES AND DECEIT
The tension that runs throughout A Doll's House comes
from Nora's fear of her secret being discovered. Her great terror
being exposed leads her to tell a lie after a lie. When her web of
lies finally reaches a climax, her marriage proves too weak to
bear the strain.
At the beginning of the play, Nora appears to be a dutifully
obedient and honest wife, however it is quickly revealed that she
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is hiding a serious secret from her husband—the fact that she
borrowed money from Krogstad to finance a trip to Italy that she
claims saved Torvald’s life. This confirms that all her statements
about never disobeying or hiding anything from him were
nothing but deceitful. When she reveals her dishonesty to Mrs.
Linde, Mrs. Linde insists that she ought to confess to Torvald
immediately, insisting that a marriage cannot succeed when
husband and wife are not completely honest with each other.
But Nora is not alone in telling lies and being deceitful.
Krogstad is also revealed to have committed a forgery. The fruits
of their acts of deception are devastating: Krogstad’s reputation
is ruined, and Nora is forced to leave her husband and family at
the end of the play.
It should however be noted that the motivation behind
Nora’s dishonesty was love - she lied in order to save her
husband’s life. Furthermore, she wouldn't have been deceitful if
it weren’t for societal law dictating that women were not allowed
to handle financial matters independently. Therefore Nora’s
deceit was not the result of a personal flaw, but rather an attempt
to commit a noble act of saving her husband’s life that went
awry.
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Dr. Rank also comes out as deceitful and dishonest. He has
been deceiving both Nora and Torvald for years about the depth
of his feelings for Nora. Only when she attempts to seek his
financial help does Nora finally see beneath the surface to the
doctor’s real feelings. He has been lusting for his best friend’s
wife all those years. Nora is so shocked to discover this that she
automatically decides not to ask Dr. Rank for financial
assistance.
Torvald, who has been deceived throughout most of the
play, is finally revealed in the final act to be the one most guilty
of deception. He has deceived Nora into believing that he loved
and cherished her, while all the while he had regarded her as
little more than his property.
MONEY AND MATERIALISM
Throughout the entire play everyone is talking about money,
as if it was a god. As the entire issue starts over a debt, the play
revolves around money and who has it as well as who does not
have it. It is a prevailing theme due to that.
In the very first scene, Nora gives the porter one shilling,
telling him to “keep the change”, thus indicating her relaxed
attitude to money and spending. The next scene with Torvald
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almost entirely revolves around the subjects of money, spending
and borrowing, with Nora portrayed as a spendthrift. Torvald has
very strong views on borrowing and debt. He says to her, “That
is like a woman! But seriously, Nora, you know what I think
about that. No debt, no borrowing. There can be no freedom or
beauty about a home that depends on borrowing and debt.”(Pg
3)
A need for money affects all the major characters in A
Doll’s House. In the beginning of the play it is revealed that
Torvald was recently promoted and will receive “a big
salary.”(Pg2) However, he still criticizes Nora for overspending,
arguing that they need to be cautious financially. Mrs. Linde is in
desperate need of a job following the death of her husband.
Krogstad’s replacement at the bank leaves him threatening to
reveal Nora’s secret in order to get his job back because he fears
he will lose his source of income. Indeed, the bank works as a
symbol for the pervasive presence of money in the characters’
lives.
Throughout the play A Doll's House, the characters spend a
good deal of time talking about their finances. Some are said to
be doing quite well financially, and some have the promise of
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their finances improving in the future. Others are struggling to
make ends meet. Either way, each character's financial status
seems to be a defining feature.
In the play, money symbolizes the power that the characters
have over one another. In the first Act, Torvald’s ability to
dictate how much Nora spends on Christmas presents shows his
power over her. On the other hand, the debt that Nora owes
Krogstad allows him to have power over her and Torvald. Both
Nora and Mrs. Linde cannot earn large incomes because they are
women; their inability to access significant amounts of money
shows the power that men have over the women in this society.
It is also clear that, while earning money leads to power, it
can also be dangerous. For instance, even if money actualized
Nora and her family’s trip to Italy, the debt she owed Krogstad
soon became a source of terror, dread, and shame. The thrill of
obtaining money soon became a nightmare for her.
Krogstad is a moneylender, and money (or lack of it) has
had a major effect on his life. We learn that Mrs Linde ended her
relationship with him many years ago because of his lack of
financial security, choosing to marry a richer man instead.
Throughout his life Krogstad has been poor, struggling to
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support his family, and it is this dependency on financial income
that leads him to blackmail Nora in an attempt to keep his job at
the bank. Mrs Lindeʼs life has also been directly affected by
money, or lack of it. Her late husbandʼs business collapsed,
leaving her with nothing to live on, and since then she has had to
work hard to survive.
Dr Rank is the only main character who appears to be
comfortable financially, having inherited money from his late
father. However, although he is financially comfortable he is
terminally ill, referring to his body as being “bankrupt.”
Torvald in particular focuses on money and material goods
rather than people. His sense of manhood depends on his
financial independence. He was an unsuccessful lawyer because
he refused to take "unsavory cases." As a result, he switched jobs
to the bank, where he will primarily be dealing with money.
THE SACRIFICIAL ROLE OF WOMEN
In A Doll’s House, Ibsen paints a bleak picture of the
sacrificial role held by women of all economic classes in his
society.
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In order to support her mother and two brothers, Mrs. Linde
found it necessary to abandon Krogstad, her true but poor lover,
and marry a richer man.
The nanny had to abandon her own child to support herself
by working as Nora’s and later as Nora’s children’s caretaker. As
she tells Nora, the nanny considers herself lucky to have found
the job, since she was “a poor girl who has got into trouble…”
(Pg 50)
Though Nora is economically advantaged in comparison to
the play’s other female characters, she nevertheless leads a
difficult life because society dictates that Torvald be the
marriage’s dominant partner. Torvald issues rules and looks
down on Nora, and Nora must hide her debt from him because
she knows Torvald would never accept the idea that his wife had
helped save his life. Furthermore, she must work in secret to pay
off her loan because it is illegal for a woman to obtain a loan
without her husband’s permission.
Nora’s abandonment of her children can also be interpreted
as an act of self-sacrifice. Despite Nora’s great love for her
children, as seen in her interaction with them and her great fear
of corrupting them, she chooses to leave them. Nora truly
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believes that the nanny will be a better mother and that leaving
her children is in their best interest.
All the three women in the play have made some kind of
personal sacrifice in their lives in order to fulfill the roles which
society expects of them. Nora, besides risking her dignity by
borrowing money on behalf of her family, she also has sacrificed
all her own opinions, thoughts and ideas and adopted Torvaldʼs
views as her own. Besides that, she has been saving every bit of
money she had and working odd hours of the night to repay
Krogstad. And at the end of the play she sacrifices her home,
family and children for the sake of her own self-discovery.
