Themes
What are the themes presented in this scene?
Power, role women/men, the importance of parents and their influence.
The dress
What are some important dialogues in this scene?
Nora says ‘ ...and Torvald wants me to go as a Neapolitan fisher girl and dance the tarantella that I learnt at Capri’
Mrs Linde ‘behind your husbands back?’.
Why is Mrs Linde so concerned about Nora’s relationship with Dr Rank?
The way Nora characterises Dr Rank gives off secret admirer subtext. Which Mrs Linde perceives is who lent Nora the money and she is in debt too.
What has happened immediately before this scene?
Nora has a conversation with her Nurse and asks about the potential problems of her children growing up without a mother.
How is the idea of power conveyed in this scene?
Nora’s stress and her panic which illustrates to the reader that Nora has no control over the situation and it foreshadows how badly the consequences would be if Torvald did open the letter that Krodstad put into his letterbox.
What effect does the dress have on the audience?
The dress evokes a sense of possessiveness as Torvald wants Nora to wear a specific dress for him and even though it is torn Torvald tells Nora to sew it for him
What two stage directions are important?
(looks hard at her, lays down her sewing and gets up slowly)
(sewing)
How does the information Nora gives about Doctor Rank alter our perception of him?
The way Nora characterises Dr Rank is as if he is a very good friend of the couple, however, Dr Rank is really in love with Nora and is indirectly characterised.
What is the dress used for?
The tarantella dance
How is the role of women/men conveyed?
Torvald doesn’t like to see sewing in his home indicates that Torvald likes the idea and the appearance of a beautiful, carefree wife. Torvald likes to see her sing and dance, and the fact that Torvald calls her his ‘skylark’ and ‘songbird; and wants her to dance the Tarantella shows that to a certain extent Nora ‘performs’ her role in the marriage.
How is the dress symbolic?
The torn dress is symbolic of the tense relationship Nora has with Torvald. It is significant as it foreshadows Nora’s and Torvald’s relationship further in the play
How is this piece of dialogue significant and important? - Nora says ‘ ...and Torvald wants me to go as a Neapolitan fisher girl and dance the tarantella that I learnt at Capri’
These pieces of dialogue show the effect of Torvald on Nora and their relationship. Torvald was introduced as controlling and wanted to be in power of the relationship, by calling Nora names and infantilising her.
What happens immediately after this scene?
Nora tries to persuade Torvald to let Krogstad keep his job
How does Ibsen show the importance of parents and their influence in this extract?
When Mrs Linde commented about Nora and her father and Nora’s story about Dr.Rank and his father, this shows how strong the influence of parents was believed to be on children.
How is this stage direction important and significant? - (looks hard at her, lays down her sewing and gets up slowly)
This stage direction explains that Mrs Linde is worried about Nora, she asks Nora if she is concealing anything from her. The emotions shown in this stage direction shows the concerns of Mrs Linde towards Nora wondering if she is concealing something.
Why does Nora want Mrs Linde to sew her torn dress?
The dress must be worn for Torvald to please him and Nora must repair the dress for him so he can be happy.