A Doll's House.

QUOTES: A DOLL’S HOUSE… 1. "Yes - some day, perhaps, after many years, when I am no longer as pretty as I am now. Don't laugh at me! I mean, of course, when Torvald is no longer as devoted to me as he is now; when my dancing and dressing-up and reciting have palled on him then it may be a good thing to have something in reserve." (Act One) Nora responds to Mrs Linde's question as to whether she will ever tell Torvald of the loan that she took out in order to save his life. Nora's words reveal that she is aware that Torvald's feelings for her are superficial and based on her beauty and ability to perform for him and amuse him. For these reasons, she believes that one day he will tire of her. 2. "To be able to be free from care, quite free from care; to be able to play and romp with the children; to be able to keep the house beautifully and have everything just as Torvald likes it!" (Act One) Nora delightedly looks forward to the time when she will have paid off her debt to Krogstad and reflects that then she will be free. Her speech has dramatic irony (where the audience knows or suspects that the opposite to what the character believes is true), as her freedom as she defines it is in fact her bondage. She comes to realize this by the end of the play. 3. "Your squirrel would run about and do all her tricks if you would be nice, and do as she wants." (Act Two) Nora attempts to manipulate Torvald into keeping Krogstad in his post at the bank, so that Krogstad will not reveal to Torvald the details of Nora's debt. 4. "It is no use lying to one's self." (Act Two) Dr Rank tells Nora that he must confront his imminent death. His remark has greater resonance, however, as Nora and Torvald are indeed lying to themselves. Nora tells herself that Torvald loves her so much that he will sacrifice everything for her, and Torvald believes that he has a submissive, decorative but helpless little wife. Both are under an illusion. 5. "A wonderful thing is going to happen!" (Act Two) Nora makes this comment to Mrs Linde after Krogstad has dropped a letter, revealing Nora's debt to him and her forgery of her father's signature, into Torvald's letterbox. Though Nora does not yet explain what the "wonderful thing" is, it later becomes clear that she is referring to her expectation that Torvald will take the entire blame for her actions upon himself. This never happens, though it could be said that another wonderful thing - Nora's awakening - does occur. The "wonderful thing" theme is taken up again by Nora at the play's end, just before she leaves Torvald, when she says that such a thing would have to happen for them to get back together. However, she adds that she no longer believes in wonderful things. 6. "Why shouldn't I look at my dearest treasure? - at all the beauty that is mine, all my very own?" (Act Three) Helmer stares at Nora in her fancy-dress costume, which he picked out for her, in a state of erotic fascination. He looks upon her as a beautiful possession. His attitude towards her is contrasted with that of Dr Rank, who soon enters and confides in Nora that he now knows for sure that he will die within a month. Dr Rank treats her as an equal and loves her essence, not just her appearance, as is plain from his comment that she must go to the next party as a good fairy, but in her normal clothes. 7. "At the next fancy-dress ball I shall be invisible. There is a big black hat - have you never heard of hats that make you invisible? If you put one on, no one can see you." (Act Three) Dr Rank tells Nora, in code so that Torvald will not understand, that he will be dead by the time of the next fancy-dress ball. The big black hat symbolizes death.

8. "Do you know, Nora, I have often wished that you might be threatened by some great danger, so that I might risk my life's blood, and everything, for your sake." (Act Three) Torvald, enthralled by Nora's beauty in her fancy-dress costume, fantasizes about how he might rescue her from some great danger. This comment has great dramatic irony, as very soon, when her secret is revealed, he will have the opportunity to do just that. Indeed, Nora is expecting him to do just that, but he fails miserably. Far from rescuing her, he only thinks of his own ruined reputation, and of the necessity of keeping up appearances. 9. "From this moment happiness is not the question; all that concerns us is to save the remains, the fragments, the appearance - " (Act Three) Torvald, having learned the details of Krogstad's loan to Nora, does not appreciate her sacrifice for him or consider her feelings. He rejects her both as a wife and a mother for their children, but wants her to remain in his house and pretend that all is well with their marriage. He is concerned only to preserve the appearance of respectability. 10. "I have existed merely to perform tricks for you, Torvald. But you wanted it like that. You and father have committed a great sin against me. It is your fault that I have made nothing of my life. our home has been nothing but a playroom. I have been your doll-wife, just as at home I was father's doll-child; and here the children have been my dolls." (Act Three) In a seminal speech that explains the play's title, Nora realizes the truth about her marriage, which has been not a meeting of minds and hearts, but a performance. She blames her husband and, before him, her father for treating her as a spoilt child and a plaything for their own amusement. They wanted her to be ignorant and helpless, and thus far she has only tried to please them, missing out on any opportunity to educate or improve herself. Marriage The main message of A Doll's House seems to be that a true marriage is a joining of equals. The play centers on the dissolution of a marriage that doesn't meet these standards. At first the Helmers seem happy, but, over the course of the play, the imbalance between them becomes more and more apparent. By the end, the marriage breaks apart due to a complete lack of understanding between them. Together in wedlock, the two are incapable of realizing who they are as individuals. They'll don't know how to act as equals. Questions About Marriage 1. How are ideas of marriage different today than during the time period of the play? How are they similar? 2. Can the Helmers' marriage be salvaged? 3. How could the Helmers make their marriage equal? 4. Is the destruction of the Helmers' marriage a good or bad thing? Quotes: NORA: "How painful and humiliating it would be for Torvald […] to know that he owed me anything! It would upset our mutual relations altogether." (1.197) click to collapse

