Marriage and identity

Question 1

Act 3
“What else is there to understand, apart from the old, old story? A heartless women’s throws a man over the moment something more profitable offers itself” - Krogstad

Answer 1

•3rd person reference to a headless woman is directed at Mrs Linde - conveys his hurt and pride as he distances himself from her
•Ibsen challenges the patriarchal ideology that prohibits wives from engaging in work or financial affairs placing responsibility on husband

Question 2

Act 1
“When we first married, it even used to make him sort of jealous if I only much mentioned any of my old friends back home. So of course I stopped doing it” - Nora

Answer 2

•Nora’s boastful tone portrays her as a naive and unaware victim of her husbands control
•Ibsen presents an unsettling acceptance of her role as an obedient wife without any discussion
•Nora had no choice but to stop

Question 3

Act 3
“Leave your home, your husband and your children! And you haven’t a thought for what people will say” - Torvald

Answer 3

•His attitude to Nora and his marriage highlighted
•Repeatedly refers to her duty to stay in the marriage
•Can’t understand why she would want to disregard he status as a wife and mother

Question 4

Act 3
“I’ve been your doll-wife here, just as at home I was Daddy’s doll-child” - Nora

Answer 4

•Ibsen presents Nora as calm and prepared
•Suggests her role as a wife and daughter is that of an object or plaything
•As if she knows the answers to his questions- highlighting her awakening and the repressed role she had previously adopted