Mrs Linde, after her husbandʼs death, continued to make
personal sacrifices for the sake of her family, taking on any work
she could to support them financially.
Anne-Marie, on the other hand, sacrificed motherhood for a
respectable job, which was all too common for young unmarried
mothers in the 19th century.
PARENTAL AND FILIAL OBLIGATIONS
There is a strong emphasis throughout the play on the
importance of parental and filial responsibility, and of the effect
that the actions of parents have upon their children.
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Parental obligations
Nora, Torvald, and Dr. Rank believe that a parent is
obligated to be honest and morally-upright, because a parent’s
immorality is passed on to his or her children like a disease.
For instance, Dr. Rank has a disease that is the result of his
father’s wickedness. Dr. Rank implies that his father’s
immorality, which included affairs with many women, led him to
contract a venereal disease that he passed on to his son, causing
Dr. Rank to suffer for his father’s misdeeds. He talks about the
unfairness of this, of the sins of the father being passed on to the
son.
Torvald, on the other hand, talks about a parentʼs
immorality being passed on to the children like a disease. He
voices the idea that one’s parents determine one’s moral
character when he tells Nora, “Almost everyone who has gone to
the bad early has had a deceitful mother” (Pg 30) He speaks
about Krogstad poisoning his own children with lies and
immorality. He also refuses to allow Nora to interact with their
children after he learns of her deceit; for fear that she will corrupt
them.
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Nora is referred to as being like her father, having inherited
a lot of his qualities. It is also important to note that she never
had a mother, with Anne-Marie fulfilling the maternal role in her
life.
Anne-Marie was forced to give away her own child to take
on the role of Noraʼs maid; in contrast Nora chooses to leave her
own children at the end of the play.
Filial obligations
Filial means the duties, feelings or relationships which exist
between a son or daughter and his or her parents.
The play suggests that children too have an obligation to
protect their parents. Nora recognized this obligation, but she
ignored it, choosing to be with, and sacrifice herself for, her sick
husband instead of her sick father.
Mrs. Linde, on the other hand, abandoned her hopes of
being with Krogstad and undertook years of labour in order to
tend to her sick mother. Mrs Linde has fulfilled her filial
responsibility by dedicating her life to care for her mother, at the
expense of her own personal happiness. Her motherʼs illness has
directly affected the life she has led and the personal decisions
she has made.
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Ibsen does not however pass judgment on either woman’s
decision, but uses the idea of a child’s debt to her parent to
demonstrate that familial obligation is not one way – it is
reciprocal.
THE UNRELIABILITY OF APPEARANCES
Over the course of A Doll’s House, appearances prove to be
quite misleading and hide the true reality of the play’s characters
and situations. Our first impressions of Nora, Torvald, and
Krogstad are all later proved quite wrong.
Nora, at first, seems a silly, childish woman, but as the play
progresses, we see that she is intelligent, motivated, and, by the
end of the play, a strong-willed, independent thinker.
Torvald, on the other hand, though he appears as the strong,
benevolent husband, reveals himself to be cowardly, petty, and
selfish when he fears that Krogstad may expose him to scandal.
Krogstad, who initially appears to be a vicious, ruthless
blackmailer, later reveals himself to be a much more sympathetic
and merciful character. He also turns out as an earnest lover.
Indeed, the play’s climax is largely a matter of resolving identity
confusion - we see Krogstad as a loving merciful man, Nora as
an intelligent, brave woman, and Torvald as a helpless, sad man.
~ 75 ~
Situations too are misinterpreted both by the audience and
by the characters. The seeming hatred between Mrs. Linde and
Krogstad turns out to be love. Nora’s creditor turns out to be
Krogstad and not Dr. Rank, as the audience and Mrs. Linde had
thought. Dr. Rank confesses that he is not just a friend to Nora
but instead he is in love with her, to Nora’s and the audience’s
surprise. The seemingly ruthless Krogstad repents and returns
Nora’s contract to her, while the seemingly kindhearted Mrs.
Linde fails to help Nora, leading to Torvald’s discovery of
Nora’s secret.
GENDER ROLES
A Doll’s House exposes the restricted roles of women
during the time of its writing and the problems that arise from a
drastic imbalance of power between men and women.
Throughout the play, Nora is treated like a child by the
other characters. Torvald calls her his “pet” and his “property,”
and suggests that she is not smart or responsible enough to be
trusted with money. Neither Krogstad nor Dr. Rank take her
seriously, and even Mrs. Linde calls her a “child.” Nora seems
unperturbed by the views of others about her; even calling
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herself “little Nora” and promising that she would never dream
of disobeying her husband.
However, there are clues that she is not entirely happy with
the limited position she has as a woman. For example, when
revealing the secret of how she borrowed money to finance the
trip to Italy, she refers to it as her “pride” and says it was fun to
be in control of money, explaining that it was “like being a
man.” (Pg 21) Nora seems to wish to enjoy the privileges and
power enjoyed by males in her society. She seems to understand
the confinement she faces simply by virtue of her sex.
Nora’s dissatisfaction with her status as a woman intensifies
over the course of the play. In the final scene she tells Torvald
that she is not being treated as an independent person with a
mind of her own. According to her, the bitter solution to this
issue is to leave married life behind, despite Torvald's begging
that he will change. Nora’s problems arise because as a woman
she cannot conduct business without the authority of either her
father or her husband. When her father is dying, she must forge
his signature to secure a loan to save her husband’s life. That she
is a responsible person is demonstrated when she repays the loan
at great personal sacrifice.
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The men in this play have a very conservative view of the
roles of women, especially in marriage and motherhood. Torvald,
in particular, believes that it is the sacred duty of a woman to be
a good wife and mother. Moreover, he tells Nora that women are
responsible for the morality of their children. In essence, he sees
women as childlike, helpless creatures detached from reality on
the one hand, but on the other hand as influential moral forces
responsible for the purity of the world through their influence in
the home.
The men of A Doll's House are in many ways just as trapped
by traditional gender roles as the women. The men must be
providers. They must bear the burden of supporting the entire
household. They must be the undoubted kings of their respective
castles. Besides providing for their families, the men are
obsessed by a desire to achieve higher status. Respectability is of
great concern to both Torvald and Krogstad. When Nora’s
borrowing is revealed, Torvald’s first thoughts are for his
reputation. On the other hand, Krogstad is obsessed with
achieving success now that he has changed his character. He
intends to one day take over Torvald’s job and run the bank.
~ 78 ~
By the end of the play, these traditional ideas are truly put to
the test.
INDIVIDUAL VS. SOCIETY
Nora, a dutiful mother and wife, spends most of the play
putting others before herself. She thinks little about herself to the
extent of engaging in an act of forgery and taking a debt for the
sake of her husband’s health. She doesn’t stop to worry about
how these actions might impact the lives of her husband and
children. Even when she plans to kill herself near the end of the
play, it is not to hide her shame but rather because she thinks that
if she is alive then Torvald will ruin himself in trying to protect
her.
