A comfortably5 and tastefully, though not expensively, furnished room. A door on the right in the background leads out into the hallway.6 Another door to the left in the background leads towards Helmer’s office. Against the wall between these two doors, a piano. In the middle of the wall to the left, a door, and further forwards, a window. Near the window, a round table with an armchair and a small sofa. On the side-wall to the right some way back, a door, and on the same wall closer to the foreground a ceramic stove with a pair of armchairs and a rocking-chair in front of it. Between the stove and the side door a small table. Copperplate engravings on the walls. A display cabinet filled with china objects and other little ornaments; a small bookcase with finely bound books. A carpet on the floor; a fire in the stove. A winter’s day.
The doorbell rings outside in the hallway; a moment later we hear the front door being opened. NORA comes into the room, contentedly humming a tune; she is dressed in outdoor clothes and carries a number of parcels, which she puts down on the table to the right. She leaves the door to the hall open after her, and we see a PORTER outside carrying a Christmas tree and a basket, which he gives to the MAID, who has opened the door to them.
NORA: Hide the Christmas tree7 well, Helene. The children mustn’t see it until this evening when it’s decorated. [To the PORTER; taking her purse out] How much –?
PORTER: Half a krone.8
NORA: There’s a krone. No, keep it all.
The PORTER thanks her and leaves. NORA closes the door. She continues to laugh in quiet contentment as she takes off her outdoor clothes.
NORA [takes a bag of macaroons from her pocket and eats a couple; then she goes cautiously over to listen at her husband’s door]: Ah yes, he’s home. [Hums again as she goes over to the table on the right.]
HELMER [from in his room]: Is that my song-lark chirruping out there?
NORA [busy opening some of the parcels]: Yes, it is.
HELMER: Is that my squirrel rummaging in there?
NORA: Yes!
HELMER: When did my squirrel get home?
NORA: Just now. [Puts the bag of macaroons in her pocket and wipes her mouth.] Come out here, Torvald, and you’ll see what I’ve bought.
HELMER Do not disturb! [A moment later; opens the door and looks in, with pen in hand] Bought, you say? All that? Has my little spending-bird9 been out frittering money again?
NORA: Yes but, Torvald, surely we must be able to let ourselves go a little this year. After all, this is the first Christmas we don’t need to save.
HELMER: Yes, but really, we can’t be extravagant.
NORA: Oh but, Torvald, we can be a little extravagant now, surely. Can’t we? Just a teeny-weeny bit. After all, you’ll have a big salary now and be earning lots and lots of money.
HELMER: Yes, from the New Year; but it’ll be a whole quarter before my salary is due.
NORA: Pff; surely we can borrow in the meantime.
HELMER: Nora! [Goes over to her and jokingly tweaks her ear.] Is frivolity out for a stroll again? Suppose I borrowed a thousand kroner today, and you frittered it away in the Christmas week, and then on New Year’s Eve I got a roof tile on my head and I lay –
NORA [puts her hand over his mouth]: Oh shush; don’t say anything so ugly.
HELMER: Well, suppose such a thing happened – what then?
NORA: If something that ghastly happened, it would make no odds to me whether I was in debt or not.
HELMER: Perhaps so, but to the people I’d borrowed from?
NORA: Them? Who’s bothered about them? They’re just strangers.
HELMER: Nora, Nora, a woman thou art!10 No, but seriously, Nora; you know my thoughts on this issue. No debts! Never borrow! There’s something unfree, and so something unlovely, that comes over the home that’s founded on loans and debts. Now, we’ve both held out very bravely until today; and we’ll go on doing so for the short time it’s still necessary.
NORA [moves over to the stove]: Yes, yes, as you wish, Torvald.
HELMER [follows her]: There, there; my little songbird shan’t go trailing her wings now. Hmm? Is my squirrel standing there sulking? [Takes out his wallet.] Nora; what do you think I have here?
NORA [turns around quickly]: Money!
HELMER: There you are. [Hands her some banknotes.] Good Lord, I know, of course, that a great deal goes on housekeeping at Christmas.
NORA [counting]: Ten – twenty – thirty – forty. Oh thank you, thank you, Torvald; I’ll make it go a long way.
HELMER: Yes, you certainly must.
NORA: Yes, yes, I will, really. But come here, and I’ll show you everything I’ve bought. And so cheaply! Look, here are new clothes for Ivar – and a sword too. Here’s a horse and a trumpet for Bob. And here’s a doll with a doll’s bed for Emmy; it’s rather plain; but she’ll soon rip it to pieces anyway, of course. And here I’ve got dress material11 and headscarves for the maids; old Anne-Marie really should have had a lot more.
HELMER: And what’s in that parcel there?
NORA [shrieks]: No, Torvald, you shan’t see that till this evening!
HELMER: All right. But now tell me, you little spendthrift: what have you got in mind for yourself?
NORA: Oh, pff; for me? I’m not bothered with anything for myself.
HELMER: Oh, yes you are. Name me something reasonable now that you’d most like.
NORA: Oh, I don’t know, really. Although perhaps, Torvald –
HELMER: Well?
NORA [fiddling with his buttons; without looking at him]: If you want to give me something, you could of course – you could –
HELMER: Well; out with it.
NORA [quickly]: You could give me money, Torvald. Only as much as you feel you can afford; and then I’ll buy something with it over the next few days.
HELMER: But Nora –
NORA: Oh yes, please, darling Torvald; I’m begging you. Then I’d hang the money12 in a lovely gold paper wrapper on the Christmas tree. Wouldn’t that be fun?
HELMER: What are those birds called that are always frittering money away?
NORA: Yes, yes; spending-birds, I know. But Torvald, let’s do as I say; and then I’ll have time to give careful consideration to what I need most. Isn’t that very sensible? Hmm?
HELMER [smiling]: Yes, of course it is; that’s to say, if you really could hold on to the money I give you and really bought something for yourself with it. But it’ll go towards the house and on one useless thing after another, and then I’ll have to fork out again.
NORA: Oh but, Torvald –
HELMER: Can’t be denied, my dear little Nora. [He puts his arm around her waist.] My spending-bird is sweet; but it uses up an awful lot of money. It’s incredible how expensive it is for a man to keep a spending-bird.
NORA: Oh shush, how can you possibly say that? I really do save everything I can.
HELMER [laughs]: Yes, never a truer word. Everything you can. But you can’t at all.
NORA [humming and smiling in quiet contentment]: Mmm, if you only knew what a lot of expenses we larks and squirrels have, Torvald.
HELMER: You’re a strange little one. Just as your father was. You’re forever on the lookout for ways to get money; but as soon as you get it, it’s as though it slips through your fingers; you never know what you’ve done with it. Well, we must take you as you are. It’s in the blood. Oh yes it is, these things are hereditary, Nora.
