Torvald Helmer

“ He means to shut himself up and die. HelmerMy poor old friend! Certainly I knew we should not have him very long with us. But so soon! And so he hides himself away like a wounded animal. NoraIf it has to happen, it is best it should be without a word—don't you think so, Torvald? Helmer [walking up and down] ;He: had so grown into our lives ;I: can't think of him as having gone out of them He, with his sufferings and his loneliness, was like a cloudy background to our sunlit happiness. Well, perhaps it is best so. For him, anyway. [Standing still.] And perhaps for us too, Nora. ”

“ Helmer. Well, out with it!
Nora (speaking quickly) . You might give me money, Torvald. Only just as much as you can afford; and then one of these days I will buy something with it.
Helmer. But, Nora—
Nora. Oh, do! dear Torvald; please, please do! Then I will wrap it up in beautiful gilt paper and hang it on the Christmas Tree. Wouldn't that be fun?
Helmer. What are little people called that are always wasting money?
Nora. Spendthrifts—I know. Let us do as you suggest, Torvald, and then I shall have time to think what I am most in want of. That is a very sensible plan, isn't it? ”

“ Helmer [holding her back] Where are you going? Nora [trying to get free] You shan't save me, Torvald! Helmer [reeling] True? Is this true, that I read here? Horrible! No, no—it is impossible that it can be true. NoraIt is true. I have loved you above everything else in the world. HelmerOh, don't let us have any silly excuses. Nora [taking a step towards him] Torvald—! HelmerMiserable creature—what have you done? NoraLet me go. You shall not suffer for my sake. You shall not take it upon yourself. HelmerNo tragic airs, please. [Locks the hall door.] ”

“ Helmer. Seriously! What do you call seriously?
Nora. During eight whole years, and more—ever since the day we first met—we have never exchanged one serious word about serious things.
Helmer. Was I always to trouble you with the cares you could not help me to bear?
143Nora. I am not talking of cares. I say that we have never yet set ourselves seriously to get to the bottom of anything.
Helmer. Why, my dearest Nora, what have you to do with serious things?
Nora. There we have it! You have never understood me.—I have had great injustice done me, Torvald; first by father, and then by you. ”

“ It is your fault that my life has come to nothing.
Helmer. Why, Nora, how unreasonable and ungrateful you are! Have you not been happy here?
Nora. No, never. I thought I was; but I never was.
Helmer. Not—not happy!
Nora. No; only merry. And you have always been so kind to me. But our house has been nothing but a play-room. Here I have been your doll-wife, just as at home I used to be papa’s doll-child. And the children, in their turn, have been my dolls. I thought it fun when you played with me, just as the children did when I played with them. That has been our marriage, Torvald.
Helmer. ”

“ NORA.
No, you wouldn’t, would you, Torvald?
HELMER.
Many a man has been able to retrieve his character, if he has openly confessed his fault and taken his punishment.
NORA.
Punishment—?
HELMER.
But Krogstad did nothing of that sort; he got himself out of it by a cunning trick, and that is why he has gone under altogether.
NORA.
But do you think it would—?
HELMER.
Just think how a guilty man like that has to lie and play the hypocrite with every one, how he has to wear a mask in the presence of those near and dear to him, even before his own wife and children. ”

“ Nora [disengages herself, and says firmly and decidedly] Now you must read your letters, Torvald. HelmerNo, no; not tonight. I want to be with you, my darling wife. NoraWith the thought of your friend's death— HelmerYou are right, it has affected us both. Something ugly has come between us—the thought of the horrors of death. We must try and rid our minds of that. Until then—we will each go to our own room. Nora [hanging on his neck] Goodnight, Torvald—Goodnight! Helmer [kissing her on the forehead] Goodnight, my little singing-bird. Sleep sound, Nora. ”