Similarly, Mrs. Linde admits that, without a husband or any
family members to care for, she feels that her life is pointless.
Therefore both women find a sense of meaning in their lives
through serving others and performing the caring, obedient role
that society requires of them.
However, Nora later learns that prioritizing her duty as a
wife and mother cannot lead to real happiness. She realizes that
while she thought she was sacrificing herself to protect her love,
in fact no such love existed. It becomes clear that Torvald would
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never have sacrificed his reputation to protect her. She therefore
decides to leave him in order to develop a sense of her own
identity. The play ends with Nora choosing to put herself as an
individual before society’s expectations of her.
Some characters, however, are more concerned about
themselves as individuals rather than the society. A good
example is Krogstad. Throughout most of the play, it seems that
he cares more about his reputation than anything else. Punished
by society for his act of forgery, he is desperate to reclaim
respectability in the eyes of others. However, he realizes that he
will only achieve happiness through truly reforming himself and
regaining the personal integrity that he lost, rather than the
outward respectability.
In a similar way to Nora, Krogstad learns that society’s
view of him is meaningless if he doesn’t respect himself as an
individual.
BETRAYAL
Betrayal is a theme of this play in several ways. Nora has
betrayed her husband’s trust in several instances. She has lied
about borrowing money, and to repay the money she must lie
about how she spends her household accounts and she must lie
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about taking odd jobs to earn extra money. She also chooses to
lie about eating macaroons which her husband has forbidden her.
Torvald betrays Nora when he rejects her pleas for
understanding. Torvald’s betrayal of her love is clearly shown
when he doesn’t want to understand that Nora took the loan
because of his own welfare. To him, she threatened his otherwise
good reputation in the eyes of the society, which was an
unforgivable sin to him. This was the reality that Nora requires to
finally awaken from; her previous view about her husband and
their marriage was just but a sham.
Mrs Linde also betrays Krogstad when she opts to marry a
richer man because Krogstad was too poor to help her sustain her
sick mother and needy siblings.
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
In Act I, Nora is portrayed as nothing more than a “doll,” a
child who has exchanged a father for a husband without
changing or maturing in any way. But as the play progressed, she
realized that she had no identity separate from that of her
husband. Torvald owned her just as he owned their home or any
other possession. She was finally forced to face the reality of the
life she was living. She realized in the final act that if she had to
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develop an identity as an adult, she must leave her husband’s
home. When Nora finally gave up her dream for a miracle and,
instead, accepted the reality of her husband’s self-centredness,
she finally took her first steps toward maturity. She realized the
inequity of her situation; she also recognized her own self worth.
Her decision to leave is a daring one that indicates the
seriousness of Nora’s desire to find and create her own identity.
THE HOME
The fact that the play is called A Doll's House means that
home might be a prevalent theme. Early on in the text, the home
is seen as a thing of joy, a place of comfort and shelter. The idea
of home is enmeshed with the idea of the happy family, which
the Helmers seem to be.
Toward the play's conclusion, however, the imbalance of
power in the family becomes an issue. Now the seemingly happy
home is revealed as having been an illusion - a doll's house - that
hid the gulf between the Helmers. The Helmers' home is really
more of a prison than a shelter.
The title, A Doll's House, implies that everything is a
façade, an illusion. Just like a doll that has a plastered smile on
its face, the doll's house hides the problems in the marriage.
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STYLISTIC/LITERARY DEVICES
Stylistic or literary devices are techniques (ways to do
things, styles, or forms) that authors use to get the attention of
the reader which include playing with words, creating imagery,
comparing and contrasting, or using metaphors, just to name a
few. In A Doll’s House, the author has used a variety of stylistic
devices, as discussed below.
SYMBOLISM
Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colours used to
represent abstract ideas or concepts. The following are the
symbols used in the play:
1. Christmas and New Year Days
The action of the play is set at Christmas and New Year
season. Christmas and New Year holidays are both associated
with rebirth and renewal and several of the characters go through
a kind of rebirth over the course of the play.
Both Nora and Torvald have a spiritual awakening, which
could be seen as a “rebirth.” Nora's trials and tribulations wake
her up to the sorry state of her marriage. When the “wonderful
thing” fails to happen, she realizes she will never be a fully
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realized person until she breaks away from her husband. And
when she slams the door behind her, she is in a way reborn.
Nora is not alone in her spiritual awakening, however.
Torvald's last line, “The most wonderful thing of all?”(Pg 120)
seems to indicate that he has also realized the complete
inadequacy of his existence. By the end of the play, both
Helmers have been reborn.
Krogstad and Christine are reborn as well. When these “two
shipwrecked people…join forces,” (Pg 88) they each get a fresh
start in life. Both of them view their renewed love affair as a
chance for salvation. Krogstad hopes that it will help increase his
standing with the community, and that Christine's influence will
make him a better person. Christine, on the other hand, is
overjoyed that she will have someone to care for. She once again
has purpose in her life.
Nora and Torvald both look forward to New Year’s as the
start of a new, happier phase in their lives, a new beginning with
no debts. In the New Year, Torvald will start his new job, and he
anticipates with excitement the extra money and admiration the
job will bring him. Nora also looks forward to Torvald’s new
job, because she will finally be able to repay her secret debt to
~ 84 ~
Krogstad. By the end of the play, however, the nature of the new
start that New Year’s represents for Torvald and Nora has
changed dramatically. They both must become new people and
face radically changed ways of living. Hence, the New Year
comes to mark the beginning of a truly new and different period
in both their lives and their personalities.
In the end of the play, it resembles new beginnings as
almost all the characters are starting new lives, Nora and Torvald
separately, while Christine and Krogstad together.
2. Christmas Tree
The Christmas tree symbolizes Nora's role in her household.
She is only a decoration to be looked at. Her function in the
household is pretty much the same as the tree. She is merely
decorative and ornamental. She dresses up the tree just as
Torvald dresses up her for the party. It's interesting that she tells
the maid not to let the children see the tree until it's decorated.
The Christmas tree, therefore, a festive object meant to
serve a decorative purpose, symbolizes Nora’s position in her
household as a plaything who is pleasing to look at and adds
charm to the home.
~ 85 ~
It also symbolizes family happiness and unity, as well as the
joy Nora takes in making her home pleasant and attractive.
At the beginning of Act Two, the Christmas tree has been
stripped of its ornaments and is only left with burnt-down
candle-ends on its disheveled branches. Nora is alone in the
room, walking about uneasily. Basically, Nora is a mess and so is
the tree. She's gotten the bad news from Krogstad, and as a result
her mind is just as disheveled as the poor tree.
The tree seems to mimic Nora's psychological state. It can
be interpreted as symbolic of Nora's disintegrating web of lies.