NORA: Well, I wish I’d inherited a great many of Daddy’s qualities.
HELMER: And I wouldn’t wish you any other way than exactly as you are, my sweet little songbird. But listen; something occurs to me. You look so – so – what shall I call it? – so sneaky today –
NORA: Do I?
HELMER: You certainly do. Look me straight in the eyes.
NORA [looks at him]: Well?
HELMER [wags a stern finger]: My sweet-tooth wouldn’t perhaps have been on the rampage in town today?
NORA: No, how can you think such a thing.
HELMER: Did my sweet-tooth really not make a detour into the confectioner’s?
NORA: No, I assure you, Torvald –
HELMER: Not nibbled at a little jam?
NORA: No, absolutely not.
HELMER: Not even gnawed a macaroon or two?
NORA: No, Torvald, I assure you really –
HELMER: Well, well; I’m only joking of course –
NORA [goes to the table on the right]: It would never occur to me to go against you.
HELMER: Yes, I know that; and you’ve given me your word –. [Moving towards her] Well, keep your little Christmas secrets to yourself, darling Nora. They’ll be revealed this evening, no doubt, when the Christmas tree is lit.
NORA: Have you remembered to invite Dr Rank?
HELMER: No. But there’s no need; it goes without saying that he’ll eat with us. Besides I’ll invite him when he comes this afternoon. I’ve ordered a good wine. Nora, you can’t believe how I’m looking forward to this evening.
NORA: Me too. And how thrilled the children will be, Torvald!
HELMER: Ah, but it certainly is splendid to think that one’s got oneself a secure, safe post; that one has a generous income. It’s a huge pleasure to think of, isn’t that right?
HELMER: Do you remember last Christmas? A whole three weeks beforehand, you locked yourself in every evening until way past midnight to make flowers for the Christmas tree and all those other splendid things you planned to surprise us with. Ugh, that was the most boring time I’ve ever been through.
NORA: I wasn’t the least bored.
HELMER [smiling]: But the results were rather measly, Nora.
NORA: Oh, are you going to tease me about that again? How could I help it if the cat got in and ripped everything to pieces?
HELMER: No, of course you couldn’t, my poor little Nora. You had the best of intentions, you wanted to make us all happy, and that’s the main thing. But it really is so good those pinched times are over.
NORA: Yes, it’s absolutely miraculous.
HELMER: Now I won’t need to sit here alone and bored; and you won’t need to torture your darling eyes and your fair, delicate little hands –
NORA [clapping her hands]: Yes, isn’t that so, Torvald, it’s no longer necessary? Oh, how lovely that is to hear! [Takes his arm.] Now I’ll tell you how I thought we should arrange things, Torvald. As soon as Christmas is over – [There is a ring in the hallway.] Oh, that’s the doorbell. [Tidying the room a bit] Someone must be coming. What a bore.
HELMER: I’m not at home for visitors, remember.
MAID [in the door to the hall]: Madam, there’s a lady – a stranger –
NORA: Very well, ask her to come in.
MAID [to HELMER]: And the doctor’s come too.
HELMER: Did he go straight into my study?
MAID: Yes, he did.
HELMER goes into his study. The MAID shows MRS LINDE, who is in travelling clothes,14 into the living room and closes the door after her.
MRS LINDE [timidly and a little hesitantly]: Good morning, Nora.
NORA [uncertainly]: Good morning –
MRS LINDE: You probably don’t recognize me.
NORA: Well, I don’t know – ah yes, I seem to – [Bursting out] What! Kristine! Is it really you?
MRS LINDE: Yes, it’s me.
NORA: Kristine! And there I was, not recognizing you! But then how could I possibly – [More quietly] How you’ve changed, Kristine!
MRS LINDE: Yes, I probably have. In nine or ten long years –
NORA: Is it that long since we saw each other? Yes, so it is. Oh, these last eight years have been a happy time, believe you me. And now you’ve come here to town? Made that long journey in the winter. That was very brave.
MRS LINDE: I arrived on the steamer just this morning.
NORA: To enjoy yourself over Christmas, naturally. Oh, but how lovely! Yes, and enjoy ourselves we certainly shall. But do take your coat off. You’re not cold, are you? [Helps her.] There; now we’ll sit ourselves comfortably here by the stove. No, in the armchair there! I’ll sit here in the rocking-chair. [Grasps MRS LINDE’s hands] Yes, you’ve got your old face again now; it was just in that first moment –. You’ve grown a little paler, though, Kristine – and a little thinner perhaps.
MRS LINDE: And much, much older, Nora.
NORA: Yes, a little older perhaps, a teeny little bit; not much at all. [Stopping herself suddenly, serious] Oh, what a thoughtless person I am, sitting here and chattering away. Sweet, darling Kristine, can you forgive me?
MRS LINDE: What do you mean, Nora?
NORA [softly]: Poor Kristine, you’re a widow now, of course.
MRS LINDE: Yes, it happened three years ago.
NORA: Oh, I did know about it; I read it in the newspapers. Oh, Kristine, you must believe me, I often thought about writing to you at the time; but I always put it off, something always got in the way.
MRS LINDE: Nora dear, I completely understand.
NORA: No, it was bad of me, Kristine. Oh, you poor thing, you must have gone through so much. – And he didn’t leave you anything to live on?
MRS LINDE: No.
NORA: And no children?
MRS LINDE: No.
NORA: Absolutely nothing, then?
MRS LINDE: Not even a sense of grief or loss to sustain me.
NORA [looks at her in disbelief]: But Kristine, how can that be possible?
MRS LINDE [smiles sadly and strokes NORA’s hair]: Oh, these things happen, Nora.
NORA: To be so utterly alone. What a heavy sadness that must be for you. I have three lovely children. Though you can’t see them at the moment, they’re out with their nanny. But now, you must tell me everything –
MRS LINDE: No, no, no, you tell.
NORA: No, you start. Today I don’t want to be selfish. Today I want only to think of your concerns. Although there is one thing I really must tell you. Do you know what wonderful good fortune we’ve had recently?
MRS LINDE: No. What’s that?
NORA: Just think, my husband’s been made director of the Commercial Bank.
MRS LINDE: Your husband? Oh, what luck –!
NORA: Yes, tremendous! As a lawyer one’s income is so unreliable, especially when one doesn’t want to handle any affairs except those that are right and proper. And that’s something Torvald’s never wanted to do, of course; and I’m entirely with him there. Oh, believe me, we’re so looking forward to it! He’s starting at the bank right after the New Year, and then he’ll have a big salary and lots of bonuses. From now on we’ll be able to live quite differently – just as we want. Oh, Kristine, I feel so light and happy! Yes, because it’s so lovely to have a proper amount of money and not to have to go worrying over things. Isn’t it?
MRS LINDE: Well, it must be lovely at least to have what’s necessary.
