A DOLL’S HOUSE: SECRETS CAN RUIN RELATIONSHIP
In A Doll’s House, it is evident that keeping secrets can
cause strains in relationships. A relationship that lacks sincerity and openness
usually suffers adverse consequences. Nora lives in secrecy. The skeletons in
the closet eventually cause an irreparable damage to her marriage and
relationship with Torvald.
What is Nora’s secret in A Doll’s House and what are the repercussions?
The
loan
Nora borrows 250 pounds from Krogstad (pg. 37, 77) to
facilitate a trip to Italy that is recommended by the doctors after her husband
Torvald Helmer falls dreadfully ill. When they got married, Torvald left his
job. He wanted to earn more money. During the first year he works early and
late and ends up overworking himself and falling dreadfully ill. (pg. 12)
The doctors advise her to take him to Italy for a rest.
Torvald does not know what dangerous condition he is in and Nora has to keep it
that way. His life is in danger.
Nora tries to wheedle him to raise money and take the
trip but he is obstinate. Before resorting to borrow money, she tries all other
means and only resorts ao borrow after all other means fail.
“Do
you suppose I didn’t try first to get what I wanted as if it were for
myself? “(pg. 19)
She tries tears and entreaties (humble requests), asks
him to kind and indulgent to her, says she would love to live abroad like other
young brides and even hints that he might raise a loan. Torvald dismisses all these
patronizingly as whims and caprice. Having run out of options, Nora is forced
to devise a way out of the difficulty. (pg. 19)
Nora is forced to borrow money to facilitate the trip.
Torvald thinks that she got the money from her father. (pg. 17)
“And
since then have you never told your secret to your husband?”
Nora keeps this a secret from Torvald to protect his
manly independence. Knowing he owed her anything would be painful and
humiliating and would upset their mutual relations and ruin their beautiful
home. (Pg. 20)
Keeping this secret takes a toll on Nora since she also
has to secretly repay the debt without Torvald knowledge.
“I
can tell you that this offer has caused me a lot of worry. It has been by no
means easy for me to meet my engagements punctually” (pg. 20)
Nora tells Mrs. Linda about quarterly interest and
payment in installments and how difficult it is to manage them.
She is also forced to save part of her house keeping
money while trying to ensure the children and Torvald maintain a decent
lifestyle. When Torvald gives her money, she spent frugally but Torvald does
not notice. (pg. 21)
Why
does Nora keep this secret from Torvald?
This is because “a
wife cannot borrow without a husband’s consent.”(pg. 18)
Nora admits that it has been easy to repay the debt. She
says “it is very difficult to keep an account of a business matter of that
kind. Many a times I was at my wits end” (pg. 22)
She even quips that she imagines a rich old gentleman
had fallen in love with her. That’s when she couldn’t think of any ways of processing
the money. (pg 22)
Although Nora borrows the money to save her husband’s
life for the sake of love (pg. 42)
It causes her a lot of distress as she has to conceal
it from him while painstakingly trying to repay Krogstad.
The
Forgery
Nora is a very secretive person. When she borrows
money from Krogstad she commits fraud on the process but keeps it to herself.
When her husband was ill, she borrows 250 pounds from
Krogstad because she did not know anyone else to go to. (pg. 37)
Krogstad promised to get her the money on the security
of a bond. In the bond there were lines that consisted Nora’s father a surety
for the money. He was supposed to sign those lines. He should have inserted the
date on which he signed the paper (pg. 38)
Nora’s father dies on 29th of September but
his signature is dated 2nd of October. The date 2nd of
October is written in Nora’s handwriting. (pg. 34)
Nora confesses that she committed a forgery. She does
nor ask her father for his signature because he was so ill himself and she
couldn’t bear troubling him with the news of her husband’s condition. She could
also not give up the trip to save hu her husband’s life (pg. 40)
Nora is forced to commit fraud to spare her dying
father anxiety and care and in order to save her husband life (pg. 44). She
also says Krogstad puts so many difficulties in her way. (Pg. 40)
Nora has kept this a secret from her husband Torvald
and Krogstad threatens to use it to compel her to convince Torvald to keep him
at the bank.
“To
think of his learning my secret which has been my joy and pride in such an ugly
and clumsy way and it would put me in a horribly disagreeable (unpleasant)
condition”
Nora is afraid that if Torvald learns of the secret it
would ruin their relationship.