Thought: The Helmers' marriage is based on maintaining a veneer of male dominance. NORA: "Christine is […] is frightfully anxious to work under some clever man, so as to perfect herself--" (1.282) Thought: Nora's relationship with her husband seems to be built on careful manipulation of his ego. NORA: "But don't you think it is nice of me, too, to do as you wish?" HELMER: "Nice?--because you do as your husband wishes? Well, well, you little rogue, I am sure you did not mean it in that way." (2.82-2.83) click to collapse Thought: Comments like this from Torvald demonstrate that the Helmers are in a lopsided marriage. HELMER: "Well, we will share it, Nora, as man and wife should. That is how it shall be." Thought: Helmer seems to be aware of the concept that marriage is a shared experience, so why doesn't he ever act like it? NORA: "Surely you can understand that being with Torvald is a little like being with papa." (2.217) Thought: Is Nora's marriage just a continuation of her childhood? Has she actually progressed into adulthood at all? HELMER: "The child [Nora] shall have her way." (2.385) Thought: Helmers' relationship seems to be more like a father and a daughter than a husband and wife. MRS. LINDE: "We two need each other." (3.58) Thought: By the end of the play it seems that Christine and Krogstad will have the marriage of shared responsibility that the Helmers aren't able to achieve. MRS. LINDE: "Nils, a woman who has once sold herself for another's sake, doesn't do it a second time." (3.72) Thought: Mrs. Linde is entering into her new marriage with her personal integrity intact. HELMER: "Do you know, Nora, I have often wished that you might be threatened by some great danger, so that I might risk my life's blood, and everything, for your sake." (3.214) click to collapse Thought: This is the wonderful thing that Nora has been waiting for. Unfortunately, Torvald isn't true to his words, which causes the disintegration of the marriage. HELMER: "Nora – can I never be anything more than a stranger to you? […]" NORA: "Both you and I would have to be so changed that […] our life together would be a real wedlock." (3.375-3.380) click to collapse Thought: What do you think Nora means by "real wedlock"? Women and Femininity Nora of A Doll's House has often been painted as one of modern drama's first feminist heroines. Over the course of the play, she breaks away from the domination of her overbearing husband, Torvald. The playwright, Henrik Ibsen, denied that he had intentionally written a feminist play, preferring to think of it as humanist. Still, though, throughout this drama there is constant talk of women, their traditional roles, and price for them of breaking with tradition. Questions About Women and Femininity 1. What are some characteristics of the roles of women in the play?