NORA: No, not just what’s necessary, but a proper, proper amount of money!
MRS LINDE [smiles]: Nora, Nora, you’ve not grown sensible yet? Back at school you were a big spendthrift.
NORA [laughs softly]: Yes, Torvald still says that too. [Wags a finger sternly.] But ‘Nora, Nora’ isn’t as crazy as you all think. – We’ve certainly been in no position for me to be extravagant. We’ve had to work, both of us.
MRS LINDE: You too?
NORA: Yes, with little things, with handiwork, with crocheting and embroidery, things like that, [casually] and with other things too. You know presumably that Torvald left the Department15 when we got married? There were no prospects for promotion in his office, and of course he needed to earn more money than before. But he exhausted himself dreadfully in that first year. He had to seek out all kinds of extra income, as you can imagine, and to work from morning till night. But it was more than he could take, and he became dangerously ill. So the doctors declared that it was vital he travel south.
MRS LINDE: Yes, you stayed for a whole year in Italy, didn’t you?
NORA: That’s right. It wasn’t easy to get away, believe me. Ivar had only just been born then. But we had to go, of course. Oh, it was a miraculous, lovely trip. And it saved Torvald’s life. But it cost an awful lot of money, Kristine.
MRS LINDE: I can well imagine.
NORA: Twelve hundred speciedaler16 it cost. Four thousand eight hundred kroner. That’s a huge amount of money, you know.
MRS LINDE: Yes, but in such a situation it’s a great blessing to have it at least.
NORA: Yes, I’ll say, though we got it from Daddy of course.
MRS LINDE: Oh, I see. It was at around that time your father died, I believe.
NORA: Yes, Kristine, it was just at that time. And imagine, I couldn’t travel to him and nurse him. I was here, of course, waiting for little Ivar to come into the world any day. And then I had my poor mortally ill Torvald to look after. My dear kind Daddy! I never got to see him again, Kristine. Oh, that’s the heaviest thing I’ve gone through since I was married.
MRS LINDE: I know you were very fond of him. But then you went to Italy?
NORA: Yes; well, we had the money then; and the doctors were pressing us to go. So we left a month later.
MRS LINDE: And your husband returned in full health.
NORA: Fit as a fiddle!
MRS LINDE: But – the doctor?
NORA: How do you mean?
MRS LINDE: I thought the maid said he was the doctor, that man who came at the same time as me.
NORA: Oh, that was Dr Rank; but he doesn’t come on patient visits; he’s our closest friend and looks in at least once a day. No, Torvald hasn’t had one hour of illness since. And the children are fit and healthy, and so am I. [She jumps up and claps her hands.] Oh God, oh God, Kristine, it’s lovely and miraculous to be alive and happy! – Oh, but this really is loathsome of me – I’m talking about my own concerns again. [Sits on a footstool close to MRS LINDE and rests her arms on her knees.] Oh, you mustn’t be cross with me! – Tell me, is it really true that you didn’t love your husband? Why did you marry him, then?
MRS LINDE: My mother was still alive; and she was bedridden and helpless. And I also had my two younger brothers to provide for. I didn’t really see how I could justify declining his offer.
NORA: No, perhaps you’re right. He was rich at the time, then?
MRS LINDE: He was reasonably well off, I think. But his business interests were unreliable, Nora. When he died, everything collapsed and there was nothing left over.
NORA: And then –?
MRS LINDE: Well, then I had to struggle on with a little shop and a little school17 and whatever else I could think of. The last three years have been like one long, unremitting workday for me. Now it’s at an end, Nora. My poor mother no longer needs me, now that she’s passed away. And neither do the boys; they’ve got jobs now and can provide for themselves.
NORA: You must feel a good deal lighter –
MRS LINDE: No, Nora. Just unspeakably empty. With nobody to live for any more. [Gets up restlessly.] That’s why I couldn’t stand it any longer out there in that little backwater. It must surely be easier to find something here to engage you and occupy your thoughts. If I could just be lucky enough to get a permanent post, some sort of office work –
NORA: Oh but, Kristine, that’s so terribly exhausting; and you already look exhausted before you’ve begun. It would be much better for you to go to a spa.18
MRS LINDE [moves towards the window]: I don’t have any daddy who can present me with travel money, Nora.
NORA [gets up]: Oh, don’t be angry with me!
MRS LINDE [moves towards her]: Nora dear, don’t you be angry with me. That’s the worst thing about a situation like mine, it leaves such a deep trace of bitterness in your mind. You have nobody to work for; but you still have to be on the lookout, fighting your corner. We have to live after all; and then we get self-centred. When you told me about the happy change in your circumstances19 – can you believe it? – I wasn’t so pleased on your behalf, as on my own.
NORA: In what way? Oh, I see. You mean that Torvald could maybe do something for you.
MRS LINDE: Yes, that was my thought.
NORA: And so he will, Kristine. Just leave it to me; I’ll bring it up so, so delicately – I’ll think up something that’ll charm him, that’ll capture his approval. Oh, I do so sincerely want to be of help to you.
MRS LINDE: How sweet of you, Nora, to be so eager on my behalf – doubly sweet of you, when you know so little of life’s burdens and hardships yourself.
NORA: I –? I know so little of –?
MRS LINDE [smiling]: Well. Good Lord, a little bit of handwork and the like –. You’re a child, Nora.
NORA [tosses her head and crosses the room]: You oughtn’t to say that so condescendingly.
MRS LINDE: Oh?
NORA: You’re like the others. You all think I’m incapable of anything really serious –
MRS LINDE: Now, now –
NORA: – that I’ve experienced nothing of this difficult world.
MRS LINDE: Nora dear, you’ve just told me about all your hardships.
NORA: Pfff – those trifles! [Softly] I haven’t told you about the biggest.
MRS LINDE: Biggest? What do you mean?
NORA: You’re far too dismissive of me, Kristine; but you shouldn’t be. You’re proud that you worked so hard and so long for your mother.
MRS LINDE: I certainly don’t dismiss anyone. But it is true: I am both proud and happy that it was granted me to make my mother’s last years relatively free from care.
NORA: And you’re proud too, when you think about what you’ve done for your brothers.
MRS LINDE: I think I have a right to be.
NORA: I think so too. But now I’m going to tell you something, Kristine. I also have something to be proud and happy about.
MRS LINDE: I don’t doubt it. But how do you mean?
NORA: Speak quietly. Imagine if Torvald heard this! He mustn’t at any price – nobody must get to know this, Kristine; nobody but you.
MRS LINDE: But what is it?
NORA: Come here. [Pulls her down on the sofa beside her.] Well, Kristine – I also have something to be proud and happy about. It was I who saved Torvald’s life.
MRS LINDE: Saved –? In what way saved?