Although she does it with good intentions, Krogstad
tells her that “the law cares nothing
about motives” (pg. 41)
Nora commits the same offense as Krogstad. It made him
lost his reputation. He threatens to blackmail her.
“But
let me tell you this if I lose my position a second time, you shall lose
yours with me” (pg. 49)
In a bid to keep concealing her secret, Nora tells her
children not to tell Torvald (Papa) about Krogstad (the stranger man) pg. 42
Torvald learns that Krogstad was at the house even after
Nora lies about it. He playfully chides her (pg. 47). He also tells her that Krogstad
s forged someone’s name. Since Krogstad did not openly confess his fault and take
punishment Torvald says he is a hypocrite who poisons his home and infects his
children with germs of evil. He adds that deceitful mothers ruin their children
(pg. 47).
This makes Nora feel so guilty. It ruins her relationship
with her children. She cannot mingle with them despite them begging.
“(pale with terror) Deprave my children? Poison my
home?” (pg 48)
Nora confides in Mrs. Linde that she forged a name.
“I forged a name” (pg 77)
The thought of Krogstad’s impending blackmail causes
Nora misery. She thinks of desperate solutions-running away from home or
committing suicide by drowning in ice cold water. She feels like she could
easily go out of her mind. (pg 74, 76, 78, 84,112,117)
The
Blackmail
When Nora keeps secrets about her loan and the frauds he
committed from her husband Torvald it gives Krogstad an unmitigated opportunity
to blackmail her.
Mrs. Linde is bound to take Torvald’s position at the
bank after Nora’s influence on her husband who is the bank manager. (pg 28)
Torvald plans to fire Krogstad because he is an old
friend who usually assumes an overly familiar and friendly tone with him when
people are around and as a man who cares too much about his reputation Torvald
finds this intolerable. (pg. 60)
Krogstad wants Nora to use her influence to help him
keep his subordinate position at the bank. (pg. 34)
Krogstad vows to fight for his position at the bank as
if he were fighting for his life. He does not need the job for the money per
se, but rather to win back the respect he had lost after committing an indiscretion.
“And
now your husband is going to kick me downstairs again into the mad.”(pg.36)
Krogstad tries to coerce and compel Nora to ask Torvald
to let him keep his position at the bank lest he tells him about the money Nora
owes him. (pg 36)
Apart from borrowing money without Torvald’s knowledge,
Nora also forged her father’s name. (pg 40)
Krogstad tries to put his life back in order, and Torvald
proves a stumbling block, he swears to drag Nora down with him should he get sacked.
He plans to reveal her secret that she is guilty of fraud (pg. 41)
Torvald judges Krogstad harshly for committing a fraud
little does he knows that Nora also committed the same crime. He says that
Krogstad has been persistently poisoning his own children (pg. 47)
Krogstad's threat troubles Nora greatly. She is worried
about her children.
“What
rubbish! Of course he can’t be earnest about it! It is impossible. I have three
little children” (pg 49)
Nora becomes paranoid about the impending blackmail.
“If
only no one would come. If only I could be sure nothing would happen here in
the meantime. Ah! There is someone coming” (pg 51)
Even Mrs. Linde notices that Nora is hiding something.
(pg 56)
Nora tries to convince Torvald to let Krogstad keep his
job and suggests that he sacks some other clerk instead. She wants the secret
to remain safely kept. (pg 48, 58)
Krogstad’s constant intimidation causes Nora to think
of desperate exists out of her hole. She thinks of running away from home or committing
suicide by drowning in ice cold water. (pg 74, 76, 78, 84,112,117)
She plans to commit suicide to save Torvald the burden
of having to say he’s the guilty one and save her face.
“That
was the wonderful thing which I hoped for and feared; it was to prevent that I
wanted to kill myself “(pg 117)
Krogstad even has the temerity to demand a higher
position at the bank. (pg75)
Work
After Nora borrows the loan she has to work tirelessly to
repay it. She shocks Mrs. Linde when she tells her that she has to work and not
just Torvald consider that woman are not expected to work or carry out any
serious business or financial transactions.
“Yes;
odds and ends needle work, crochet work, embroidery and that kind of thing” (pg
12)
Mrs. Linde and Torvald think Nora is a naive child who
knows very little about life but that could not be further from the truth.
Torvald thinks that Nora got the money from her father
yet she had borrowed tremendous amounts of money from Krogstad and was working
secretly with a view of paying off the loan.