The pretty decorations that Nora used to cover up her deceit are
falling away. Soon the bare, ugly truth will emerge. This
represents the end of Nora’s innocence and foreshadows the
Helmer family’s eventual disintegration.
3. Macaroons
Torvald has banned Nora from eating macaroons. Although
Nora claims that she never disobeys Torvald, this is proved false
in the very opening of the play when Nora eats macaroons while
she was alone in the living room. The macaroons are symbolic of
Nora’s disobedience and deceit. She lies to Dr. Rank about
having been given some by Mrs. Linde, and after giving her
~ 86 ~
performance of the tarantella asks that macaroons be served at
dinner, which indicates a close relationship between the
macaroons and her inner passions, both of which she must hide
within her marriage.
4. The tarantella
Tarantella takes its name from a spider, a Tarantula,
which, according to the Italian legends, bites its victim to quick
death. The only way to get rid of its poison is to dance so as to let
the poison come out of the body with the sweat. Similarly, the
wild dance of Nora is a symbolic expression of her tragic inner
condition and, at the same time, a therapeutic instrument that
gives her courage to face up the suicide that she plans to carry
out. Nora dances the Tarantella at a time when she had
accelerated anxiety, on the border of madness. So through the
dance, her body was trying to express what couldn’t be said in
words.
Like the macaroons, the tarantella symbolizes a side of Nora
that she cannot normally show. It is a fiery, passionate dance that
allows her to drop the mask of the perfect Victorian wife and
express her desperate and tragic interior condition and her inner
~ 87 ~
feelings. It is a dance of recovering from the madness of her
fate; Tarantella has the power to heal Nora.
After the dance, in fact, she reemerges matured and able to
look death in the eyes.
It is important to note that the rehearsal of Tarantella is the
first moment in which Nora doesn’t obey what Torvald
commands. Her repressed feelings are not allowed to come out in
her marriage, the only way she can express them is through a
performance. And her performance is wild and hysteric. Through
the dance Nora liberates herself from her sexual doll’s role,
which is a transformation from an old existence to a new one.
5. The Doll’s House
The title of the play A Doll’s House is also symbolic. It
represents something impermanent or short-lived.
There are a few mentions of dolls early on in the play; for
example, when Nora shows Torvald the dolls she bought for her
daughter, and says that the fact that they are cheap doesn’t matter
because she will probably break them soon anyway. This
probably suggests that Nora is raising her daughter for a life
similar to her own. It also foreshadows Nora breaking up her
family life by leaving Torvald.
~ 88 ~
When Nora plays with her children she also refers to them
as her “little darlings.” (Pg 42) However, it is not until the end
of the play that the metaphor becomes explicitly clear. Nora tells
Torvald that both he and her father treated her like a doll, and
cites this as one of the reasons why she has become dissatisfied
and disillusioned with her life with him.
6. The dance costume
At the end of the play, Nora decides to leave Torvald. The
next thing Nora does is to change out of her fancy dance dress.
Torvald bought this dress for Nora to wear at a costume party
because he wanted her to appear as a "Neapolitan fish girl". As
one would put clothes on a doll, Torvald dresses Nora. When she
sheds this dress, she is symbolically shedding her past life with
Torvald and her doll-like existence.
7. Dr. Rank
Dr. Rank is a symbol of moral corruption within society. He
has been lusting for Nora secretly. His illness is symbolic of the
moral illness of the society as represented by himself, Krogstad
and, by extension, Torvald.
~ 89 ~
8. Mrs Linde
Mrs Linde is a symbol of a modern, independent woman.
She arrives in town in search of a job in order to earn money and
survive independently. She perhaps also symbolizes hollowness
in the matriarchal role.
9. Torvald Helmer
Torvald Helmer is a symbol of a male dominated,
authoritative, and autocratic society.
10. The slamming of the door
The slamming of the door symbolizes the finality of the
relationship between Torvald and Nora Helmer.
USE OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
IMAGERY
Metaphors
A metaphor is a comparison without using the terms ‘like’
or ‘as.’ Henrik Ibsen uses quite a number of metaphors in A
Doll’s House. These include the following:
1. Torvald’s pet names for Nora
-He calls her “featherhead,” “songbird,” “squirrel,” “hunted
dove...saved from hawk's claws,” and “skylark.” When she
leaves him, he calls her a “heedless child.” All these metaphors
~ 90 ~
are, on one hand, aimed at reflecting Nora’s apparently innocent,
carefree nature, and on the other hand, they suggest that her
husband does not think of her as a proper adult because she is a
woman.
-Another metaphor is where Torvald says, “…how much it costs
a man to keep such a little bird as you.” Here, Torvald is
comparing Nora to a bird by saying that people would not expect
her to spend as much money as she does. The “bird” reference
means that birds are typically low maintenance, but Nora is not.
2. The doll
-In Act 3, Nora tells Torvald that both her father and Torvald
have treated her like a doll-child, with no opinions of her own,
and have only played with her. Both men, she says, have
committed “a great sin” against her in discouraging her from
growing up. Torvald’s pet names for her are prefaced by “little,”
showing that he sees her as a child.
3. Big black hat
-In Act 3. Dr. Rank has a coded conversation with Nora
(designed to protect Torvald from unpleasant truths) in which he
says he will attend the next fancy dress ball wearing “a big black
~ 91 ~
hat” that will make him invisible. This is a way of saying that he
will be dead.
Other metaphors
-Krogstad is labeled "morally diseased" because of the
incriminating forged bond and the forged documents that
tarnished his reputation.
-Nora and Torvald crumbling marriage and home are referred to
as a "doll's house” to mean their impermanency.
- Krogstad uses this metaphor, “I am a shipwrecked man
clinging to a bit of wreckage” (Pg 87) to describe how he felt
when Mrs. Linde chose to marry her late husband instead of him.
Mrs. Linde replies that she had her mother and younger brothers
to take care of and she needed financial stability, which Krogstad
could not offer her. In this metaphor, Krogstad might be
suggesting that he is still in love with Mrs. Linde.
-Torvald refers to his wife as his “frightened little songbird” and
promises her that his “big broad wings” would protect her.
-The title of the play A Doll’s House is an extended metaphor. It
is comparison of a small toy with that of a perfect house. It
compares Nora's relationship with every man in her life to that of
a young child playing with her, merely a pretty plaything.
~ 92 ~
Similes
A simile is a comparison by use of the terms ‘like’ or ‘as.’
Similes are used in different places in the story to compare
certain necessary ideas.
Examples
-“It was like being a man.”(Pg 21) This simile was used by Nora
to compare the role she played in sustaining the family during
their one-year stay in Italy. It made her feel like a man
supporting them for all that time.
-Torvald brags that he will protect Nora “like a hunted dove that
[he has] saved from the talons of a hawk.” Here, he wants to
emphasize his commitment in ensuring Nora of her safety.