NORA: I told you about our trip to Italy. Torvald could never have pulled through if he hadn’t gone down there –
MRS LINDE: Right; and your father gave you the necessary money –
NORA: Yes, that’s what Torvald and all the others believe; but –
MRS LINDE: But –?
NORA: Daddy didn’t give us a penny. It was I who raised the money.
MRS LINDE: You? That entire sum?
NORA: Twelve hundred speciedaler. Four thousand eight hundred kroner. What do you say to that?
MRS LINDE: Yes, but, Nora, how was that possible? Had you won the lottery?20
NORA [with scorn]: The lottery? [Gives a little snort.] Where would the skill be in that?
MRS LINDE: But then where did you get it from?
NORA [hums and smiles secretively]: Hm; tra la la la!
MRS LINDE: After all, you couldn’t borrow it.
NORA: Oh? Why not?
MRS LINDE: Well, of course, a wife can’t borrow without her husband’s consent.21
NORA [tosses her head]: Oh, when it’s a wife with a touch of business flair – a wife who knows how to go about things a little cleverly, then –
MRS LINDE: But, Nora, I simply don’t understand –
NORA: Nor do you need to. Nobody’s said that I borrowed the money. After all, I might have got it in other ways. [Throws herself back in the sofa.] I might have got it from some admirer or other. When you’re as relatively attractive as I am –
MRS LINDE: You’re a crazy one!
NORA: You’re tremendously curious now, aren’t you, Kristine?
MRS LINDE: Now listen, Nora my dear – haven’t you acted rather imprudently?
NORA [sitting upright again]: Is it imprudent to save one’s husband’s life?
MRS LINDE: I think it’s imprudent that, without his knowing, you –
NORA: But that’s exactly it, he wasn’t meant to know anything! Good Lord, don’t you understand? He wasn’t even meant to know how much danger he was in. I was the one the doctors came to, saying that his life was at risk; that nothing could save him except a stay in the south. Don’t you think I tried to coax him at first? I talked to him about how lovely it would be for me to travel abroad like other young wives; I cried and I begged; I said he should please remember my condition, that he must be kind and give in to my wishes; and then I suggested that he could perhaps take out a loan. But then he almost went into a fury, Kristine. He said I was frivolous, and that it was his duty as a husband not to give way to me in my whims and caprices – I think he called it. Well, I thought, you’ve got to be rescued; and so I found a way out –
MRS LINDE: And your husband didn’t discover from your father that the money hadn’t come from him?
NORA: No, never. Daddy died at just around that time. I’d thought to let him in on it and ask him not to reveal anything. But then he was so ill –. Sadly, it was never necessary.
MRS LINDE: And you’ve not confided in your husband since?
NORA: No, for heaven’s sake, how can you think that? When he’s so strict on the issue of borrowing! And besides, just think how awkward and humiliating it would be for Torvald – with his manly self-esteem – to know he owed me something. It would upset the entire balance of our relationship; our beautiful, happy home would no longer be what it is.
MRS LINDE: Will you never tell him?
NORA [thoughtfully, half smiling]: Yes – perhaps one day – many years from now, when I’m no longer as pretty. You shouldn’t laugh! I mean, of course, when Torvald no longer admires me as much as he does now; when he no longer finds it amusing to have me dance for him, and dress up and recite things. Then it might be good to have something in reserve – [Breaks off.] Oh, rubbish, rubbish! That time will never come. – So, what do you say to my big secret, Kristine? Aren’t I also capable of something? – And you can be sure too that this matter has caused me a great many worries. It certainly hasn’t been easy for me to fulfil my obligations on time. In the business world, let me tell you, there’s something called quarterly interest, and something called instalments; and they’re always terribly difficult to get hold of. So I’ve had to save a bit here and a bit there, wherever I could, you see. Naturally, I couldn’t put much aside from the housekeeping money, since Torvald had to live comfortably. And I couldn’t let the children go badly dressed; whatever I got for them, I had to use every bit. My sweet little angels!
MRS LINDE: So I suppose your own necessities took the brunt of it, my poor Nora?
NORA: Yes, of course. But I was also best placed. Whenever Torvald gave me money for new dresses and the like, I never used more than half of it; always bought the plainest and cheapest thing. It was a blessing from heaven that everything suits me so well, so Torvald didn’t notice. But many a time it weighed heavily on me, Kristine; after all it is lovely to be elegantly dressed. Isn’t that so?
MRS LINDE: It certainly is.
NORA: And then I’ve had other sources of income too, of course. Last winter I was lucky enough to get a fair bit of copying work. So I locked myself in and sat there writing every evening, long into the night. Oh, I was often so tired, so tired. But it was terribly fun, nonetheless, to sit like that, working and earning money. It was almost as though I was a man.
MRS LINDE: But how much have you been able to pay off in this way?
NORA: Well, I can’t say exactly. These kinds of transactions, you see, are so extremely difficult to keep track of. All I know is that I’ve paid everything I could scrape together. I’ve often been at my wits’ end. [Smiles.] Then I’d sit here and imagine that an elderly rich gentleman had fallen in love with me –
MRS LINDE: What? Which gentleman?
NORA: Oh, pff! – that he’d died, and when they opened his will, it said in capital letters: ‘All my money is to be immediately paid to the charming Mrs Nora Helmer in cash.’
MRS LINDE: But my dear Nora – who was this gentleman?
NORA: Good heavens, don’t you understand? The elderly gentleman didn’t exist at all; that was just something I sat here imagining again and again when I couldn’t see a way out to get hold of any money. But it makes no odds now; as far as I’m concerned that boring old personage can stay right where he is; I’m not bothered about him or his will, because now I haven’t a care. [Jumps up.] Oh God, but it’s so lovely to think, Kristine! Not a care! To be able to be carefree, absolutely carefree; to be able to play and romp about with the children; to be able to make the house nice and pretty, everything just as Torvald likes it! And just think, the spring will come soon with big blue skies. Then we might get to travel a little. I might get to see the sea again. Oh yes, yes, it certainly is miraculous to be alive and to be happy!
The doorbell is heard in the hall.
MRS LINDE [gets up]: The doorbell; perhaps it’s best I go.
NORA: No, you stay; nobody’s coming here, I’m sure; it must be for Torvald –
MAID [in the doorway to the hall]: Excuse me, madam – there’s a gentleman wants to speak with the lawyer –
NORA: With the bank director, you mean.
MAID: Yes, with the bank director; but I didn’t know – since the doctor’s in there –
NORA: Who is this gentleman?
KROGSTAD [in the doorway to the hall]: It’s me, madam.
MRS LINDE starts, then shrinks back and turns towards the window.
NORA [takes a step towards him, tense, her voice lowered]: You? What is it? What do you want to speak to my husband about?
KROGSTAD: Bank matters – in a way. I’ve a modest position at the Commercial Bank, and I hear your husband’s going to be our new boss –
NORA: So it’s –
KROGSTAD: Just some boring business, madam; nothing more at all.
