Act I
- In the first act, Nora and Torvald argue about money. Torvald says that Nora is “a spendthrift” and Nora claims Torvald spends money foolishly and always gets his way.
- Nora feels that Krogstad is “morally bankrupt”, she also feels the need to deceive the two men in order to fit in with gender stereotypes put upon her by Torvald.
Act II
- The ragged Christmas tree marks the end of Nora trying to keep a picture perfect family. After Christmas the family must go back to their regular actions and all the material things that were under the tree are now gone and forgotten.
- Because most of the characters are hiding their true feelings about their circumstances. Nora is hiding the fact that her life is not perfect and that she is not the perfect wife and mother that she pretends to be. Torvald hides the fact that he is not wealthy by spending money he doesn’t have. Each put on a different “face” that they want the public to know instead of who they truly are.
- Dr. Rank inherited his illness from his father, Nora also was impacted by her father’s insistence on gender roles earlier in her life. What she learned from her father contributed to her present unhappiness just as the disease Dr Rank inherited from his father impacted his own.
III.
- Ms. Linde has come to realize that money is not the most important thing in a relationship. She states, “When you’ve sold yourself once for someone else, you never do it again.” Both realize the mistakes they made in the past and want to build a new relationship based on love, not money or class.
- Upon receiving the letter, Torvald goes into a rage blaming all his misfortune on Nora and her father. He blames her father for raising her in this manner, even though it was the manner he previous had insisted upon Nora. He also blames Nora for meddling in his affairs and lying about her actions.
- Torvald insists that Nora be dependent entirely on him, she is also blamed for acting as she always had. Sometimes she was praised in that role while in this occasion she was scolded. Nora was in a confusing predicament because of her meddling. However once Torvald tears up the loan, she immediately feels relief. She no longer has the responsibility of solving her husband’s problems, they lie solely on his shoulders now. Nora is now free to go back to pretend her life is perfect and striving to be a picture perfect mother and wife. In essence they go back to hiding behind their sham comforted by the false sense of security.