“ Hilda.
[Nods slowly.] Yes, Torvald, you're right enough there. I have thought things out for myself, and have got clear about them. And I have quite made up my mind that Society and the Law are all wrong, and that I am right.
Helmer.
[Overjoyed.] Then you have learnt the Great Lesson, and are fit to undertake the charge of your children's education at last! You've no notion how they've grown! Yes, Nora, our marriage will be a true marriage now. You will come back to the Dolls' House, won't you? ”

“ In "A Doll's House" Ibsen returns to the subject so vital to him,—the Social Lie and Duty,—this time as manifesting themselves in the sacred institution of the home and in the position of woman in her gilded cage.
Nora is the beloved, adored wife of Torvald Helmer. He is an admirable man, rigidly honest, of high moral ideals, and passionately devoted to his wife and children. In short, a good man and an enviable husband. Almost every mother would be proud of such a match for her daughter, and the latter would consider herself fortunate to become the wife of such a man. ”

“ I want to get into the Bank again, in a higher position. Your husband must make a place for me—
NORA.
That he will never do!
KROGSTAD.
He will; I know him; he dare not protest. And as soon as I am in there again with him, then you will see! Within a year I shall be the manager’s right hand. It will be Nils Krogstad and not Torvald Helmer who manages the Bank. ”

“ Nora had borrowed the money from Nils Krogstad, a man with a shady past in the eyes of the community and of the righteous moralist, Torvald Helmer. So long as Krogstad is allowed the little breathing space a Christian people grants to him who has once broken its laws, he is reasonably human. He does not molest Nora. But when Helmer becomes director of the bank in which Krogstad is employed, and threatens the man with dismissal, Krogstad naturally fights back. ”

“ Nora. No, indeed you mustn’t. Of course you must come and go as you’ve always done. You know very well that Torvald can’t do without you.
Rank. Yes, but you?
Nora. Oh, you know I always like to have you here.
Rank. That is just what led me astray. You are a riddle to me. It has often seemed to me as if you liked being with me almost as much as being with Helmer.
Nora. Yes; don’t you see? There are people one loves, and others one likes to talk to. ”

“ Nora. Well, Torvald, it’s not easy to say. I really don’t know—I am all at sea about these things. I only know that I think quite differently from 149you about them. I hear, too, that the laws are different from what I thought; but I can’t believe that they can be right. It appears that a woman has no right to spare her dying father, or to save her husband’s life! I don’t believe that.
Helmer. You talk like a child. You don’t understand the society in which you live.
Nora. No, I do not. But now I shall try to learn. I must make up my mind which is right—society or I.
Helmer. ”

“ It is delightful to be at home by ourselves again, to be all alone with you—you fascinating, charming little darling!
NORA.
Don’t look at me like that, Torvald.
HELMER.
Why shouldn’t I look at my dearest treasure?—at all the beauty that is mine, all my very own?
NORA.
[going to the other side of the table] . You mustn’t say things like that to me tonight.
HELMER.
[following her] . You have still got the Tarantella in your blood, I see. And it makes you more captivating than ever. Listen—the guests are beginning to go now. [In a lower voice.] Nora—soon the whole house will be quiet. ”

“ Hilda.
[Sulkily.] I'm not a lark—I'm a bird of prey—and when I get my claws into anything——!
The New Assistant.
Macaroons, for instance? I remember your tastes of old. See, Nora! [Produces a paper-bag from his coat-tail pocket.] They were fresh this morning!
Hilda.
[Wavering.] If you insist on calling me Nora, I think you must be just a little mad yourself.
The New Assistant.
We are all a little mad—in Norway. But Torvald Helmer is sane enough still to recognise his own little squirrel again! Surely, Nora, your education is complete at last—you have gained the experience you needed? ”

“ And what's to become of me and the eggs meanwhile?
Nora. That, TORVALD, is entirely your own affair. I have a higher duty than that towards you and the eggs. (Looking solemnly upward.) I mean my duty towards Myself!
Helmer. And all this because—in a momentary annoyance at finding myself in the power of a discharged Cashier who calls me "I say TORVALD," I expressed myself with ultra-Gilbertian frankness! You talk like a silly child!
Nora. Because my eyes are opened, and I see my position with the eyes of IBSEN. I must go away at once, and begin to educate myself. ”