IRONY
Irony is a figure of speech in which words are used in such a
way that their intended meaning is different from the actual
meaning of the words. It may also be a situation that ends up in
quite a different way than what is generally anticipated. There
are three types of irony evident in A Doll’s House, namely:
verbal, situational and dramatic irony.
~ 93 ~
Dramatic irony
Dramatic irony occurs when the audience is more aware of
what is happening than one, some or all the characters on stage.
The full significance of a character's words or actions is clear to
the audience or reader although unknown to the character. In
other words, the audience's or reader's knowledge of events or
individuals surpasses that of the characters.
Examples
-This happens in A Doll's House near the opening of the play
when Nora eats macaroons. When Torvald then asks Nora if she
has been eating sweets, she lies and says she has not. Nora and
the audience know this is a lie and so know more than Torvald,
making this a situation of dramatic irony.
-Torvald tells Nora, “That is like a woman! But seriously, Nora,
you know what I think about that. No debt, no borrowing. There
can be no freedom or beauty about a home that depends on
borrowing and debt.”(Pg 3) But nevertheless, she has borrowed
money from Krogstad which she has been paying for a long time
without his knowledge.
-The reader is aware that Nora borrowed money from Krogstad
without her husband's permission. Nora also forged her father's
~ 94 ~
name to gain the money. She says, “You don't know all. I forged
a name.” In the following conversation between Nora and
Christine it is clearly stated that Torvald does not know of Nora's
actions
Mrs. Linde: And since then have you never told your secret to
your husband?
Nora. Good heavens, no! (Pg 20)
-Another example of dramatic irony in A Doll's House is when
Nora wants to practise a dance called the Tarantella. When
Torvald goes to look in the letter box Nora says, “Torvald please
don't. There is nothing in there.” (Pg 80) The reader knows there
is a letter in the mailbox that has been dropped by Krogstad. The
reader also knows that Nora has not forgotten the dance as she
claimed, she was just pretending. The reader knows this when
Torvald goes to check the mail and Nora begins to play the
Tarantella. Nora then says, “I can't dance tomorrow if I don't
practise with you.” (Pg 81) The reader knows that all Nora is
trying to do is keep Torvald from reading the mail which
contains a letter from Krogstad.
-Dramatic irony is evident throughout the text to indicate Nora's
exit from her marriage with Torvald. Some escalating events
~ 95 ~
have happened in the three acts to give clues to the audience that
she has already decided to leave.
Examples
i) Nora to Nurse regarding the children:
Nora: Yes, but, nurse, I shall not be able to be so much with them
now as I was before.
Nurse: Oh well, young children easily get accustomed to
anything.
Nora: Do you think so? Do you think they would forget
their mother if she went away altogether? (Pg 50)
ii) Nora to Torvald:
Nora: “Torvald, you will be sorry for not letting me stay, even
for just half an hour.”
She knows that the letter is still in the mailbox and doesn’t
want Torvald to find out about the contract.
iii) Nora to Mrs Linde:
Nora: “You all think I’m incapable of doing anything
serious…or of ever having to face the brutality of life.”
~ 96 ~
Situational irony
Situational irony occurs when something entirely different
happens from what the audience may be expecting, or the final
outcome is opposite to what the audience is expecting.
Examples
-Situational Irony is present when Nora is discussing Krogstad’s
forgery with her husband in Act 1. Minutes before this
conversation, Krogstad approached Nora about her own forgery
of her father’s signature.
-There is very little hint that Nora is going to leave Torvald until
the end of the play. At the beginning of the play she acts as if she
loves him very much. Not until she says “Or if anything else
should happen to me - anything, for instance, that might prevent
me from being here” does anyone think about Nora leaving
Torvald. At the end of the play she calls Torvald a “stranger” and
walks out.
-It is ironic that Torvald states that he awaits the moment when
Nora will be in trouble so that he can rescue her. When in fact
the truth comes out and Torvald has been given his opportunity
to rescue Nora, all he is concerned with is his reputation. He
yells at her. He insults her by calling her feather brain. He
~ 97 ~
screams at her, telling her to go to her room. He is not interested
in how he can rescue her. He is interested in how he can get out
of this mess without ruining his good name.
-When Krogstad returns the IOU document, Torvald exclaims
that he is saved and that he has forgiven Nora. When Nora asks if
she is saved, Torvald exclaims that she is, of course. Only
moments earlier, he was furious with her. Ironically, he did not
even consider that she had borrowed the money to in fact save
him.
-Situational irony is also evident earlier on in the play during
Nora's chat with Mrs. Linde, where she talks, or rather brags
about her husband getting promoted as the manager of the bank.
She says, “I feel so relieved to have heaps of money and not need
to have any anxiety…” (Pg 11-12) Here, Nora visualizes a happy
and blissful life with Helmer. However, there is irony in what she
says because later on in the play, her marital relationship will be
shattered and she will leave her husband and all the “money” that
she had visualized, for an uncertain future away from Torvald
after realizing that the world she was living in was equivalent to
the world of a puppet, or rather, a doll.
~ 98 ~
Verbal irony
Verbal irony occurs when a speaker’s intention is the
opposite of what he or she is saying.
Examples
-Verbal irony is present when Helmer says, “Is that my little
skylark twittering out there?” (Pg 2) He is not really asking if
Nora is a bird. He is not even saying that she is twittering like a
bird. He is just asking if it is his wife, Nora, and if she is saying
something. When Torvald Helmer says, “Is it my little squirrel
bustling about?” (Pg 2) he does not think that Nora is a squirrel
either.
-Nora has her share of verbal irony too. When she is sitting down
talking to Mrs. Linde she says, “There now, it is burning up.”
The place is not literally burning up. The house is not on fire.
Nora is just stating that the temperature inside the house is hot.
- When Nora is chatting with Mrs. Linde, where she says “just
fancy, my husband has been made manager of the Bank!”(Pg 11)
where she talks, or rather brags about her husband getting
promoted as the manager of the bank. She says, “I feel so
relieved to have heaps of money and not need to have any
anxiety…” (Pg 11-12) The reader is tempted to think that her life
~ 99 ~
and that of her family is one smooth ride. But it emerges that she
is deep in debt and even has to work extra hours at night in order
to keep up with the payments.
FORESHADOW
Foreshadowing refers to clues that point to events that will
happen later.
Examples
-Nora’s early rebellion of eating the macaroons against Torvald
foreshadows her later rebellion
-The way Torvald always called Nora "My little skylark", "My
little squirrel", “My little singing bird,” “My pretty little pet,”
“My little sweet-tooth,” and “My poor little Nora.” was a
foreshadow. She ends up saying something like “I'm just your
little dove” in the later Acts when she decides to leave him. She
acknowledges the fact there was never actually love between
them; she was just his play toy, hence the name of the play, A
Doll's House.
-In the following conversation between Nora and Anne-Marie,
there is use of foreshadow.
Nora: Yes, but, nurse, I shall not be able to be so much with
them now as I was before.
