ACT THIRD
The same room. The table, with the chairs around it, in the middle. A lighted lamp on the table. The door to the hall stands open. Dance music is heard from the floor above.
Mrs. Linden sits by the table and absently turns the pages of a book. She tries to read, but seems unable to fix her attention; she frequently listens and looks anxiously towards the hall door.
Mrs. Linden.
[Looks at her watch.] Not here yet; and the time is nearly up. If only he hasn’t—— [Listens again.] Ah, there he is. [She goes into the hall and cautiously opens the outer door; soft footsteps are heard on the stairs; she whispers.] Come in; there is no one here.
Krogstad.
[In the doorway!] I found a note from you at my house. What does it mean?
Mrs. Linden.
I must speak to you.
Krogstad.
Indeed? And in this house?
Mrs. Linden.
I could not see you at my rooms. They have no separate entrance. Come in; we are quite alone. The servants are asleep, and the Helmers are at the ball upstairs.
Krogstad.
[Coming into the room.] Ah! So the Helmers are dancing this evening? Really?
Mrs. Linden.
Yes. Why not?
Krogstad.
Quite right. Why not?
Mrs. Linden.
And now let us talk a little.
Krogstad.
Have we two anything to say to each other?
Mrs. Linden.
A great deal.
Krogstad.
I should not have thought so.
Mrs. Linden.
Because you have never really understood me.
Krogstad.
What was there to understand? The most natural thing in the world—a heartless woman throws a man over when a better match offers.
Mrs. Linden.
Do you really think me so heartless? Do you think I broke with you lightly?
Krogstad.
Did you not?
Mrs. Linden.
Do you really think so?
Krogstad.
If not, why did you write me that letter?
Mrs. Linden.
Was it not best? Since I had to break with you, was it not right that I should try to put an end to all that you felt for me?
Krogstad.
[Clenching his hands together.] So that was it? And all this—for the sake of money!
Mrs. Linden.
You ought not to forget that I had a helpless mother and two little brothers. We could not wait for you, Nils, as your prospects then stood.
Krogstad.
Perhaps not; but you had no right to cast me off for the sake of others, whoever the others might be.
Mrs. Linden.
I don’t know. I have often asked myself whether I had the right.
Krogstad.
[More softly.] When I had lost you, I seemed to have no firm ground left under my feet. Look at me now. I am a shipwrecked man clinging to a spar.
Mrs. Linden.
Rescue may be at hand.
Krogstad.
It was at hand; but then you came and stood in the way.
Mrs. Linden.
Without my knowledge, Nils. I did not know till to-day that it was you I was to replace in the Bank.
Krogstad.
Well, I take your word for it. But now that you do know, do you mean to give way?
Mrs. Linden.
No, for that would not help you in the least.
Krogstad.
Oh, help, help——! I should do it whether or no.
Mrs. Linden.
I have learnt prudence. Life and bitter necessity have schooled me.
Krogstad.
And life has taught me not to trust fine speeches.
Mrs. Linden.
Then life has taught you a very sensible thing. But deeds you will trust?
Krogstad.
What do you mean?
Mrs. Linden.
You said you were a shipwrecked man, clinging to a spar.
Krogstad.
I have good reason to say so.
Mrs. Linden.
I too am shipwrecked, and clinging to a spar. I have no one to mourn for, no one to care for.
Krogstad.
You made your own choice.
Mrs. Linden.
No choice was left me.
Krogstad.
Well, what then?
Mrs. Linden.
Nils, how if we two shipwrecked people could join hands?
Krogstad.
What!
Mrs. Linden.
Two on a raft have a better chance than if each clings to a separate spar.
Krogstad.
Christina!
Mrs. Linden.
What do you think brought me to town?
Krogstad.
Had you any thought of me?
Mrs. Linden.
I must have work or I can’t bear to live. All my life, as long as I can remember, I have worked; work has been my one great joy. Now I stand quite alone in the world, aimless and forlorn. There is no happiness in working for one’s self. Nils, give me somebody and something to work for.
Krogstad.
I cannot believe in all this. It is simply a woman’s romantic craving for self-sacrifice.
Mrs. Linden.
Have you ever found me romantic?
Krogstad.
Would you really——? Tell me: do you know all my past?
Mrs. Linden.
Yes.
Krogstad.
And do you know what people say of me?
Mrs. Linden.
Did you not say just now that with me you could have been another man?
Krogstad.
I am sure of it.
Mrs. Linden.
Is it too late?