NORA: Right, be so good then as to go through to the office. [Nods offhandedly, as she closes the door to the hall; then walks over to attend to the stove.]
MRS LINDE: Nora – who was that man?
NORA: It was a certain Mr Krogstad.
MRS LINDE: So it really was him.
NORA: You know the man?
MRS LINDE: I knew him once – many years ago. He worked as a solicitor’s clerk22 for a while in our parts.
NORA: Ah yes, so he did.
MRS LINDE: How changed he was.
NORA: He was very unhappily married, I believe.
MRS LINDE: And now he’s a widower?
NORA: With a lot of children. There now; it’s burning. [Closes the stove door and moves the rocking-chair a little to one side.]
MRS LINDE: He’s involved in a variety of business activities, they say?
NORA: Oh? Well, that’s possible; I wouldn’t know –. But let’s not think about business; it’s so boring.
DR RANK comes from HELMER’s room.
RANK [still in the doorway]: No, no, Helmer; I don’t want to intrude; I’d rather go in to your wife for a bit. [Closes the door and notices MRS LINDE] Oh, apologies; it seems I’m intruding here too.
NORA: No, not at all. [Introduces] Dr Rank. Mrs Linde.
RANK: Aha. A name that’s frequently heard in this house. I believe I passed you on the stairs as I arrived.
MRS LINDE: Yes, I climb rather slowly; a bit too much for me to take.
RANK: Ah, a slight touch of the internal rots, eh?
MRS LINDE: More a case of exhaustion actually.
RANK: Nothing else? So, I take it you’ve come to town to unwind at our various festive gatherings.
MRS LINDE: I’ve come here to look for work.
RANK: That’s supposed to be a proven remedy for exhaustion, is it?
MRS LINDE: We have to live, doctor.
RANK: Yes, it is indeed a commonly held belief that such a thing is necessary.
NORA: Come, come, Dr Rank – you want very much to live too.
RANK: Yes, of course I do. However miserable I may be, I still prefer to be tormented for as long as is possible. And the same goes for all of my patients. As it does for the morally afflicted too. Right now, in fact, there’s just such a moral invalid in there with Helmer –
MRS LINDE [quietly]: Ah!
NORA: Who do you mean?
RANK: Oh, it’s one Krogstad, an individual of whom you know nothing. Rotten right down to the roots of his character, Mrs Helmer. But even he started to talk as though it was of some magnificent import, about his having to live.
NORA: Oh? What did he want to talk to Torvald about?
RANK: I have absolutely no idea; all I heard was that it was something about the Commercial Bank.
NORA: I didn’t know that Krog – that this man Krogstad had anything to do with the Commercial Bank.
RANK: Yes, he’s got some sort of a job down there. [To MRS LINDE] I don’t know if you also, over in your parts, have the kind of people who scamper breathlessly about sniffing for moral decay, only to get the individual admitted for observation in some favourable position or other. The healthy people just have to put up with being left outside.
MRS LINDE: But surely it’s the sick who most need to be brought into the fold.
RANK [shrugs his shoulders]: Yes, there we have it. It’s that attitude that turns society into an infirmary.
NORA, in her own thoughts, bursts into quiet laughter and claps her hands.
RANK: Why are you laughing at that? Do you actually know what society is?
NORA: What do I care about boring society? I was laughing at something quite different – something terribly amusing. – Tell me, Dr Rank – everybody who’s employed at the Commercial Bank will now be dependent on Torvald, yes?
RANK: Is that what you find so terribly amusing?
NORA [smiling and humming]: Never you mind! Never you mind! [Walks to and fro.] Well, it certainly is tremendously pleasing to think that we – that Torvald has such influence over so many people now. [Takes the paper bag out of her pocket.] Dr Rank, a little macaroon perhaps?
RANK: I say, macaroons. I thought they were forbidden goods here.
NORA: Yes, but Kristine gave me these.
MRS LINDE: What? I –?
NORA: Now, now; don’t be frightened. You couldn’t know, of course, that Torvald had forbidden them. He’s worried, you see, that they’ll give me bad teeth. But pff – just for once –! Don’t you agree, Dr Rank? There you go! [Puts a macaroon in his mouth.] And you too, Kristine. And I’ll have one too, just a little one – or two at most. [Wanders about again.] Yes, now I really am terribly happy. Now there’s only one thing in the world that I have a most tremendous desire to do.
RANK: Oh? And what’s that?
NORA: There’s something I have a tremendous desire to say, so Torvald hears it.
RANK: And why can’t you say it?
NORA: No, I daren’t, it’s so hideous.
MRS LINDE: Hideous?
RANK: Then it’s not advisable. But you can to us, of course –. What is it you have such a desire to say, so Helmer hears it?
NORA: I have a most tremendous desire to say: bloody hell!
RANK: Are you mad!
MRS LINDE: For heaven’s sake, Nora –!
RANK: Say it then. There he is.
NORA [hides the bag of macaroons]: Ssh, ssh, ssh!
HELMER, with his overcoat on his arm and his hat in his hand, comes from his room.
NORA [facing him]: So, Torvald dear, did you get rid of him?
HELMER: Yes, he’s just gone.
NORA: I must introduce you – this is Kristine, who’s arrived in town.
HELMER: Kristine –? Apologies, but I don’t know –
NORA: Mrs Linde, Torvald dear; Mrs Kristine Linde.
HELMER: Oh right. A childhood friend of my wife’s, I take it?
MRS LINDE: Yes, we knew each other in earlier days.
NORA: And imagine, she’s made the long journey to town in order to speak to you.
HELMER: How’s that?
MRS LINDE: Well, not exactly –
NORA: Yes, because Kristine is terribly clever at office work, and she has a tremendous desire to come under a capable man’s leadership and learn more than she already knows –
HELMER: Most sensible, Mrs Linde.
NORA: And when she heard that you’d been made bank director – a telegram23 came about it – well, then she travelled here as fast as she could and –. I’m right, aren’t I, Torvald – for my sake, you can do something for Kristine? Yes?
HELMER: Well, it’s certainly not impossible. You are a widow I take it, Mrs Linde?
MRS LINDE: Yes.
HELMER: And have experience of office work?
MRS LINDE: Yes, a fair bit.
HELMER: Well, then it’s highly likely that I can get you some employment –
NORA [claps her hands]: You see; you see!
HELMER: You’ve come at a propitious moment, Mrs Linde –
MRS LINDE: Oh, how can I thank you –?
HELMER: There’s really no need. [Puts on his overcoat.] But today you’ll have to excuse me –
RANK: Wait; I’ll come with you. [Fetches his fur coat from the hall and warms it by the stove.]
NORA: Don’t stay out long, Torvald dear.
HELMER: An hour; no more.