“ Nora. Nobody has such perfect taste as you; and I should so love to look well at the fancy ball. Torvald, dear, couldn’t you take me in hand, and settle what I’m to be, and arrange my costume for me?
Helmer. Aha! So my wilful little woman is at a loss, and making signals of distress.
Nora. Yes, please, Torvald. I can’t get on without your help.
Helmer. Well, well, I’ll think it over, and we’ll soon hit upon something.
Nora. Oh, how good that is of you! [Goes to the tree again; pause.] How well the red flowers show.—Tell me, was it anything so very dreadful this Krogstad got into trouble about? ”

“ Helmer. But to part!—to part from you! No, no, Nora, I can't understand that idea.
Nora (going out to the right) . That makes it all the more certain that it must be done. (She comes back with her cloak and hat and a small bag which she puts on a chair by the table.)
Helmer. Nora, Nora, not now! Wait till tomorrow.
Nora (putting on her cloak) . I cannot spend the night in a strange man's room.
Helmer. But can't we live here like brother and sister—?
Nora (putting on her hat) . You know very well that would not last long. (Puts the shawl round her.) Good-bye, Torvald. ”

“ Nora. Oh, no one knows what wicked men may hit upon. We could live so quietly and happily now, in our cosy, peaceful home, you and I and the children, Torvald! That’s why I beg and implore you——
Helmer. And it is just by pleading his cause that you make it impossible for me to keep him. It’s already known at the Bank that I intend to dismiss Krogstad. If it were now reported that the new manager let himself be turned round his wife’s little finger——
Nora. ”

“ I can receive nothing from a stranger. HelmerNora—can I never be anything more than a stranger to you? Nora [taking her bag] Ah, Torvald, the most wonderful thing of all would have to happen. HelmerTell me what that would be! NoraBoth you and I would have to be so changed that—. Oh, Torvald, I don't believe any longer in wonderful things happening. HelmerBut I will believe in it. Tell me! So changed that—? NoraThat our life together would be a real wedlock. Goodbye. [She goes out through the hall.] Helmer [sinks down on a chair at the door and buries his face in his hands] Nora! Nora! ”

“ Helmer. Is it the squirrel frisking around?
Nora. Yes!
Helmer. When did the squirrel get home?
5Nora. Just this minute. [Hides the bag of macaroons in her pocket and wipes her mouth.] Come here, Torvald, and see what I’ve been buying.
Helmer. Don’t interrupt me. [A little later he opens the door and looks in, pen in hand.] Buying, did you say? What! All that? Has my little spendthrift been making the money fly again?
Nora. Why, Torvald, surely we can afford to launch out a little now. It’s the first Christmas we haven’t had to pinch.
Helmer. Come come; we can’t afford to squander money. ”

“ Helmer. Well said, Mrs. Linden!
Mrs. Linden. Good-night, Mr. Helmer.
Helmer. [Accompanying her to the door.] Good-night, good-night; I hope you’ll get safely home. I should be glad to—but you have such a short way to go. Good-night, good-night. [She goes; Helmer shuts the door after her and comes forward again.] At last we’ve got rid of her: she’s a terrible bore.
Nora. Aren’t you very tired, Torvald?
Helmer. No, not in the least.
124Nora. Nor sleepy?
Helmer. Not a bit. I feel particularly lively. But you? You do look tired and sleepy.
Nora. Yes, very tired. I shall soon sleep now.
Helmer. ”

“ Helmer. I have got authority from the retiring manager to undertake the necessary changes in the staff and in the rearrangement of the work; and I must make use of the Christmas week for that, so as to have everything in order for the new year.
Nora. Then that was why this poor Krogstad—
Helmer. Hm!
Nora (leans against the back of his chair and strokes his hair) . If you hadn't been so busy I should have asked you a tremendously big favour, Torvald.
Helmer. What is that? Tell me.
Nora. There is no one has such good taste as you. And I do so want to look nice at the fancy-dress ball. ”