Krogstad.
Christina, do you know what you are doing? Yes, you do; I see it in your face. Have you the courage then——?
Mrs. Linden.
I need some one to be a mother to, and your children need a mother. You need me, and I—I need you. Nils, I believe in your better self. With you I fear nothing.
Krogstad.
[Seizing her hands.] Thank you—thank you, Christina. Now I shall make others see me as you do.—Ah, I forgot——
Mrs. Linden.
[Listening.] Hush! The tarantella! Go! go!
Krogstad.
Why? What is it?
Mrs. Linden.
Don’t you hear the dancing overhead? As soon as that is over they will be here.
Krogstad.
Oh yes, I shall go. Nothing will come of this, after all. Of course, you don’t know the step I have taken against the Helmers.
Mrs. Linden.
Yes, Nils, I do know.
Krogstad.
And yet you have the courage to——?
Mrs. Linden.
I know to what lengths despair can drive a man.
Krogstad.
Oh, if I could only undo it!
Mrs. Linden.
You could. Your letter is still in the box.
Krogstad.
Are you sure?
Mrs. Linden.
Yes; but——
Krogstad.
[Looking to her searchingly.] Is that what it all means? You want to save your friend at any price. Say it out—is that your idea?
Mrs. Linden.
Nils, a woman who has once sold herself for the sake of others, does not do so again.
Krogstad.
I shall demand my letter back again.
Mrs. Linden.
No, no.
Krogstad.
Yes, of course. I shall wait till Helmer comes; I shall tell him to give it back to me—that it’s only about my dismissal—that I don’t want it read——
Mrs. Linden.
No, Nils, you must not recall the letter.
Krogstad.
But tell me, wasn’t that just why you got me to come here?
Mrs. Linden.
Yes, in my first alarm. But a day has passed since then, and in that day I have seen incredible things in this house. Helmer must know everything; there must be an end to this unhappy secret. These two must come to a full understanding. They must have done with all these shifts and subterfuges.
Krogstad.
Very well, if you like to risk it. But one thing I can do, and at once——
Mrs. Linden.
[Listening.] Make haste! Go, go! The dance is over; we’re not safe another moment.
Krogstad.
I shall wait for you in the street.
Mrs. Linden.
Yes, do; you must see me home.
Krogstad.
I never was so happy in all my life!
[Krogstad goes out by the outer door. The door between the room and the hall remains open.
Mrs. Linden.
[Arranging the room and getting her outdoor things together.] What a change! What a change! To have some one to work for, to live for; a home to make happy! Well, it shall not be my fault if I fail.—I wish they would come.—[Listens.] Ah, here they are! I must get my things on.
[Takes bonnet and cloak. Helmer’s and Nora’s voices are heard outside, a key is turned in the lock, and Helmer drags Nora almost by force into the hall. She wears the Italian costume with a large black shawl over it. He is in evening dress and wears a black domino, open.
Nora.
[Struggling with him in the doorway.] No, no, no! I won’t go in! I want to go upstairs again; I don’t want to leave so early!
Helmer.
But, my dearest girl——!
Nora.
Oh, please, please, Torvald, I beseech you—only one hour more!
Helmer.
Not one minute more, Nora dear; you know what we agreed. Come, come in; you’re catching cold here.
[He leads her gently into the room in spite of her resistance.
Mrs. Linden.
Good-evening.
Nora.
Christina!
Helmer.
What, Mrs. Linden! You here so late?
Mrs. Linden.
Yes, I ought to apologise. I did so want to see Nora in her costume.
Nora.
Have you been sitting here waiting for me?
Mrs. Linden.
Yes; unfortunately I came too late. You had gone upstairs already, and I felt I couldn’t go away without seeing you.
Helmer.
[Taking Nora’s shawl off.] Well then, just look at her! I assure you she’s worth it. Isn’t she lovely, Mrs. Linden?
Mrs. Linden.
Yes, I must say——
Helmer.
Isn’t she exquisite? Every one said so. But she’s dreadfully obstinate, dear little creature. What’s to be done with her? Just think, I had almost to force her away.
Nora.
Oh, Torvald, you’ll be sorry some day that you didn’t let me stay, if only for one half-hour more.
Helmer.
