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    A Doll's House: Act II Discussion Questions

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    Nora is beginning to feel oppressed in her marriage to Torvald. She wants to tear up and forget about the bond she signed to pay off her debts in secret. When Torvald insists on firing Krogstad against Nora's pleas, it shows that Nora's opinions do not matter to Torvald and that she has no authority. Nora asks for an artificial lamp to be brought in after Dr. Rank confesses his love for her, suggesting she only reveals fake secrets, not the real ones about her debts. Nora's violent practice of the tarantella dance at the end of Act 2 represents both her feeling poisoned by the secret of her debts and her growing frustration with gender oppression in her marriage.

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    A Doll's House: Act II Discussion Questions

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    213 views2 pages
    Nora is beginning to feel oppressed in her marriage to Torvald. She wants to tear up and forget about the bond she signed to pay off her debts in secret. When Torvald insists on firing Krogstad against Nora's pleas, it shows that Nora's opinions do not matter to Torvald and that she has no authority. Nora asks for an artificial lamp to be brought in after Dr. Rank confesses his love for her, suggesting she only reveals fake secrets, not the real ones about her debts. Nora's violent practice of the tarantella dance at the end of Act 2 represents both her feeling poisoned by the secret of her debts and her growing frustration with gender oppression in her marriage.

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    Nora is beginning to feel oppressed in her marriage to Torvald. She wants to tear up and forget about the bond she signed to pay off her debts in secret. When Torvald insists on firing Krogstad against Nora's pleas, it shows that Nora's opinions do not matter to Torvald and that she has no authority. Nora asks for an artificial lamp to be brought in after Dr. Rank confesses his love for her, suggesting she only reveals fake secrets, not the real ones about her debts. Nora's violent practice of the tarantella dance at the end of Act 2 represents both her feeling poisoned by the secret of her debts and her growing frustration with gender oppression in her marriage.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    213 views2 pages

    A Doll's House: Act II Discussion Questions

    Uploaded by

    api-525670044
    Nora is beginning to feel oppressed in her marriage to Torvald. She wants to tear up and forget about the bond she signed to pay off her debts in secret. When Torvald insists on firing Krogstad against Nora's pleas, it shows that Nora's opinions do not matter to Torvald and that she has no authority. Nora asks for an artificial lamp to be brought in after Dr. Rank confesses his love for her, suggesting she only reveals fake secrets, not the real ones about her debts. Nora's violent practice of the tarantella dance at the end of Act 2 represents both her feeling poisoned by the secret of her debts and her growing frustration with gender oppression in her marriage.

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    A Doll’s House

    Act II Discussion Questions

    1. When Nora sees the box of masquerade clothes, she wants to “rip them in a million pieces!”
    What does Ibsen symbolize with this characterization?

    She later says she wants to rip apart the bond she gets back after paying off her debt because
    it’s something she doesn't want to remember or have a trace of. She also later tells Krogstad to
    rip up his letter telling Torvald everything about the situation. Both these symbolize that
    instead of addressing her problems, she likes to ignore them. She keeps quiet about her
    concerns and brushes problems under the rug.

    2. Discuss the foreshadowing in Nora’s conversation with Anne-Marie.

    Nora has a conversation with Anne-Maria about how she had left her children and what effect it
    had on them. Nora in convered what would happen to her kids if she were to leave them, which
    she’s not planning on doing for anything. Leaving her family is obviously something that is on
    Nora’s mind because her children being without her is a concern she has. This scene
    foreshadows perhaps Nora leaving her family.

    3. Why does Torvald make such a decisive show of mailing the letter firing Krogstad against
    Nora’s pleas?

    I think he is getting frustrated with her not staying in her place and not trusting his judgment on
    who to fire. It is his job to hire and fire employees and he is offended that Nora thinks she can
    tell him what to do. He is trying to show Nora he will not listen to her and that she has no
    authority with his job but also in the marriage. Nora’s concerns and opinions don’t really mean
    anything to Torvald.

    4. After Dr. Rank professes his love, Nora demands the lamp be brought in. Why? Is this light
    real or artificial? What might Ibsen be suggesting about truth and light in the Helmer’s
    household?

    The light represents Nora being in a situation that allows her to see that other people have
    secrets as well. THe artificial light the lamp that Nora asks for though shows that she is only
    giving fake secrets, not her real ones. This represents that the truth coming out in the Helmer
    household are artificial and only to cover up actual secrets.

    5. Some histories of the tarantella dance explain that it is used to fight off the venomous effects
    of a spider bite. Other interpretations suggest it represents a woman’s frustration in
    oppression. Which of these explanations best fits Nora’s violent practice at the end of Act II?
    Might both apply? Explain.

    I think both apply and do so very well. With the first meaning ever since Torvald mentioned what
    Kragstad did now poisonous everyone in his life, Nora feels she must be doing the same with
    her crime. She feels poisoned and terrible and tries to avoid thinking about it by distracting
    herself with dance. The second meaning also represents Nora’s frustration with oppression, she
    is beginning to feel she is viewed as dum by everyone else in her life because this act she has
    been forced into because of her gender. She is starting to notice herself being oppressed and is
    cracking under the pressure which is why she is breaking out in violent dance of the tarantella.

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