~ 100 ~
Nurse: Oh well, young children easily get accustomed to
anything.
Nora: Do you think so? Do you think they would forget
their mother if she went away altogether? (Pg 50)
Nora eventually leaves her family, which was why she
asked Anne-Marie how she possibly could have done it.
-Torvald's stubbornness about denying Krogstad the banking job
has complicated Nora’s attempt to continue hiding her little
secret. We know there is going to be trouble later on. Nora’s
secret is bound to come out. Ibsen has foreshadowed an ironic
inevitability.
-Mrs. Linde plays the role of foreshadowing the future of Nora
and a mirror to Nora’s character. She delves into the mistakes
Nora will make and views her for what she truly is. She is the
wise woman who has hindsight of what becomes of women who
spend their money and borrow. She provides exposition to the
play because she is the only one Nora can discuss her history
with without consequences. Talking to Mrs. Linde provides an
opportunity for the audience to understand Nora’s character.
-Mrs. Linde shares with Nora that her husband had died and that,
due to her habits and his unstable business, she was now poor
~ 101 ~
and struggling to make ends meet. She seems to be
foreshadowing Nora’s impending fate.
CONTRAST/JUXTAPOSITION
Contrast or juxtaposition involves two characters or things
being placed together with a contrasting effect.
Examples
-The father-daughter relationship between Nora and her father
and that of Nora and Torvald is contrasted in the final Act. Nora
makes this connection that life with her father was like life with
Torvald. Nora’s father would force his beliefs on her and she
would comply with them lest she upset him; she would bury her
personal belief under Papa’s. According to Nora, Torvald was
guilty of the same things. A good example was his insistence on
her wearing the fish girl costume and his frustration over her
inability to grasp the tarantella.
-Krogstad and Nora are also contrasted. The more we learn of
Krogstad, the more we understand that he shares a great deal
with Nora Helmer. First of all, both have committed the crime of
forgery. Moreover, their motives were out of a desperate desire
to save their loved ones. Also like Nora, Krogstad has
~ 102 ~
contemplated ending his life to eliminate his troubles but was
ultimately too scared to follow through.
- Dr. Rank’s treatment of Nora is contrasted sharply with that of
Torvald. Rank always treats Nora like an adult. He listens to her
and affords her a dignity, which is definitely missing in
Torvald’s treatment.
- Mrs Linde’s relationship with Krogstad also provides a point of
comparison with that of Nora and Torvald.
-Nora and Mrs Linde are also contrasted. Whereas Mrs. Linde
took responsibility for her sick parent, Nora abandoned her father
when he was ill. Mrs. Linde’s account of her life of poverty
underscores the privileged nature of the life that Nora leads. Her
sensible worldview contrasts sharply with Nora’s somewhat
childlike outlook on life.
FOIL
A foil is a literary character who contrasts another character
in order to highlight certain aspects of the other character.
Examples
-Mrs Linde’s life’s journey from independence to marriage is a
foil to Nora's journey in the opposite direction.
~ 103 ~
-Dr Rank is a foil to Torvald in that he treats Nora as an
intelligent human being and she in return speaks more openly to
him than she does to her husband.
-Mrs. Linde is the character that really makes Nora look bad in
comparison and acts as a foil for Nora. In fact, you could argue
that all the characters act as foils for Nora.
MOTIFS
Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices
that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.
Examples
Nora’s definition of freedom
-Nora’s understanding of the meaning of freedom recurs in the
course of the play. In the first act, she believes that she will be
totally “free” as soon as she has repaid her debt, because she will
have the opportunity to devote herself fully to her domestic
responsibilities. After Krogstad blackmails her, however, she
reconsiders her outlook regarding freedom and questions whether
she is happy in Torvald’s house, subjected to his orders and
commands. By the end of the play, Nora seeks a new kind of
freedom. She wishes to be relieved of her familial obligations in
order to pursue her own ambitions, beliefs, and identity.
~ 104 ~
Use of letters
-Many of the plot’s twists and turns depend upon the writing and
reading of letters. Krogstad writes two letters: the first reveals
Nora’s crime of forgery to Torvald; the second retracts his
blackmail threat and returns Nora’s promissory note.
-The first letter, which Krogstad places in Torvald’s letterbox
near the end of Act Two, represents the truth about Nora’s past
and initiates the inevitable dissolution of her marriage. The
second letter releases Nora from her obligation to Krogstad and
represents her release from her obligation to Torvald.
-The two letters have exposed the truth about Torvald’s
selfishness, and Nora can no longer participate in the illusion of a
happy marriage.
-Dr. Rank communicates his imminent death through another
form of a letter: a calling card marked with a black cross in
Torvald’s letterbox. By leaving his calling card as a death notice,
Dr. Rank politely attempts to keep Torvald from the “ugly” truth,
as he had said earlier about his best friend, Torvald.
Other letters include Mrs. Linde’s note to Krogstad, which
initiates her life-changing meeting with him, and Torvald’s letter
of dismissal to Krogstad.
~ 105 ~
HYPERBOLE
Hyperbole refers to extreme exaggeration of statements or
claims which makes someone or something sound bigger, better
or more than they are.
Examples
i) Nora: Yes, that's just it.
Helmer: Now you have destroyed all my happiness. You have
ruined all my future. It is horrible to think of! I am in the power
of an unscrupulous man; he can do what he likes with me, ask
anything he likes of me, give me any order he pleases - I dare not
refuse. And I must sink to such miserable depths because of a
thoughtless woman! (Pg 104)
It is a hyperbole because although Nora may have caused a
major accident of forging a signature and hiding it from Helmer,
it is not obvious it will affect his future. Helmer is exaggerating
that his happiness is destroyed because he feels betrayal and
anger, just to show the seriousness of the shame that Nora has
caused.
ii) Mrs. Linde: But now I am quite alone in the world - my life is
so dreadfully empty and I feel so forsaken.
~ 106 ~
This is a hyperbole because Mrs. Linde is exaggerating
about her situation.
iii) NORA: I should like to tear it into a hundred thousand
pieces.
It is a hyperbole because Nora cannot possibly be able to tear the
letter into a thousand pieces.
~ 107 ~
REVISION QUESTIONS
CONTEXT QUESTIONS
1. Where is A Doll's House set?
-In a middle-class living-room; nice but not extravagant
furniture; piano, fire, winter's day; Norway
2. Why does Nora tell the porter to hide the tree?
-So the kids don't see it before it's decorated
3. What does Nora sneak at the beginning of the play?
-Macaroons
4. What does Torvald call Nora?
-Squirrel, skylark
5. Why does Torvald scold Nora at the beginning of the play?
-for buying things and being careless with money
6. When is Torvald getting a new job? Why does he want Nora to
wait to spend money?
-New Year; what if he gets hit in the head with a brick and
therefore never gets the job?