NORA: Are you leaving too, Kristine?
MRS LINDE [putting on her outdoor clothes]: Yes, I must go out now to look for a room.
HELMER: Perhaps we’ll walk down the street together.
NORA [helping her]: What a bore that we’re so cramped for space here; but we really can’t –
MRS LINDE: Oh, don’t even think about it! Goodbye, dear Nora, and thank you for everything.
NORA: Goodbye for now. But you’ll come back this evening, of course. And you too, Dr Rank. Hmm? If you feel well enough? Oh, of course you will; just wrap up well.
Amidst general conversation they go into the hallway. Children’s voices are heard outside, on the stairs.
NORA: There they are! There they are!
She runs over and opens the door. The nanny, ANNE-MARIE, is coming with the CHILDREN.
NORA: Come in; come in! [Bends down and kisses them.] Oh you sweet little angels –! You see them, Kristine? Aren’t they lovely!
RANK: Enough pleasantries out here in the draught!
HELMER: Come on, Mrs Linde; it’ll be intolerable here now for anybody but a mother.
DR RANK, HELMER and MRS LINDE go down the stairs. The NANNY comes into the living room with the CHILDREN, as does NORA, who closes the door to the hall.
NORA: How fresh and healthy you look! What red cheeks you’ve got! Like apples and roses. [The CHILDREN are talking at her during the following.] Have you enjoyed yourself that much? That’s marvellous. Really; you pulled both Emmy and Bob on the sledge? What, really, both at once? Yes, you are a clever boy, Ivar. Oh, let me hold her for a bit, Anne-Marie. My sweet little doll! [Takes the youngest from the NANNY and dances with her.] Yes, yes, Mummy will dance with Bob, too. What? Have you been throwing snowballs? Oh, I wish I’d been there! No, don’t; I’ll take their coats off myself, Anne-Marie. Oh yes, do let me; it’s such fun. Go inside for now; you look frozen through. There’s some hot coffee for you on the stove.
The NANNY goes into the room on the left. NORA takes the CHILDREN’s outdoor clothing off and drops it all over the place as she lets them all talk excitedly at once.
NORA: No, really? So there was a big dog that ran after you? But it didn’t bite? No, dogs don’t bite lovely little baby dolls. Don’t look in the parcels, Ivar! What is it? Yes, wouldn’t you like to know? Oh no, no; it’s something really horrid. Well? Shall we play? What shall we play? Hide and seek. Yes, let’s play hide and seek. Bob can hide first. Shall I? All right, let me hide first.
She and the CHILDREN play, laughing and shouting, in the living room and in the adjoining room to the right. Finally NORA hides under the table; the CHILDREN come storming in, look, but cannot find her, hear her muffled laughter, dash over to the table, lift the cloth, see her. Squeals of delight. She creeps out as if to scare them. More squeals of delight. Meanwhile someone has been knocking on the door; nobody has noticed. Now the door is pushed ajar, and KROGSTAD appears; he waits a little; the game continues.
KROGSTAD: Excuse me, Mrs Helmer –
NORA [with a muffled cry, turns, startled]: Ah! What do you want?
KROGSTAD: I’m sorry; the front door24 was ajar; someone must have forgotten to close it –
NORA [gets up]: My husband’s not at home, Mr Krogstad.
KROGSTAD: I know.
NORA: Right – so what do you want here?
KROGSTAD: To have a word with you.
NORA: With –? [To the CHILDREN, quietly] Go in to Anne-Marie now. What? No, the strange man won’t hurt Mummy. When he’s gone, we’ll play again.
She ushers the CHILDREN into the room on the left and closes the door behind them.
NORA [nervous, tense]: You want to talk to me?
KROGSTAD: Yes, I do.
NORA: Today –? But we’ve not got to the first of the month yet –
KROGSTAD: No indeed, it’s Christmas Eve. It’ll be up to you how merry your Christmas is.
NORA: What do you want? Today I can’t possibly –
KROGSTAD: We shan’t talk about that for now. There’s something else. You do have a moment?
NORA: Well yes; yes, of course I have, although –
KROGSTAD: Good. I was sitting in Olsen’s café and I saw your husband walking down the street –
NORA: Yes?
KROGSTAD: – with a lady.
NORA: What about it?
KROGSTAD: May I be so bold as to ask; wasn’t the lady a certain Mrs Linde?
NORA: Well, yes it was.
KROGSTAD: Just arrived in town?
NORA: Yes, today.
KROGSTAD: And she’s a good friend of yours?
NORA: Yes, she is. But I don’t see –
KROGSTAD: I knew her too once.
NORA: I know.
KROGSTAD: Oh? So you do know about it. I thought as much. Well, to get straight to the point, might I ask: is Mrs Linde to have some kind of employment at the Commercial Bank?
NORA: How can you permit yourself to quiz me, Mr Krogstad, you, one of my husband’s subordinates? But since you ask, you shall get your answer: Yes, Mrs Linde is to have employment. And it was I who recommended her, Mr Krogstad. Now you know.
KROGSTAD: So I was right to put two and two together.
NORA [walks to and fro]: Oh, I’d have thought one always has a little grain of influence. Just because one is a woman really doesn’t mean –. Being in a subordinate position, Mr Krogstad, one really should take care not to offend someone who – hmm –
KROGSTAD: – who has influence?
NORA: Yes, exactly.
KROGSTAD [changing tone]: Mrs Helmer, would you have the kindness perhaps to employ your influence for my benefit?
NORA: What? What do you mean?
KROGSTAD: Would you be kind enough to ensure I hold on to my subordinate post in the Bank?
NORA: How do you mean? Who’s thinking of taking your post from you?
KROGSTAD: Oh, you don’t need to play ignorant with me. I quite understand that it can’t be comfortable for your friend to risk having to bump into me; and now I know too who I’ll have to thank when I’m chased out.
NORA: But I can assure you –
KROGSTAD: Yes, yes, but to the point now: there’s still time, and I advise you to use your influence to prevent it.
NORA: But, Mr Krogstad, I have absolutely no influence.
KROGSTAD: Really? I thought you said a moment ago –
NORA: Not in that sense of course. Me? How can you think I have that kind of influence over my husband?
KROGSTAD: Oh, I’ve known your husband since our student days. I don’t imagine our Mr Bank Director is any less biddable than other husbands.
NORA: If you speak disrespectfully of my husband, I’ll show you the door.
KROGSTAD: Madam is brave.
NORA: I’m not afraid of you any more. Once the New Year is over, I’ll soon be out of this whole thing.
KROGSTAD [more controlled]: Listen to me, Mrs Helmer. If it proves necessary, I’ll fight as though my life depended on it to keep my little job in the Bank.
NORA: Yes, so it seems.
