Act 1 Close Reading - Nora and Mrs Linde

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A Doll’s House Act 1

NORA.
But the whole point was that he mustn’t know! Great heavens, don’t you see?
He hadn’t to know how dangerously ill he was. It was me they told that his
life was in danger and that only going to a warm climate could save him. Do
you suppose I didn’t try to think of other ways of getting him down there? I
told him how wonderful it would be for me to go abroad like other young
wives; I cried and prayed; I asked him to remember my condition, and said he
ought to be nice and tender to me; and then I suggested he might quite easily
borrow the money. But then he got almost angry with me, Christine. He said I
was frivolous, and that it was his duty as a husband not to pander to my
moods and caprices – I think that’s what he called them. Well, well, I thought,
you’ve got to be saved somehow. And then I thought of a way –

MRS LINDE.
But didn’t your husband find out from your father that the money hadn’t
come from him?

NORA.
No, never. Papa died just then. I’d thought of letting him into the plot and
asking him not to tell. But since he was so ill -- ! And as things turned out, t
didn’t become necessary.

MRS. LINDE.
And you’ve never told your husband about this?

NORA.
For heaven’s sake, no! What an idea! He’s frightfully strict about such
matters. And besides – he’s so proud of being a man – it’d be so painful and
humiliating for him to know that he owed anything to me. It’d completely
wreck our relationship. This life we have build together would not longer
exist.

MRS. LINDE.
Will you never tell him?

NORA (thoughtfully, half-smiling).


Yes – some time, perhaps. Years from now, when I’m no longer pretty. You
mustn’t laugh! I mean, of course, when Torvald no longer amuses him to see
me dance and dress up and play the fool for him. Then it might be useful to
have something up my sleeve. (Breaks off). Stupid, stupid, stupid! That time
will never come. Well, what do you think of my big secret, Christine? I’m not
completely useless, am I? Mind you, all this has caused me a frightful lot of
worry. It hasn’t been easy for me to meet my obligations punctually. In case
you don’t know, in the world of business there are things called quarterly
instalments and interest, and they’re a terrible problem to cope with. So I’ve
had to scrape a little here and save a little there, as best I can. I haven’t been
able to save much on the housekeeping money, because Torvald likes to live
well; and I couldn’t let the children go short on clothes – I couldn’t take
anything out of what he gives me for them. The poor little angels.

Guiding Questions
1. Where do you see Nora’s internal struggle surface in her speeches? What is she fighting?
2. To what extent are both characters playing their part in society?

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