The play opens on the day before Christmas. Nora returns home from shopping; although her husband is anticipating a promotion and raise, he still chides her excessive spending. In response, Nora flirts, pouts, and cajoles her husband as a child might and indeed Torvald addresses her as he might a child. Later that same day Mrs. Linde comes for a visit. Nora has not seen her dear friend in a long time and they have a lot of catching up to do. Nora confides in Mrs. Linde about some money that she borrowed from krogstag, a man that works for her husband at the bank. Krogstag has a shady past yet he is trying so hard to make a better life for him and his sons. Mrs. Linde's then confides in Nora that she married a rich man so that she could take care of her sick mother and her brother. She tells Nora that he passed away three years ago and left her penniless and that she has came to her hoping that she would talk to her husband about getting her a job. Krogstad also comes by for a visit to tell Nora she needs to repay him sooner or he will be forced to tell her husband. Nora does get Mrs. Linde a job but later finds out that it was Krogstad's job and that her husband fired him. After Krogstad is dismissed from his post at the bank he comes back and demands Nora get him his job back. He explains to Nora that he knows she forged her fathers name on the note and that if she does not get his job back for him he will be forced to reveal this to her husband. Nora pleads with Torvald to reinstate Krogstad, but he refuses. She is frantic, imagining that once Krogstad reveals the truth, Torvald will himself assume the blame for the forgery and be ruined. After hearing that Trovald will not reinstate his job Krogstad slips a letter into the lock box explaining everything to Torvald.
Nora, is the beloved, adored wife of Torvald Helmer. He is an admirable man, rigidly honest, of high moral ideals, and as it seems passionately devoted to his wife and children. Nora considers herself fortunate to be married to such a wonderful man. Indeed, she worships her husband, believes in him and is sure that if ever her safety should be compromised, Torvald, would perform the miracle of miracles. When a woman loves as Nora does, nothing else matters; least of all, social, legal or moral considerations. Therefore, when her husband's falls ill, there is no question in Nora's mind for her to go behind her his back and forge her father's name to a note to borrow money in order to take her sick husband to Italy.
Nora is light-hearted and friendly woman and she does not seem to have an identity of her own. Her husband does not call her by her name but instead he calls her by pet names he has given her, squirrel, Sky-Lark song bird. He calls her these because of the way she is, she sings and dances like a bird and hides treats like a squirrel. This may not seem so bad, everyone seems to have pet names for there loved ones. In this case Nora struggles with her identity so much that she will even refer to herself with these pet names. Nora is treated like a child in her home being told she can not have sweets and treats, even though she has bore three children. She is patted on the head and looked down upon, she is not involved in the matters of the home except for when it comes to the children and the housekeeping, and she is not even allowed to check the mail. Her purpose in life is to be happy for her husband's sake, for the sake of the children; to sing, dance, and play with them. Nora does just that, for this is all she knows. Her husband seems to let her think she has some control over him but in fact he is very aware of everything she does except for her one true deceit.
When Nora first got introduced I thought of her as a materialistic person when Torvald asks what his precious "squirrel" wants for a Christmas present, Nora quickly asks him for money. Is it to buy frilly dresses and useless trinkets? Or does she spend it all on sweets that she stashes away for no one to find. We soon find out that what Nora does she does for her husband.
When Nora is confronted by Krogstad about going to her husband to tell him she is a forger and a liar she does not fear for herself, only for Torvald. She now knows the true ramifications of her actions, the loss of her husband, the public humiliation, and the possibility that she could go to jail. She would do anything to spare her husband the humility of what she has done. Nora has always tried to do the right thing, always living up to everyone's expectations of her. She was always treated like a child therefore she acts like a child, the relationship between Trovald and Nora is not unlike the relationship between father and daughter. Nora had an overbearing father who told her what to do, what to wear and what to think. She left his house for her husbands house were she was treated the exact same way except instead of a father she now had a husband and she had wifely obligations to fulfill. Nora was the kind of woman that does and says what she is told saying that she did not know who she was with the statement "Yes, it's true now, Torvald. When I lived at home with Papa, he told me all his opinions. He used to call me his doll-child, and he played with me the way I played with my dolls. Then I came into your house". She was taught to obey the wishes of the men in her life as with many women throughout history. With no mention of a mother one can assume that Nora had no idea how to be a wife or a mother. One might argue that Nora was a selfish lady acting like a child to get her own way. When things did not turn out the way she had planned she took the easy way out and left. Leaving sometimes is the hardest thing anyone can do, it takes courage to go out on your own to find out who you are and what your purpose in life is, especially when you have been told what to do, what to wear and how to act all of your life. She finds a deep down strength and courage in herself that leads her to want to find out what type of person she really is, and what she wants out of her life. She could not find out who she was under Torvald's roof, he would not allow it, in his mind a wife was supposed take care of the house and not have a mind of her own. He would give in to her petty whim for a time but when he was tired of it he would stop it. He had already told her she was not fit to be a mother and that they would no longer have the life together they once had stating that "we will live together as brother and sister". One can not take that statement back once it is said. Truths come out in the heat of an argument, we are sorry once we say them but there is no turning back the hands of time. Torvald would forever look at Nora, his squirrel with distrust and a foul taste from a lie that could not be forgiven. Trust is something we earn; it is not given to us on a silver platter or taken lightly. There was no trust left in this house, Torvald could not trust Nora not to lie again and Nora could not trust Torvald to love her unconditionally. She so badly wanted him to prove his love to her by taking the blame for something she did. He could not do this stating that "no man would sacrifice his honor for the one he loves" when in fact men through out history have sacrificed there honor for the women they loved. This shows Nora she was not loved but only another person living in a house to fulfill Torvalds needs. In a time when feminism was not even a word Nora dared to do the unthinkable and leave her husband and children to find out who she really was. She felt that she was not fit to raise her children she had only been teaching them to be mindless dolls, just as she was. One might find it hard to imagine how daring Nora Helmer was a hundred years ago. The theme of women's liberation makes this story seem almost contemporary.
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