There! You hear her, Mrs. Linden? She dances her tarantella with wild applause, and well she deserved it, I must say—though there was, perhaps, a little too much nature in her rendering of the idea—more than was, strictly speaking, artistic. But never mind—the point is, she made a great success, a tremendous success. Was I to let her remain after that—to weaken the impression? Not if I know it. I took my sweet little Capri girl—my capricious little Capri girl, I might say—under my arm; a rapid turn round the room, a curtsey to all sides, and—as they say in novels—the lovely apparition vanished! An exit should always be effective, Mrs. Linden; but I can’t get Nora to see it. By Jove! it’s warm here. [Throws his domino on a chair and opens the door to his room.] What! No light there? Oh, of course. Excuse me——
[Goes in and lights candles.
Nora.
[Whispers breathlessly.] Well?
Mrs. Linden.
[Softly.] I’ve spoken to him.
Nora.
And——?
Mrs. Linden.
Nora—you must tell your husband everything——
Nora.
[Tonelessly.] I knew it!
Mrs. Linden.
You have nothing to fear from Krogstad; but you must speak out.
Nora.
I shall not speak.[speak.]
Mrs. Linden.
Then the letter will.
Nora.
Thank you, Christina. Now I know what I have to do. Hush——!
Helmer.
[Coming back.] Well, Mrs. Linden, have you admired her?
Mrs. Linden.
Yes; and now I must say good-night.
Helmer.
What, already? Does this knitting belong to you?
Mrs. Linden.
[Takes it.] Yes, thanks; I was nearly forgetting it.
Helmer.
Then you do knit?
Mrs. Linden.
Yes.
Helmer.
Do you know, you ought to embroider instead?
Mrs. Linden.
Indeed! Why?
Helmer.
Because it’s so much prettier. Look now! You hold the embroidery in the left hand, so, and then work the needle with the right hand, in a long, graceful curve—don’t you?
Mrs. Linden.
Yes, I suppose so.
Helmer.
But knitting is always ugly. Just look—your arms close to your sides, and the needles going up and down—there’s something Chinese about it.—They really gave us splendid champagne to-night.
Mrs. Linden.
Well, good-night, Nora, and don’t be obstinate any more.
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.
Nora.
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.
There, you see. I was right after all not to let you stay longer.
Nora.
Oh, everything you do is right.
Helmer.
[Kissing her forehead.] Now my lark is speaking like a reasonable being. Did you notice how jolly Rank was this evening?
Nora.
Indeed? Was he? I had no chance of speaking to him.
Helmer.
Nor I, much; but I haven’t seen him in such good spirits for a long time. [Looks at Nora a little, then comes nearer her.] It’s splendid to be back in our own home, to be quite alone together!—Oh, you enchanting creature!
Nora.
Don’t look at me in that way, Torvald.
Helmer.
I am not to look at my dearest treasure?—at all the loveliness that is mine, mine only, wholly and entirely mine?
Nora.
[Goes to the other side of the table.] You mustn’t say these things to me this evening.
Helmer.
[Following.] I see you have the tarantella still in your blood—-and that makes you all the more enticing. Listen! the other people are going now. [More softly.] Nora—soon the whole house will be still.
Nora.
Yes, I hope so.
Helmer.
Yes, don’t you, Nora darling? When we are among strangers, do you know why I speak so little to you, and keep so far away, and only steal a glance at you now and then—do you know why I do it? Because I am fancying that we love each other in secret, that I am secretly betrothed to you, and that no one dreams that there is anything between us.
Nora.
Yes, yes, yes. I know all your thoughts are with me.
Helmer.
And then, when the time comes to go, and I put the shawl about your smooth, soft shoulders, and this glorious neck of yours, I imagine you are my bride, that our marriage is just over, that I am bringing you for the first time to my home—that I am alone with you for the first time—quite alone with you, in your trembling loveliness! All this evening I have been longing for you, and you only. When I watched you swaying and whirling in the tarantella—my blood boiled—I could endure it no longer; and that’s why I made you come home with me so early——
Nora.
Go now, Torvald! Go away from me. I won’t have all this.
Helmer.
What do you mean? Ah, I see you’re teasing me, little Nora! Won’t—won’t! Am I not your husband——?
[A knock at the outer door.
Nora
[Starts.] Did you hear——?
Helmer.
[Going towards the hall.] Who’s there?
Rank.
[Outside.] It is I; may I come in for a moment?
Helmer.
[In a low tone, annoyed.] Oh! what can he want just now? [Aloud.] Wait a moment. [Opens door.] Come, it’s nice of you to look in.
Rank.
I thought I heard your voice, and that put it into my head. [Looks round.] Ah, this dear old place! How cosy you two are here!
Helmer.