2. How does Christine's perception of motherhood differ from Nora's by the end of the play? 3. What unique powers do the women in the play have? Are they really as submissive as they seem? 4. What is the difference between feminism and humanism? How can this difference be applied when interpreting the play? Quotes: HELMER: "Is it my little squirrel bustling about?" (1.9) Thought: By constantly referring to Nora with pet names, Helmer seems to dehumanize his wife. HELMER: "That is like a woman! […] you know what I think about that. No debt, no borrowing." (1.21) Thought: Torvald seems to stereotype all women as frivolous spendthrifts. NORA: "Tell me, is it really true that you did not love your husband? Why did you marry him?" MRS. LINDE: "My mother was alive then, and was bedridden and helpless, and I had to provide for my two younger brothers; so I did not think I was justified in refusing his offer." (1.136-1.137) click to collapse Thought: Offering herself in marriage was one of the few ways a woman had of supporting her family. MRS. LINDE: "I only feel my life unspeakably empty. No one to live for anymore." (1.143) Thought: Mrs. Linde seems to be fulfilled by living in service of others, a stereotypical role of women. NORA: "surely you can understand that being with Torvald is a little like being with papa." (2.217) Thought: It seems that for most of Nora's life she's been under the thumb of a man. MRS. LINDE: "I want to be a mother to someone, and your [Krogstad's] children need a mother." (3.58) Thought: Mrs. Linde is willingly stepping back into the traditional female role, which her friend Nora forsakes at the end of the play. MRS. LINDE: "Nils, a woman who has once sold herself for another's sake, doesn't do it a second time." (3.72) Thought: Mrs. Linde is unwilling to sell herself a second time. Did Nora sell herself in a way when she married Torvald? MRS. LINDE: "What a difference! Someone to work for and live for--a home to bring comfort into." (3.84) Thought: A Doll's House is often discussed as play that shows the imprisonment of housewives, but Mrs. Linde is an example of a woman who willingly and joyfully assumes the role. HELMER: "I shall not allow you to bring up the children; I dare not trust them to you." (3.242) Thought: Torvald is stripping his wife of her most cherished feminine role: motherhood. NORA: "What do you consider my most sacred duties?" HELMER: "[…] your duties to your husband and your children." NORA: "I have other duties just as sacred. […] Duties to myself." (3.310-3.314) click to collapse Thought: This idea was completely scandalous in Ibsen's time. The thought that a woman might have value other than homemaking and being a mother was outrageous. HELMER: "No man would sacrifice his honour for the one he loves." NORA: "It is a thing hundreds of thousands of women have done." (3.345 3.346) click to collapse Thought: What does Nora mean by this? Do all housewives sacrifice their honor?

Men and Masculinity The men of A Doll's House are in many ways just as trapped by traditional gender roles as the women (Torvald Helmer being the chief example). The men must be providers. They must bear the burden of supporting the entire household. They must be the infallible kings of their respective castles. By the end of the play these traditional ideas are truly put to the test. Questions About Men and Masculinity 1. In what ways is Torvald caged by society's prescribed masculine roles? 2. There is usually a lot of discussion about Torvald's sexist behavior, but what sexism does Krogstad demonstrate? Dr. Rank? 3. In what ways is Torvald's masculine self-worth tied into his public reputation? Krogstad's? 4. Are there any moments in the play where the men defy the gender roles prescribed for them by society? Quotes: NORA: "how painful and humiliating it would be for Torvald, with his manly independence, to know that he owed me anything!" (1.197) click to collapse Thought: By rescuing her husband, Nora has emasculated him, at least by the standards of the society they live in. NORA: "Many a time I was at my wits' end […] I used to sit here and imagine that a rich old gentleman had fallen in love with me […] that he had died; and that when his will was opened it contained […] the instruction: 'The lovely Mrs. Nora Helmer is to have all I possess paid over to her at once in cash.'" (1.205-1.207) click to collapse Thought: Even in Nora's dreams, it's a man who saves her. NORA: "Christine is […] is frightfully anxious to work under some clever man, so as to perfect herself." (1.282) Thought: Nora cleverly manipulates Torvald by taking advantage of his stereotypical views of man/woman relations. Stage Directions: The NURSE comes in with the children. […] HELMER: "Come along, Mrs. Linde; the place will only be bearable for a mother now! (1.3031.305) click to collapse Thought: Torvald seems to think a father doesn't have any business hanging out with his kids at all. HELMER: "Almost everyone who has gone to the bad early in life has had a deceitful mother. […] It seems most commonly to be the mother's influence." (1.471-1.473) click to collapse

Thought: We think this wins the award for most offensively chauvinistic statement from Torvald. HELMER: "It is already known at the Bank that I mean to dismiss Krogstad. Is it to get about now that the new manager has changed his mind at his wife's bidding." (2.111) click to collapse Thought: This threat to his power is unacceptable to Torvald. HELMER: "It is already known at the Bank that I mean to dismiss Krogstad. Is it to get about now that the new manager has changed his mind at his wife's bidding--" (2.111) click to collapse Thought: The thought that a woman might have power over him is terrifying to Torvald. HELMER: "You're joking, my little Nora! You won't--you won't? Am I not your husband--?" (3.143) Thought: Torvald says this after Nora resists having sex with him. He feels that all husbands have a right to their wives' bodies. HELMER: "I should not be a man if this womanly helplessness did not just give you a double attractiveness in my eyes." (3.253) click to collapse Thought: What's the difference between Torvald's desire to help Nora and Mrs. Linde's desire to help Krogstad? HELMER: "I would gladly work night and day for you […] But no man would sacrifice his honour for the one he loves." (3.345) click to collapse Thought: Do you think most men would generally agree with Torvald? Which is more valuable to you: honor or love? The Home When a play is called A Doll's House, chances are 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. Towards 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 a façade, a doll's house, hiding the gulf between the Helmers. The Helmers' home is really more of a prison than a shelter. Questions About The Home 1. How does the concept of home change over the course of the play? 2. What does it mean that the Helmers' home is "a doll's house"? 3. How does the idea of home differ for each character? 4. In what ways is Nora's home with Torvald similar the one she shared with her father? Quotes:

Stage Directions: SCENE--A room furnished comfortably and tastefully, but not extravagantly. Thought: Why would Ibsen be so specific in describing the furnishings of the Helmers' home? HELMER: "an atmosphere of lies infects and poisons the whole life of a home. Each breath the children take in such a house is full of the germs of evil." (1.469) click to collapse Thought: Torvald is unaware at this point that he lives in just such a home. Has it really hurt the children in any way? NORA: "Certainly Torvald does understand how to make a house dainty and attractive." MRS. LINDE: "And so do you, it seems to me." (2.34-2.35) click to collapse Thought: So great is Torvald's domination that Nora gives him credit for even the stereotypically feminine role of homemaking. MRS. LINDE: "What a difference! Someone to work for and live for--a home to bring comfort into." (3.84) Thought: Christine's main objective as a character seems to be finding a new home. To her, home seems to mean having a family to work and care for. NORA: "You never can tell what mischief these men may contrive. We ought to be so well off, so snug and happy here in our peaceful home." (2.110) click to collapse Thought: It's interesting that their supposedly perfect home is threatened by nothing more than the truth. RANK: "I cannot imagine for a moment what would have become of me if I had never come into this house." (2.174) click to collapse Thought: The seeming perfection of the Helmers' home has been a great comfort to Dr. Rank. Too bad the house was far from perfect. RANK: "Ah, yes!--these dear familiar rooms. You are very happy and cosy in here, you two." (3.148) Thought: Here again we see Rank's misguided idealization of the Helmers' home. We wonder how he would feel if he knew it was all going to be shattered in about fifteen minutes. HELMER: "You will still remain in my house, that is a matter of course." (3.242) Thought: Notice that Torvald calls it his house. What – so, Nora was just a guest this whole time? HELMER: "How warm and cosy our home is, Nora. Here is shelter for you; here I will protect you like a hunted dove that I have saved from a hawk's claws." (3.257) click to collapse Thought: Does Nora feel protected by this home, or imprisoned? NORA: "Our home has been nothing but a playroom. I have been your doll-wife." (3.286) Thought: Here it is: the central metaphor for the whole play. Nora is just Torvald's toy in a toy house. Respect and Reputation: The men of A Doll's House are obsessed with their reputation. Some have good standing in their communities and will do anything to keep it, others have lost their good name and will do anything to get it back. Though the play is set in the living room of a private residence, the public eye is constantly peeking through the curtains.

Questions About Respect and Reputation 1. Why is scandal so scary for Torvald? 2. What methods does Krogstad use to try and regain his reputation? 3. Does Dr. Rank seem concerned with reputation in any way? Why or why not? 4. In what ways do the women in the play demonstrate concern or lack of concern for their reputations? Quotes: NORA: "A barrister's profession is such an uncertain thing, especially if he won't undertake unsavoury cases; and naturally Torvald has never been willing to do that." (1.114) click to collapse Thought: Does Torvald's dedication to obeying the law stem from personal integrity or a fear of what other people might think? KROGSTAD: "My sons are growing up; for their sake I must try and win back as much respect as I can in the town. This post in the Bank was like the first step up for me--and now your husband is going to kick me downstairs again into the mud." (1.358) click to collapse Thought: Regaining his good name is Krogstad's major motivating force throughout the entire play. NORA: "Your squirrel would run about and do all her tricks if you would be nice, and do what she wants." (2.92) click to collapse Thought: Does Nora respect herself when she resorts to these kinds of tactics? NORA: "Yes--yes, of course. Just recall to your mind what these malicious creatures wrote in the papers about papa, and how horribly they slandered him." (2.108) click to collapse Thought: It seems Nora's family has a history of scandal. HELMER: "Your father's reputation as a public official was not above suspicion. Mine is." (2.109) Thought: Helmer seems to base a lot of his self worth on what other people think about him. HELMER: "Do you suppose I am going to make myself ridiculous before my whole staff, to let people think that I am a man to be swayed by all sorts of outside influence?" (2.113) click to collapse Thought: The influence that Torvald is referring to here is his wife. He's afraid to seem weak in public. HELMER: "I hear [Krogstad] is a good worker, too. But I knew him when we were boys. […] this tactless fellow lays no restraint on himself when other people are present. On the contrary, he thinks it gives him the right to adopt a familiar tone with me." (2.117) click to collapse Thought: Here's the real reason Helmer is firing Krogstad: once again he's worried about his reputation.