KROGSTAD: Not just for the sake of the income; that’s the least of my worries. But there’s something else –. Yes well, out with it! It’s this, you see. You know, of course, as well as everybody else, that some years ago I was guilty of an imprudence.
NORA: I think I’ve heard something of the sort.
KROGSTAD: The matter didn’t go to court; but it meant all avenues were somehow closed to me. So I struck out into the line of business you know about. I had to grab on to something after all; and I think I can say I’ve not been amongst the worst. But now I must get out of all this. My sons are growing older; for their sake I must try to reclaim all the social respectability I can. This post in the Bank was to be the first step on the ladder for me. And now your husband wants to kick me off that ladder, so I’ll end up down in the dirt again.
NORA: But, for God’s sake, Mr Krogstad, it really isn’t in my power to help you.
KROGSTAD: That’s because you don’t have the will; but I have the means to force you.
NORA: You wouldn’t tell my husband that I owe you money, surely?
KROGSTAD: Hm; and if I did tell him?
NORA: It would be a shameful thing to do. [Tears rising in her throat] That secret, my pride and joy, to think he should find out about it in such a hideous, clumsy way – get to know about it from you! You’d expose me to the most fearful unpleasantness –
KROGSTAD: Merely unpleasantness?
NORA [vehemently]: Well, just do it then; you’ll be the one to come off worst, because then my husband will really get to see what a despicable individual you are, and then you certainly won’t keep your job.
KROGSTAD: I was asking if it was merely domestic unpleasantness you feared?
NORA: If my husband finds out, he will, of course, pay whatever’s outstanding immediately; and then we’ll have nothing more to do with you.
KROGSTAD [a step closer]: Listen, Mrs Helmer – either you have a rather weak memory, or then again, perhaps you don’t have much understanding of business. I’d better explain the situation to you in a little more depth.
NORA: How do you mean?
KROGSTAD: When your husband was ill, you came to me to borrow twelve hundred speciedalers.
NORA: I knew nobody else.
KROGSTAD: So I promised to get you that sum –
NORA: And you did.
KROGSTAD: I promised to get you that sum on certain conditions. You were so preoccupied at the time with your husband’s illness, and so keen to get the travel money, that I don’t think you gave much consideration to all the incidental circumstances. It would not, therefore, be inappropriate to remind you of this. Now: I promised to find you the money against an IOU, which I drew up.
NORA: Yes, and which I signed.
KROGSTAD: Correct. But beneath that I added a few lines in which your father stood as guarantor for the debt. It was these lines that your father was supposed to sign.
NORA: Supposed to –? He did sign them.
KROGSTAD: I’d left the date blank; that is, your father himself was supposed to enter the date on which he signed the document. Do you remember this, Mrs Helmer?25
NORA: Yes, I believe –
KROGSTAD: I then handed the IOU over to you, so that you could send it by post to your father. Isn’t that so?
NORA: Yes.
KROGSTAD: And of course you did so immediately; since no more than five or six days later you brought me the bond with your father’s signature. The sum was then paid out to you.
NORA: Well, yes; haven’t I made all my payments properly?
KROGSTAD: Reasonably, yes. But – to come back to what we were discussing – it must have been a difficult time for you, Mrs Helmer?
NORA: Yes, it was.
KROGSTAD: Your father was extremely ill, I believe.
NORA: He was dying.
KROGSTAD: Died shortly afterwards?
NORA: Yes.
KROGSTAD: Tell me, Mrs Helmer, you wouldn’t happen to remember the day your father died? The day of the month, I mean.
NORA: Daddy died on the 29th of September.
KROGSTAD: That’s quite right; I’ve verified it for myself. Which is why there’s a peculiarity here [takes a document out] that I simply can’t explain.
NORA: What peculiarity? I don’t know –
KROGSTAD: The peculiarity is this, madam, that your father signed this IOU three days after his death.
NORA: How? I don’t understand –
KROGSTAD: Your father died on the 29th of September. But look at this. Here your father has dated his signature the 2nd of October. Isn’t that peculiar, Mrs Helmer?
NORA is silent.
KROGSTAD: Can you explain that to me?
NORA remains silent.
KROGSTAD: It’s rather curious too that the words ‘2nd of October’ and the year are not written in your father’s hand, but in a hand I seem perhaps to recognize. Well, that can be explained, of course: your father may have forgotten to date his signature, and then someone or other has done it at random, before knowing about his death. There’s no harm in that. It’s the person’s signature it comes down to. And that is authentic, isn’t it, Mrs Helmer? It is your father, of course, who has written his name here?
NORA [after a short silence, tosses her head and looks defiantly at him]: No, it isn’t. I’m the one who wrote Daddy’s name.
KROGSTAD: Listen, Mrs Helmer – you do realize that this is a dangerous admission?
NORA: Why? You’ll have your money soon.
KROGSTAD: May I put a question to you – why didn’t you send the document to your father?
NORA: It was impossible. With Daddy being ill. If I’d asked him for his signature, I’d have had to tell him what the money was to be used for. But I couldn’t tell him, of course, when he was so ill, that my husband’s life was in danger. That was impossible.
KROGSTAD: Then it would have been better for you to have abandoned this trip abroad.
NORA: No, that was impossible. That trip was to save my husband’s life. I couldn’t abandon it.
KROGSTAD: But didn’t you consider the fact that you were committing fraud against me –?
NORA: I couldn’t take that into account. I wasn’t the least bothered about you. I couldn’t stand you and the coldness with which you put obstacles in my way, when you knew the danger my husband was in.
KROGSTAD: Mrs Helmer, you obviously have no clear understanding of what it is you are actually guilty of. But let me tell you, the thing I once did was neither something greater nor something worse, and it wrecked my entire social standing.
NORA: You? You’d have me believe that you did something brave to save your wife’s life?
KROGSTAD: The law doesn’t ask about motives.
NORA: Then it must be an extremely bad law.
KROGSTAD: Bad or not – if I produce this document in court, you will be condemned according to the law.
NORA: I don’t believe that for a moment. Hasn’t a daughter the right to protect her old and mortally ill father from worries and anxieties? Hasn’t a wife the right to save her husband’s life? I don’t know the law too well; but I’m certain it must say somewhere that such things are permitted. And you have no knowledge of this – you, as a lawyer? You must be a very bad lawyer, Mr Krogstad.
KROGSTAD: That may be. But business agreements – the kind you and I have with one another – you must surely believe I have an understanding of those? Very well. Do whatever you please. But this much I tell you: if I find myself pushed out a second time, you’ll be keeping me company.
He makes a farewell gesture and goes out through the hall.
NORA [thoughtful for a moment; then tosses her head]: What nonsense! – Trying to frighten me! I’m not that gullible. [Busies herself with gathering up the CHILDREN’s clothes; soon stops.] But –? – No, but it’s impossible! I did it out of love after all.
