Molchanova 1

Viktoriya Molchanova

Mrs. Meyer

A.P. English

January 29th, 2016

Act I A Doll’s House Responses

1.) The opening stage directions reveal a family home during Christmas. The

atmosphere of the opening scene is warm and joyful.

2.) Torvald behaves as more of a father than a husband with Nora. Nora

communicates with her husband as a little, spoiled child. Nora takes advantage of

her husband’s finances to her own simple, selfish desires.

3.) Torvald is a man with pride and self-esteem. As a man he has provided his family

with money: this is how it is evident that society had imposed its rules greatly on

him.

4.) The Helmer finances have been unstable in the past years. Torvald is careful with

his spending because, although he is the new head of the bank, he might loose his

job and not have enough money to support the family.

5.) Nora and Mrs. Linde are different in that Nora is energetic and young while Mrs.

Linde is a little older and wise. Mrs. Linde has worked countless hours to support

her family while Nora was supported by her husband. It is ironic that Nora helps

her friend (who has worked her whole life) find a job. Mrs. Linde will take

Krogstad’s job, so Krogstad is not happy about it.

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6.) Ibsen shows that Krogstad is a threat when he first appears in the home. His

expression is malevolent and his physical traits resemble that of a villain. Dr.

Rank tells Nora and Mrs. Linde (and the audience) that Krogstad has a bad

reputation in the bank.

7.) The scene where Nora interacts with her children shows how she does not really

care about her kids. She does not act as a carrying mother, but puts off all the

work to the maids while her children suffer emotionally from the lack of love

from their mother. This scene shows Nora’s ignorance towards her children.

8.) Nora’s secret crime is that she borrowed 4,800 crowns from Krogstad for a trip to

Italy with her husband. She has lied to her husband that she has received the

money from her deceased father, but in reality she signed a contract with the least

reliable man to conserve Torvald’s manly pride. Nora, at the end of the act, faces

Krogstad’s wish to regain his position or else she will have problems about falsely

signing a contract.