KROGSTAD: "I will tell you. I want to rehabilitate myself, Mrs. Helmer; I want to get on; and in that your husband must help me." (2.283) click to collapse Thought: It's ironic that Krogstad wants to fix his seedy reputation by blackmailing someone. MRS. LINDE: "Nils, I have faith in your real character--I can dare anything together with you." (3.58) Thought: Mrs. Linde doesn't care about what people say. She stands out in stark contrast to Torvald and Krogstad, who are obsessed with reputation. HELMER: "I must try and appease [Krogstad] some way or another. The matter must be hushed up at any cost." (3.242) click to collapse Thought: Krogstad was right when he predicted earlier in the play that Torvald would submit to his demands. The crooked lawyer knows his old friend has always been obsessed with what other people think. Love There is much talk of love in A Doll's House, but in the end, the Helmers discover that true love never existed between them. 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. However, for the main characters, the Helmers, true romantic love is illusive. Questions About Love 1. In what ways is Nora's love for Torvald similar to her love for her father? How is it different? 2. What different breeds of love are seen throughout the play? 3. Is Dr. Rank's love of Nora just as superficial as Torvald's, or does he have a deeper understanding of her? 4. Do you think the Helmers ever truly loved each other? What does "truly loved" even mean? Quotes: NORA: "Tell me, is it really true that you did not love your husband? Why did you marry him?" MRS. LINDE: "My mother was alive then, and was bedridden and helpless, and I had to provide for my two younger brothers; so I did not think I was justified in refusing his offer." (1.136-1.137) click to collapse Thought: Mrs. Linde was forced to give up on love in order to save her family. NORA: "Nonsense! Trying to frighten me like that!--I am not so silly as he thinks. […] And yet--? No, it's impossible! I did it for love's sake." (1.413) click to collapse Thought: Nora is under the impression that love supersedes the law. NORA: "You know how devotedly, how inexpressibly deeply Torvald loves me; he would never

for a moment hesitate to give his life for me." (2.189) click to collapse Thought: When Torvald fails to do this at the end of the play, it proves to her that he just doesn't love her as she thinks he should. RANK: "you [Nora] can command me, body and soul." (2.202) Thought: Is Rank in love with the real Nora, or the idea of her? NORA: "Yes, a wonderful thing!--But it is so terrible, Christine; it mustn't happen, not for all the world." (2.322) Thought: Nora thinks the wonderful thing will be when Torvald sacrifices himself for her, proving his love. She's also terrified of this because it will destroy him. In the end, Torvald just doesn't love her enough to sacrifice himself. MRS. LINDE: "Two on the same piece of wreckage would stand a better chance than each on their own." (3.44) Thought: Mrs. Linde's offer of love is strikingly different from when the Helmers talk about their affection. Rather than being some idealized version, it's tempered with harsh reality. HELMER: "Do you know, when I am out at a party with you like this, why I speak so little to you […] It is because I make believe to myself that we are secretly in love." (3.139) click to collapse Thought: It's telling that Torvald's fantasies relegate his feelings for Nora to secret infatuation. HELMER: "Now you have destroyed all my happiness. You have ruined all my future." (3.238) Thought: After Torvald finds out the truth, all he seems to be worried about is himself. Does this mean he never really loved Nora? HELMER: "Empty. She is gone. (A hope flashes across his mind.) The most wonderful thing of all--?" (3.381) Thought: Has Torvald come to understand what real love is in this last moment, or is it something else entirely? Lies and Deceit The essential tension, running throughout A Doll's House comes from Nora's fear of a secret being discovered. Her absolute terror of this revelation leads her to tell lie after lie. When her web of lies finally caves in around her, her marriage proves too weak to bear the strain. Questions About Lies and Deceit 1. How could Nora have saved Torvald without lying? 2. In what ways have Nora's lies weakened her marriage? 3. What deceitful behavior does Torvald demonstrate? 4. Since Nora's forgery saved her husband's life, was it really a bad thing? Quotes: HELMER: "Hasn't Miss Sweet Tooth been breaking rules in town today? […] taken a bite at a macaroon or two?" NORA: "No, Torvald." (1.55-1.62) click to collapse