Nora has been so worried about her secret debt. It has
been difficult to meet her engagement punctuality. She tells Mrs. Linde about
how hard it has been to manage quarterly interest and paying in installments. (Pg
20)
Apart from saving the house keeping money she receives
from Torvald, she has had to find other means of earning money. She got some
copying work to do and she locked herself up writing every evening until late.
“I
was desperately tired.” (Pg 21)
“Many
at times I was at my wits end.”(pg 22)
It was so difficult that she wishes she had a rich old
man to help her offset the loan.
“I
used to sit here and imagine when I couldn’t think of any way of procuring the
money” (pg 22)
She suffers because she procured the loan in secret and
cannot ask her husband for any form of help.
Pretence
When we meet Nora she seems like a carefree woman
enjoying a happy marriage. It turns out she has never been happy in the eight years
she has been married to Torvald.
Torvald refers to her using childish pet names like
little squirrel and little feather head and she does not seem to mind. She acts
like a subservient guileless woman and seems animatedly excited when Torvald
gives her two pounds (pg4)
Torvald mistakenly thinks she is a spendthrift who
cannot save any money and money melts in her hands. (Pg 6)
Nora tells Christine, “The last eight year have been a happy time for me, I can tell you” (pg9).
She adds that they will have so much fun together. She is excited that Torvald
has been made a bank manager.
“I
feel so relieved and so happy Christine!”(pg11)
Nora’s role in the marriage is to please Torvald and
looks pretty like a doll. She says, “I will do everything I can think of to
please you. I will sing for you and dance for you.”(pg152)
Torvald influences her tastes and she plays along dutiful.
For the fancy dress ball “Torvald wants
to make me go as a Neapolitan fisher-girl and dance the Tarantella that I
learned at Capri.”(pg 52)
Torvald and Nora do not hold meaningful conversations.
Nora calls herself “your squirrel” or
“your skylark” and promises to sing
and dance for him even when she wants to breach serious subjects. (Pag57-58)
Nora tells that Torvald loves her, “You know how inexpressibly deeply Torvald loves me; he would never for
a moment hesitate to give his life for me”. (pg68)
Nora’s father was preachy and forced his taste on Nora.
(Pg 70)
When Mrs. Linde learns that Nora got the money from
Krogstad, she opens that it would be the best for both Nora and Torvald if the
cat is let out of the bag. (Pg 177)
Nora tells Torvald that everything he does is quite right to which he replies “now my little skylark is speaking reasonably. (Pg
95) Torvald only cares about Nora’s appearance (pg 96)
When Torvald learns about Nora’s secret he is infuriated.
Nora admits that he should not suffer (sacrifice) for her sake. Torvald calls
her a hypocrite, a liar, a criminal! He adds that she has destroyed all his
happiness and that she is a thoughtless woman. It is clear that Torvald is only
worried about his reputation (pg 104)
“He
can make the affair known everything and if he does, I may be falsely accused
of having been a partner to your criminal action. Very likely people will think
I was behind it all.” (Pg 105)
Torvald tells Nora that she must keep the issue a
secret and before the world everything must appear perfectly normal. He even
forbids her from bringing up the children.
“All
that that concerns us is to save the remains, the fragments, the appearance…” (pg105)
It emerges that Torvald only cares about his
reputation.
Nora opens up that Torvald has never understood her and
she has never understood him either. (Pg 109) They have been married for eight
years but never had a meaningful conversation. They have never spoken about a
serious subject. Both Torvald and her father have wronged her. Torvald has
never loved Nora (pg110).Nora only pretended to have the same options as her
father who treated her like a doll. Torvald also forced Nora to have his taste
and she had to pretend to enjoy. She claims it’s because of the two she has
made nothing out of her life.
Nora reveals that she has never been happy! -Only
merry. There house was nothing but a play room (pg 111-112).
She finally refuses her role as a doll wife and asserts
that she is a reasonable human being just like Torvald (pg 114).
Since Nora is tired of pretending and conforming to the
repression codes of Victorian society. She decides to leave Torvald.
Nora admits that she has lived with a strange man for
eight years.
“Oh
I can’t bear to think of it! I could tear myself to bits.” (pg118)
Nora says for there to be happiness and fulfillment
there must be perfect freedom on both sides (pg 119).
Do you keep any secrets from your loved ones?