7. How does Nora suggest they buy things before the promotion?
-borrowing from people (Helmer thinks she's just a typical
woman who doesn't understand debt)
8. What does Nora want Torvald to get her for a present? Why
doesn't he want to give it to her?
-money; he calls her a spendthrift and says she'll just waste all
the money on unimportant things
9. What does Torvald think runs in Nora's family?
-spending too much money (like her father)
10. Does Nora want to be like her dad? Does Torvald want this?
~ 108 ~
Yes, no
11. What is the first thing Nora lies about?
-she denies that she would ever eat macaroons because she
promised not to...but she did
12. What did Nora do the Christmas before this one?
-locked herself away to make paper flowers to decorate the tree
(the cat ripped up the flowers, though)
13. Who is Mrs. Linde?
-Christine; Nora's childhood friend; they haven't seen each other
in 9 or 10 years
14. What does Nora think of Mrs. Linde's appearance?
-she looks pale
15. What work has Nora had to do?
-sewing, embroidery, etc.
16. What secret does Nora tell Mrs. Linde first?
-when Torvald worked too hard in the first year of their marriage
and got sick and had to go to Italy to recover, she borrowed
money from her father in order to pay for it (at the time: her
father was dying, she was pregnant, and she couldn't go see him)
17. What is Christine's backstory?
-she never loved her husband, she just married Mr. Linde
because she had a sick mother and two little brothers to support;
when he died, his business fell apart and she was left with
nothing; she had been working ever since; recently, her mom
died and her brothers are now old enough to take care of
themselves.
~ 109 ~
18. What does Christine ask of Nora?
-if Torvald can give her a job at the bank he'll be managing
19. Why does Christine think it's nice of Nora to care so much
about her troubles?
-because she says Nora has never had any of her own
20. What does Nora reveal to Mrs. Linde after being insulted
because Christine said she didn't really know trouble?
-she didn't actually borrow money from her father; she borrowed
it from someone else, but Torvald doesn't know this; he didn't
even know how sick he was and that the Italy trip was to make
him survive; she pretended that she just wanted to travel abroad
and secretly borrowed the money to spare his pride
21. When does Nora plan on telling Torvald the truth?
-when she's old and he's not attracted to her any more
22. How has Nora been paying back the loan?
-lots of odd jobs secretly, scrimping on buying new clothes for
herself (cheap clothes look good on her so Torvald doesn't
notice); last winter she copied letters late every night (perhaps
she didn't really spend all that time making tree decorations?)
23. What does Nora dream?
-a rich old man would come and give her all the money she needs
24. How does Mrs. Linde first claim to have known Krogstad?
-he was a lawyer in her area
25. What is Krogstad's backstory?
-had an unhappy marriage, now has several children, got himself
into bad business troubles
~ 110 ~
26. What does Mrs. Linde say when Dr. Rank tells her and Nora
what a bad guy Krogstad is?
-people should try to help the diseased (Dr Rank says Krogstad is
morally diseased)
27. What does Torvald say when Nora asks if Christine can have
a job?
-yes; she's come at a good time
28. What does Krogstad first ask Nora? Then what does he ask
of her?
-if Mr. Helmer is giving Christine a job; if she will use her
influence to get him a job (she says she doesn't have much
influence)
29. Why is Nora no longer afraid of Krogstad when he first
comes to visit?
-come New Year she'll be out from under his thumb
30. Why does Krogstad want to regain the community's respect?
-for the sake of his sons
31. Why does Nora tell Krogstad not to tell Torvald about the
money?
-that would only confirm what a bad person Torvald sees
Krogstad as saying it would make everything unpleasant
32. What does Krogstad tell Nora that makes the whole thing
worse?
-she forged her father's signature; he can prove it because the
signature is in Nora's handwriting and she dated the document
after her father died; basically he can prove that not only does
~ 111 ~
she owe money but she broke the law (Nora says she didn't have
time to think about it because her husband was dying)
33. When does Nora start decorating the Christmas tree?
-after Krogstad leaves after blackmailing her
34. Why does Torvald think Krogstad was at the house?
-to get Nora to put in a good word for him
35. What does Nora ask Torvald to do for her?
-pick out her costume for the Stenborgs' party because she's
helpless without his taste
36. What crime did Krogstad commit? Why does Torvald not like
him?
-forgery; he never admitted his guilt, he got off through
loopholes, he is corrupt and has lived a life of lies even around
his family
37. How does the Christmas tree look at the start of Act 2?
-stripped and bedraggled
38. Who is Anne?
-nurse; she got pregnant by a bad guy and had to give up her
child
39. What costume is Nora going to wear to the Stenborgs' party?
-Neapolitan fisher girl
40. What dance does Torvald want Nora to do?
-tarantella
41. What does Christine offer Nora?
-to fix up her costume (if she can come by and see Nora in it)
42. What is Dr. Rank sick with? How did he get it?
-consumption of the spine; his promiscuous father
~ 112 ~
43. What can Nora not talk about with Torvald? Why?
-her old school friends; he gets jealous
44. Who does Christine guess lent Nora the money?
-Dr. Rank
45. What does Christine think of Nora and Dr. Rank's
relationship?
-they should stop talking to each other so much because he's
probably interested in Nora
46. Who does Nora think about borrowing money from to pay
Krogstad?
-Dr. Rank
47. What does Nora tell Torvald she'll do anything he asks of her
for? What does Torvald say?
-if he'll not fire Krogstad; he's given his job to Mrs. Linde
48. What reasoning does Nora give as to why Torvald should not
fire Krogstad?
-he writes small newspapers and he might write nasty articles
about Torvald if he's fired (like when her father got in legal
trouble and was slandered by the papers); he should fire someone
else and let Mrs. Linde and Krogstad both have jobs
49. What does Torvald think of Nora's dad's business?
-his dealings were shady
50. Why won't Torvald give in to Nora's request for a job for
Krogstad?
-he already said no and told everyone at the bank he's firing
Krogstad, and he's worried that if he changes his mind people
~ 113 ~
will think his wife rules him; also, he knew Krogstad when they
were kids and Krogstad insists on calling Torvald his first name
which is really embarrassing given Krogstad's corrupt past
51. What finally makes Torvald send a letter firing Krogstad?
-Nora calls him petty for worrying about his affiliations with
Krogstad
52. Why does Torvald forgive Nora's behavior in wanting a job
for Krogstad?
-shows how much she loves him; but if trouble comes from the
firing, he can handle it
53. What does Dr. Rank ask of Nora?
-to keep Torvald away from Dr. Rank's sick room, because he is
sensitive to such unpleasantness and Rank doesn't want to upset
him
54. How will Dr. Rank inform Nora of his death?
-business card with black cross in their mailbox when he starts to
die (Nora says it's morbid and depressing)
55. Who does Dr. Rank think will replace him as Nora's friend
after he dies?