Thought: Nora lies on about every page of the play. This is the first one of which the audience is aware. It seems pretty innocent to lie about cookies, but it belies a much larger gulf in their marriage. NORA: "It was necessary he should have no idea what a dangerous condition he was in. It was to me that the doctors came and said that his life was in danger." (1.193) click to collapse Thought: It's interesting that all Nora's lies to Torvald stem from an act of love. HELMER: "My little songbird must never do that again. A songbird must have a clean beak to chirp with--no false notes!" (1.435) click to collapse Thought: The danger of Torvald finding out about Nora's deceit is the essential tension that drives most of the play. HELMER: "A guilty man like that has to lie and […] has to wear a mask in the presence of those near and dear to him, even before his own wife and children. […] the children--that is the most terrible part of it all, Nora." (1.467) click to collapse Thought: It's ironic that Torvald is saying this in front of his wife who has deceived him so often. MRS. LINDE: "they must have a complete understanding between them, which is impossible with all this concealment and falsehood going on." (3.78) click to collapse Thought: Mrs. Linde seems to hope that the truth will heal the Helmers' marriage, when in fact it destroys it. HELMER: "What is this? Someone has been at the lock. […] Here is a broken hairpin. Nora, it is one of yours." NORA: (quickly) Then it must have been the children--" (3.198-3.201) click to collapse Thought: Down to the end Nora lies to her husband. We wonder why she still keeps it up by this point. He's going to find out everything in about thirty seconds anyway. HELMER: "I ought to have foreseen it. All your father's want of principle--be silent!--all your father's want of principle has come out in you." (3.236) click to collapse Thought: Where else in the play are there ideas of inherited guilt? HELMER: "What a horrible awakening! All these eight years--she who was my joy and pride--a hypocrite, a liar--worse, worse--a criminal!" (3.236) click to collapse Thought: The fact that Nora did all these things for him seems to be completely lost on Torvald. HELMER: "How I am punished for having winked at what he did! I did it for your sake, and this is how you repay me." (3.236) click to collapse Thought: Ah, so Helmer's record isn't as spotless as he makes it out to be. He admits here that he ignored some of Nora's father's wrongdoing. HELMER: "I must try and appease [Krogstad] some way or another. The matter must be hushed

up at any cost." (3.242) click to collapse Thought: Isn't Torvald being hypocritical here? Isn't covering up Nora's indiscretion deceitful as well? Money Early in A Doll's House, the characters spend a good deal of time talking about their finances. Some are on the upswing, with the promise of free flowing cash in the future. Others are struggling to make ends meet. Either way, each character's financial status seems to a defining feature. Questions About Money 1. What is the relationship between money and power in the play? 2. Which is more valuable to Krogstad: money or reputation? 3. Why do you think Torvald is so horrified of debt? 4. In what ways has financial hardship made Christine a stronger person? Quotes: HELMER: "Bought, did you say? All these things? Has my little spendthrift been wasting money again?" (1.11) Thought: Nora is constantly accused of wasting money when, in reality, she keeps barely anything for herself, all in an effort to pay back the loan that saved her husband's life. HELMER: "Suppose, now, that I borrowed fifty pounds today, and you spent it all in the Christmas week, and then on New Year's Eve a slate fell on my head and killed me." (1.16) click to collapse Thought: Torvald is ever the pragmatist when it comes to financial matters. HELMER: "There can be no freedom or beauty about a home life that depends on borrowing and debt." (1.21) Thought: Torvald's absolute horror of debt is what forced Nora to deceive him in regards to the loan that saved his life. NORA: "You might give me money, Torvald. Then I will wrap it up in beautiful gilt paper and hang it on the Christmas Tree." (1.38-1.40) click to collapse Thought: There's a good chance that Nora wants money for Christmas just to pay down her secret debt. NORA: "Christine! It will be splendid to have heaps of money and not need to have any anxiety, won't it?" MRS. LINDE: "Yes, anyhow I think it would be delightful to have what one needs." (1.114-1.115) click to collapse Thought: Nora seems to show very little sensitivity to her friend's financial problems. HELMER: "I hear [Krogstad] is a good worker, too. But I knew him when we were boys. […] this tactless fellow lays no restraint on himself when other people are present. On the contrary, he