THE CHILDREN [in the doorway to the left]: Mummy, that man just went out of the door downstairs.
NORA: Yes, yes, I know. But you’re not to tell anyone about the man. You hear? Not even Daddy!
THE CHILDREN: No, Mummy, but will you play with us again now?
NORA: No, no; not now.
THE CHILDREN: Oh but, Mummy, you promised.
NORA: Yes, but I can’t right now. Go inside; I’ve got so much to do. Go in, go in, my dear, sweet children.
She hurries them gently back into the room and closes the door after them.
NORA [sits on the sofa, picks up some embroidery and does a few stitches but soon stops]: No! [Throws the embroidery aside, gets up, goes to the hall door and shouts] Helene! Let me have the tree in here. [Goes to the table on the left and opens the drawer; stops again.] No, but it’s utterly impossible, surely!
MAID [with the Christmas tree]: Where shall I put it, madam?
NORA: There; in the middle of the room.
MAID: Shall I fetch anything else?
NORA: No thank you; I’ve got what I need.
The MAID has put the tree down, she goes out again.
NORA [busy decorating the tree]: Candles here – and flowers here. – That despicable person! Oh, nonsense, nonsense! There’s nothing the matter. The Christmas tree is going to be lovely. I’ll do whatever you want, Torvald – I’ll sing for you, dance for you –
HELMER, with a bundle of papers under his arm, comes in from outside.
NORA: Ah – are you back already?
HELMER: Yes. Has anybody been here?
NORA: Here? No.
HELMER: That’s peculiar. I saw Krogstad come out of the downstairs door.
NORA: Really? Oh yes, that’s right, Krogstad was here for a moment.
HELMER: Nora, I can see it in your face: he’s been here and asked you to put in a good word for him.
NORA: Yes.
HELMER: And you were meant to do it as if of your own accord? You were meant to conceal it from me that he’d been here. He asked that of you too, didn’t he?
NORA: Yes, Torvald; but –
HELMER: Nora, Nora, how could you go along with something like that? Engage in conversation with a man of that sort, and then give him a promise! And then to top it, tell me an untruth!
NORA: An untruth –?
HELMER: Didn’t you say nobody had been here? [Wags a stern finger.] My little songbird must never do that again. A songbird needs a clean beak to chirrup with; never a false note. [Holds her round her waist.] Isn’t that how it should be? Yes, that’s what I thought. [Lets her go.] And now, no more about it. [Sits down in front of the stove.] Ah, how cosy and comfortable it is in here. [Leafs through his papers a little.]
NORA [busy with the Christmas tree, after a short pause]: Torvald!
NORA: I’m looking forward so tremendously to the fancy dress ball at the Stenborgs’ the day after tomorrow.
HELMER: And I’m tremendously curious to see what you’re going to surprise me with.
NORA: Ah, that stupid idea.
HELMER: Oh?
NORA: I can’t think of anything that’ll do; everything seems so pathetic, so meaningless.
HELMER: Has my little Nora come to that realization?
NORA [behind his chair, leaning with her arms on the back of it]: Are you very busy, Torvald?
HELMER: Well –
NORA: What sort of papers are those?
HELMER: Bank matters.
NORA: Already?
HELMER: I got the outgoing management to give me authority to undertake the necessary changes in the staff and business plan. I’ll have to spend Christmas week on it. I want to have everything in order by New Year.
NORA: So that’s why this poor Krogstad –
HELMER: Hm.
NORA [still leaning on the back of his chair and slowly running her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck]: If you’d not been so busy, I’d have asked you for a tremendously big favour, Torvald.
HELMER: Tell me. What could that be?
NORA: Nobody has such excellent taste as you. And I do so want to look good at the ball. Torvald, couldn’t you take me in hand and decide what I should be, and how my costume should be arranged?
HELMER: Aha, is little Miss Wilful out looking for a man to rescue her?
NORA: Yes, Torvald, I can’t get anywhere without your help.
HELMER: Very well. I’ll give it some thought; we’ll manage something.
NORA: Oh, how kind of you. [Goes back to the Christmas tree; pause.] How pretty these red flowers look. – But tell me, is it really so bad, whatever it was that this Krogstad was guilty of?
HELMER: Falsifying signatures. Have you any idea what that means?
NORA: Mightn’t he have done it out of necessity?
HELMER: Indeed, or, as so many do, in a moment of imprudence. I’m not so heartless as to condemn a man categorically for the sake of one such isolated act.
NORA: No, isn’t that so, Torvald!
HELMER: Many may rise and redeem themselves morally, if only they confess their misdeeds openly and take their punishment.
NORA: Punishment –?
HELMER: But that wasn’t the path Krogstad chose; he managed to slip away with tricks and manoeuvres; and that’s what has eroded him morally.
NORA: You think that would –?
HELMER: Just imagine how such a guilt-ridden person has to lie and dissemble and pretend to all and sundry, has to wear a mask even for those closest to him, yes, even for his own wife and his own children. And the children, well, that really is the worst of it, Nora.
NORA: Why?
HELMER: Because such an atmosphere26 of lies brings contagion and disease into the very life of a home. Every breath the children take in such a house is filled with the germs of something ugly.
NORA [closer behind him]: Are you sure of that?
HELMER: My dear, I’ve experienced it often enough as a lawyer. Almost all those who are corrupt from an early age have had mothers who were liars.
NORA: Why precisely – mothers?
HELMER: It’s mostly ascribable to the mothers; but fathers, of course, have the same effect; every lawyer knows that. And yet, this Krogstad has gone about his home, year in year out, poisoning his own children with lies and hypocrisy; that’s why I say he is morally destitute. [Holds his hands out to her.] And that’s why my sweet little Nora must promise me not to plead his cause. Your hand on it. Now, now, what’s this? Give me your hand. There now. That’s settled. It would, I assure you, have been impossible for me to work with him; I literally feel physically ill in the proximity of such individuals.
NORA [pulls her hand back and goes round to the other side of the Christmas tree]: How hot it is in here. And I’ve got so much to do.
HELMER [gets up and gathers his papers together]: Yes, and I should think about getting some of this read before dinner. Your costume – I’ll give some thought to that as well. And something to hang in gold wrapping on the Christmas tree; I might just perhaps have that in store too. [Puts his hand on her head.] Oh, my darling little songbird. [Goes into his room and closes the door behind him.]
NORA [quietly, after a silence]: Oh, surely! It isn’t true. It’s impossible. It must be impossible.
NANNY [in the doorway on the left]: The little ones are asking so prettily if they can come in to their mummy.
NORA: No, no, don’t let them come in here to me! You stay with them, Anne-Marie.
NANNY: Very well, madam. [Closes the door.]
NORA [pale with fear]: Corrupt my little children –! Poison our home? [Brief pause; she lifts her head high.] It isn’t true. It can’t ever possibly be true.