-Mrs. Linde
56. How does Nora react when Dr. Rank tells her he loves her?
-she says it's inappropriate; it makes her uncomfortable, he
shouldn’t have said that
57. How does Nora respond when Rank tells her that she seems
like she loves him more than Torvald?
~ 114 ~
-she says the people you have fun with aren't the same as the
ones you love; when she was little she loved her father the most,
but had fun gossiping with the maids
58. What relationship does Nora liken her relationship with
Torvald to?
-her relationship with her father
59. Why is Krogstad surprised Torvald would fire him at first?
-knowing what power he has over them
60. What does Krogstad offer?
-that the three of them can settle the matter, and no one else has
to be involved
61. How does Krogstad plan to use the blackmail?
-to blackmail Torvald into giving him a promotion; in a year it'll
be him running the bank instead of Torvald
62. What does Nora threaten to do? What does Krogstad say?
-commit suicide; doesn't believe she'll do it, and it wouldn't do
any good because he would still be able to ruin her reputation
which Torvald would never let happen
63. What does Nora expect Torvald to do when he finds out?
-take all the blame on himself; a wonderful, yet terrible thing
64. How does Mrs. Linde reassure Nora?
-says she will go and convince Krogstad to ask Torvald for the
unopened letter back because they used to be close
65. What does Nora ask Torvald to help her with?
-practising the tarantella (she does it, and he says she has a lot of
practising to do, which she agrees with and says he will have to
help her every moment between then and the party)
~ 115 ~
66. What does Torvald guess when Nora says he will have no
time to open letters since he's helping her practise? What does he
agree to do?
-that there's a letter from Krogstad; wait till after the party to
open it
67. Why is Nora kind of glad that Torvald's going to find out?
-the wonderful thing, the miracle will happen - he'll jump to her
rescue and take all the blame
68. Where does Mrs. Linde wait for Krogstad? Why?
-at the Helmers' house while they're at the party; there's no
private entrance at the place where she's staying
69. What is Krogstad and Mrs. Linde's past?
-she broke up with him abruptly for the man she married because
she needed his money to support her family
70. What does Krogstad say he has been like since Christine left
him? What does she say?
-a man lost at sea on a wreck; she feels the same, and the
shipwrecks should get together
71. Why does Mrs. Linde tell Krogstad she came to town? What
does he say?
-for him: she needs someone to work for, to help, or she feels
like she has no purpose in life; Krogstad calls her hysterical and
says she's just looking for a chance at self-sacrifice
72. What does Mrs. Linde say when Krogstad asks if she only got
back together with him for Nora?
-she sold herself in the past and would never do it again
73. Why does Christine tell Krogstad not to get his letter back?
~ 116 ~
-all the lies in the Helmers house need to come to light
74. Did Nora want to leave the party so early?
-no
75. Why does Mrs. Linde say she is at their house?
-to see Nora's costume
76. What did Torvald think of Nora's performance at the party?
-a bit too realistic, she was a bit too much like a Neapolitan
fisher girl for his taste (but the other guests loved it)
77. What does Torvald think Mrs. Linde should do instead of
knitting?
-embroidery (more tasteful since knitting needles looks Chinese)
78. What does Torvald pretend when the Helmers go to parties?
-Nora's not his wife, but his secret lover
79. What does Dr. Rank say he will be at the party next year?
-invisible
80. Why does Dr. Rank tell Torvald he had a right to drink a lot
at the party?
-he did medical research all day and has found something for
sure and was very productive (but really, he found out he's
definitely going to die)
81. What does Torvald notice about the mailbox? What is Nora's
response?
-someone tried to pick the lock; one of Nora's hairpins is jammed
into it; she blames it on the kids
82. What does Torvald find in the mailbox from Rank?
-two cards with black crosses on them
~ 117 ~
83. What does Torvald tell Nora after he says he's glad to have
her?
-he sometimes wishes she were in trouble so he could save her
84. What does Torvald do after reading Krogstad's letter?
-screams at Nora, says she is just as disgusting as her father was;
says his happiness is now destroyed because he will have to obey
Krogstad
85. What does Torvald say in response to Nora's threatening to
commit suicide?
-it won't do any good because Krogstad will still have power and
suspect him as an accomplice (he doesn't really care that she'd be
dead?!)
86. What is Torvald's solution?
-Nora can still live in the house to keep up appearances, but the
relationship is over and she's not allowed near the children
because she'll corrupt them
87. How does Krogstad fix the problem?
-sends another letter with the forgery and says he's ashamed he
tried to blackmail them
88. Why does Torvald say his love for Nora is even deeper now?
-after having forgiven her from the bottom of his heart; his
possession of her has grown even greater; she shouldn't worry
because hewill continue to guide her through life as if she were a
child
89. What does Nora complain about after Torvald forgives her?
-she says they have never had a serious conversation before now
90. Who does Nora accuse of treating her like a doll?
~ 118 ~
-Torvald and her father; they dressed her up and made her into
what they wanted her to be
91. Why does Nora say she's leaving Torvald and the kids?
-she has a duty to herself that she's never fulfilled; she realizes
she's never been happy with Torvald; she will spend the night at
Mrs. Linde's
92. Why does Torvald admonish Nora for wanting to leave?
-he says she's forsaking her sacred duties to her husband and
children; then he says what Jesus would do
93. What does Nora need to learn by leaving?
-whether she's just too ignorant to understand society, as Torvald
says, or if society's wrong
94. Why does Nora realize she never loved Torvald?
-she realizes he isn't the man she thought he was when the
"miracle" of him taking the blame from her didn't happen
95. When does Nora say she would come back?
-if they had a true marriage instead of just living together
96. What does Helmer end with?
"The most wonderful thing of all"
ESSAY QUESTIONS
1. What is important about the title? Who is the "doll" Ibsen
refers to?
2. Who is the more significant female character in terms of
plot development, Nora or Christine? Explain your answer.
3. Do you think Christine's decision not to prevent Krogstad
from revealing the truth to Torvald is a betrayal of Nora? Does
this act ultimately hurt or benefit Nora?
~ 119 ~
4. How does Henrik Ibsen reveal character in A Doll's House?
Is Nora a sympathetic character? Did your opinion of Nora
change from the beginning of the play to its conclusion?
5. Does the play end the way you expected? Do you think this
was a happy ending?
6. A Doll's House is generally considered a feminist work. Do
you agree with this characterization? Why or why not?
7. What does the Tarantella dance symbolize in A Doll’s
house?
~ 120 ~

A Guide To A Dolls House by BM Clean

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A STUDY GUIDE TO

First Edition 2018

1. About the author………………………………………..5

9. Plot summary and analysis…………………………....17

10. Character, characterization and role………………......27

12. Stylistic/literary devices……………………………......83

13. Revision questions…………………………...………..108

CHARACTERS, CHARACTERIZATION AND

5. Childlike, immature, ignorant and whimsical

7. Dishonest and deceitful

14. Trusting and naïve

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