thinks it gives him the right to adopt a familiar tone with me." (2.117) click to collapse Thought: Looks like Torvald has been hiding something as well. This is the first time he mentions that he used to know Krogstad. KROGSTAD: "Or perhaps that you have some expedient for raising the money soon? NORA: "No expedient that I mean to make use of." (2.259-2.260) click to collapse Thought: Nora is referring to her decision not to borrow money from the lovesick Dr. Rank. Why doesn't she want to borrow it from him? Does she not want to manipulate him? Or does she feel like she'd be selling herself in some way? KROGSTAD: "I shall only preserve it--keep it in my possession. No one who is not concerned in the matter shall have the slightest hint of it." (2.263) click to collapse Thought: Rather than blackmailing the Helmers for money, Krogstad is seeking to regain his reputation, showing that which he truly values as a character. KROGSTAD: "How will you be able to prevent it? Am I to understand that you can pay the balance that is owing?" (2.257) click to collapse Thought: Nora's debt gives Krogstad power. 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." (3.22) click to collapse Thought: Mrs. Linde's need of money for her family forced her to sacrifice her love for Krogstad. Characterization: Nora: Before: spendthrift, childish, …ditzy, daring, tenacious, cheat for love over law, After: undergoes a spiritual awakening, realizes she’s living in an empty relationship, The love she imagined never existed, 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.. Torvald: incredibly overbearing, treating Nora more like a child than a wife. He calls her silly names and scolds her for eating macaroons. Towards the end of the play, he even says that Nora is "doubly his own" because she has "become both wife and child" Christine: It's true that Christine is free from the responsibilities of family, but she absolutely hates it. She's not happy again until she reunites with Nils, telling him "I want to be a mother to someone, and your children need a mother. We two need each other" (3.58). Hmm, now that's a pretty interesting thing for a woman to say, in a play that's often painted as being a feminist paean. Here we have a woman who is capable, intelligent, and self-sufficient. Christine is a liberated lady smack dab in the middle of Victorian Europe, and what does she go and do? She willingly jumps back into the role of wife and mother, because it's the only way she knows how to be happy. What are we to make of Christine's decision to become a part of Krogstad's household? How does this fit into the overall message of the play? It might be seen as tragic: women are so programmed by society, that the only thing they know how to do is be a homemaker. On the other hand, it's not like Christine is making this decision from a place of ignorance. Unlike Nora, Christine is well aware of what life is like without men. The major difference between Christine's new relationship and that of the Helmers seems to be that Christine and Krogstad are entering into it as

equals. Christine says to Krogstad, "Nils, how would it be if we two shipwrecked people could join forces? […] Two on the same piece of wreckage would stand a better chance than each on their own" (3.42-3.44). Perhaps, the union of Nils and Christine is Ibsen's example of "the most wonderful thing of all," which Nora defines as "a real wedlock" (3.3763.378).

Dr. Rank The first function we see Dr. Rank fulfill is providing a little exposition on Krogstad. Rank tells Nora and Mrs. Linde, that Krogstad "suffers from a diseased moral character" (1.247). The good doctor goes on to relate Krogstad's history as a criminal and blackmailer. This function doesn't seem to totally justify Rank's existence in the play, though. Another character could've just as easily got that information out to the audience. Rank's talk of moral disease and his own affliction are often cited as symbolic. He has tuberculosis of the spine. This could possibly be meant to represent the diseased backbone of unenlightened society, a society where men and women don't live as equals. His death also could be seen as symbolic. It comes at the same time as the "death" of the Helmers' marriage. The two ideas are linked when the cards with black crosses come in the same mailbox as Krogstad's marriageshattering letter. It seems that Rank's most important purpose in the play is to reveal things about other characters. His relationship with Torvald reveals Torvald's superficiality. This is shown when Rank decides not to tell Torvald directly about his impending death. Rank tells Nora, "Helmer's refined nature gives him an unconquerable disgust at everything that is ugly; I won't have him in my sick-room" (2.152). The doctor knows his friend well and is well aware that Torvald has a child-like horror anything remotely unattractive. Statements like this show that Torvald may be the sheltered one in the Helmers' relationship. Rank's relationship with Nora gives us one of our first big clues into the distance that truly lies between the seemingly perfect Helmers. Nora says that her husband "used to seem almost jealous if I mentioned any of the dear folk at home, so naturally I gave up doing so. But I often talk about such things with Doctor Rank" (2.44). It's pretty telling that Nora is only able to reveal her true self to Rank. Nora also admits to Rank that "being with Torvald is a little like being with papa" (2.217). This is a pretty major statement and, without Rank there, Nora never would have said it. All in all, it seems that the doomed Dr. Rank is really around just to help us learn more about the main characters.

Settings, Imagery, Allegory: Christmas and New Year's The play is set during the holidays. Yes, it's Christmas time for the Helmers and New Year's is swiftly approaching. Chances are that this isn't random. Christmas and New Year's are both associated with rebirth and renewal. Several of the characters go through a kind of rebirth over the course of the play.

