In Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's
House, there are several places where Nora reveals her feelings and
thoughts.
At the end of Act One, when Torvald says that
people that go wrong young in life are generally children of chronic liars, we learn
that Nora is afraid that her presence will poison her children because of the lies she
has had to tell to save Torvald's life. Torvald has left the room and Anne-Marie wants
to bring the children in, as they are begging to see their
mother:
No,
no, no don't let them in to me!...Hurt my children—! Poison my home? That's not true.
Never. Never in all the
world.
When Krogstad finally
tells Nora that he will expose the lie she has hidden as to where she received the money
to take Torvald to Italy, Nora dreads the event. She believes
so completely in Torvald's love for her that she plans her own
suicide so that he will not be tempted to take the blame onto himself to protect
her.
Toward the end of Act Three, Nora imagines her
suicide, freezing in the black water, never again to see her husband or
children:
Never see him again. Never, never. Never see the
children either—them, too. Never, never. Oh, the freezing black water! The depths—down—
Oh, I wish it were over— He has it now; he's reading it—now. Oh no, no, not yet.
Torvald, good-bye, you and the
children...
When Torvald
comes out of his office, he is ranting with fury, and still she believes he will protect
her by taking the blame. This perception is quickly
obliterated.
...Let me go! Let me out!...Don't try to save me,
Torvald....It's true. I've loved you more than all this world...Just let me loose.
You're not not going to suffer for my sake. You're not going to take on my
guilt.
Torvald's
response:
No
more playacting. You stay right here and give me a reckoning. You understand what you've
done? Answer! You
understand?
Nora is finally
opening her eyes to see not what she thought was or
would be there, but the reality that has been
there through their entire marriage:
(The stage direction says that Nora is
"looking squarely at him, her face hardening.") Yes. I'm beginning
to understand everything
now.
It is as this very
moment that Nora knows that although her life has been about her
husband and her children, her life has had nothing to do with
her. She is further enlightened when Torvald tells her she will
never be allowed near the children
again...until Krogstad's second note assures him that the details
will never go public. Torvald is relieved, but Nora knows she can no longer live with
this stranger, and so she leaves Torvald at the end of the play.
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