Christmas Tree The Christmas tree itself can also be seen as symbolic. For one, its presence reminds us what season it is, and brings to mind all the points made in the above section. Beyond that, however, it can be seen as being directly symbolic of Nora. The Christmas Tree is […] stripped of its ornaments and with burnt-down candle-ends on its disheveled branches" Lastly, Nora's function in the household is pretty much the same as the tree. She's merely decorative, ornamental if you will. She dresses up the tree just as Torvald dresses up her for the Stenborgs' party. It's interesting that she tells the maid not to let the children see the tree until it's decorated.

Setting The choice of making the setting a bit generic seems to have been good one, as it allowed audiences everywhere to immediately superimpose their own lives onto the lives of the Helmers. In this way, there was no room to hide from Ibsen's message of a necessary spiritual awakening.

This charged atmosphere of gender division was the reason that the play became such a phenomenon. There's a good chance that, without the controversy, we'd have never even heard of A Doll's House. Needless to say, the pressure of strict Victorian values is the spark that ignites the play's central conflicts.

Genre: It's a drama because it's a play, a piece of literature that's never fully realized until it's put on stage in front of an audience. We call it a family drama for the obvious reason that it concerns a family. Over the course of the play, we watch the Helmer family disintegrate as fast as Kool Aid in water. In Ibsen's version of tragedy, society was never any good to begin with. A Doll's House, for example, shows Nora (and debatably all its 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. There you go: individual vs. corrupt popular society. 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 presents these things as the price of self-fulfillment. Realism, however, is unafraid to be a little unrealistic. Look at A Doll's House. Sure the characters talk in a generally conversational way, but the plot is obviously and unapologetically contrived. There are melodramatic devices like secret revealing letters. The doorbell rings at convenient times, bringing trouble for Nora. People enter and exit just when Ibsen needs to move on to the next scene and bring on new ideas. This wasn't a bad thing to Ibsen. His goal was to examine ideas, to challenge individuals to really think about their society, not to present photographic reality. A Doll's House is widely considered to be one of the prime examples of realism.

The Title: Not long before her famous door slamming exit, Nora has a little something to say to her husband, Torvald: "Our home has been nothing but a playroom. I have been your doll-wife" (3.286). With statements like this, it's probably 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" (3.286). She's never been anything but a man's plaything. Every house she's ever lived in has been just as artificial.

The Ending: A Doll's House ends with the slamming of a door. Nora turns her back on her husband and kids, and takes off into the snow to make her own way in the world. It's a pretty bold decision, to say the least. Some might even call it foolish. She doesn't have a job. Not a whole lot of marketable skills. No home. No prospects of any kind. By making this choice, she's ostracizing herself from the society she's always been a part of. Most "respectable" people just aren't going to hang out with her. The comfortable life she's leading will be totally destroyed. So, why does she do such a thing? Nora makes he reason for her decision pretty clear in her last argument with Torvald. Before she makes her grand exit, he scathingly criticizes her, saying that by deserting her husband and children she is forsaking her "most sacred duties" (3.309). Nora doesn't see it this way. She tells him that the duties that are most sacred to her now are the "duties to [herself]" (3.314). It seems like Nora has gone through a kind of personal awakening. She's come to the conclusion that she's not a fully realized person. She has to spend some time figuring out who she is as an individual or she'll never be anything more than someone's doll. This would be impossible under the smothering presence of Torvald. She must force herself to face the world alone. Nora knows that she is about to suffer. It seems that some part of her may even welcome it. In a way Nora is like the Biblical Eve after she ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. All of a sudden, she is enlightened, but that enlightenment comes with a heavy cost. But is there any hope for Torvald and Nora getting back together? The last line of the play seems to suggest that

maybe there is. Torvald is alone in the living room. Stage directions tell us that, "A hope flashes across his mind" and then Torvald says, "The most wonderful thing of all?" (3.381) He's referring to the conversation he and Nora had right before she walked out of the room. Nora says that if they're ever to be more than strangers "the most wonderful thing of all would have to happen," that their "life together would be a real wedlock" (3.376). So, has Torvald realized what this means? Has he figured out that they both have to respect each other as individuals in order to have a real marriage? Has he taken a bite of the forbidden fruit as well? Ibsen doesn't tell us for sure. Maybe Torvald runs out into the snow and makes it all better. Maybe his pride keeps him in the apartment. What do you think?

Questions : 1. Do today's women face the same sort of barriers that women did in Nora's time? 2. In what ways is Torvald caged by societal expectations? What about the other men in the play? Krogstad? Dr. Rank? 3. How would the play be different if it were set in a country other than Norway? 4. Would the play still be as relevant if it were set in modern times? 5. Some critics say the play doesn't give Nora enough time to come to such a life altering conclusion. What do you think?