You seemed to find it pleasant enough upstairs, too.
Rank.
Exceedingly. Why not? Why shouldn’t one take one’s share of everything in this world? All one can, at least, and as long as one can. The wine was splendid——
Helmer.
Especially the champagne.
Rank.
Did you notice it? It’s incredible the quantity I contrived to get down.
Nora.
Torvald drank plenty of champagne, too.
Rank.
Did he?
Nora.
Yes, and it always puts him in such spirits.
Rank.
Well, why shouldn’t one have a jolly evening after a well-spent day?
Helmer.
Well-spent! Well, I haven’t much to boast of in that respect.
Rank.
[Slapping him on the shoulder.] But I have, don’t you see?
Nora.
I suppose you have been engaged in a scientific investigation, Doctor Rank?
Rank.
Quite right.
Helmer.
Bless me! Little Nora talking about scientific investigations!
Nora.
Am I to congratulate you on the result?
Rank.
By all means.
Nora.
It was good then?
Rank.
The best possible, both for doctor and patient—certainty.
Nora.
[Quickly and searchingly.] Certainty?
Rank.
Absolute certainty. Wasn’t I right to enjoy myself after that?
Nora.
Yes, quite right, Doctor Rank.
Helmer.
And so say I, provided you don’t have to pay for it to-morrow.
Rank.
Well, in this life nothing is to be had for nothing.
Nora.
Doctor Rank—I’m sure you are very fond of masquerades?
Rank.
Yes, when there are plenty of amusing disguises——
Nora.
Tell me, what shall we two be at our next masquerade?
Helmer.
Little featherbrain! Thinking of your next already!
Rank.
We two? I’ll tell you. You must go as a good fairy.
Helmer.
Ah, but what costume would indicate that?
Rank.
She has simply to wear her everyday dress.
Helmer.
Capital! But don’t you know what you will be yourself?
Rank.
Yes, my dear friend, I am perfectly clear upon that point.
Helmer.
Well?
Rank.
At the next masquerade I shall be invisible.
Helmer.
What a comical idea!
Rank.
There’s a big black hat—haven’t you heard of the invisible hat? It comes down all over you, and then no one can see you.
Helmer.
[With a suppressed smile.] No, you’re right there.
Rank.
But I’m quite forgetting what I came for. Helmer, give me a cigar—one of the dark Havanas.
Helmer.
With the greatest pleasure. [Hands cigar-case.
Rank.
[Takes one and cuts the end off.] Thank you.
Nora.
[Striking a wax match.] Let me give you a light.
Rank.
A thousand thanks.
[She holds the match. He lights his cigar at it.
Rank.
And now, good-bye!
Helmer.
Good-bye, good-bye, my dear fellow.
Nora.
Sleep well, Doctor Rank.
Rank.
Thanks for the wish.
Nora.
Wish me the same.
Rank.
You? Very well, since you ask me—Sleep well. And thanks for the light.
[He nods to them both and goes out.
Helmer.
[In an undertone.] He’s been drinking a good deal.
Nora.
[Absently.] I daresay. [Helmer takes his bunch of keys from his pocket and goes into the hall.] Torvald, what are you doing there?
Helmer.
I must empty the letter-box; it’s quite full; there will be no room for the newspapers to-morrow morning.
Nora.
Are you going to work to-night?
Helmer.
You know very well I am not.—Why, how is this? Some one has been at the lock.
Nora.
The lock——?
Helmer.
I’m sure of it. What does it mean? I can’t think that the servants——? Here’s a broken hair-pin. Nora, it’s one of yours.
Nora.
[Quickly.] It must have been the children——
Helmer.
Then you must break them of such tricks.—There! At last I’ve got it open. [Takes contents out and calls into the kitchen.] Ellen!—Ellen, just put the hall door lamp out.
[He returns with letters in his hand, and shuts the inner door.
Helmer.
Just see how they’ve accumulated. [Turning them over.] Why, what’s this?
Nora.
[At the window.] The letter! Oh no, no, Torvald!
Helmer.
Two visiting-cards—from Rank.
Nora.
From Doctor Rank?
Helmer.
[Looking at them.] Doctor Rank. They were on the top. He must just have put them in.
Nora.
Is there anything on them?
Helmer.
There’s a black cross over the name. Look at it. What an unpleasant idea! It looks just as if he were announcing his own death.
Nora.
So he is.
Helmer.
What! Do you know anything? Has he told you anything?
Nora.
Yes. These cards mean that he has taken his last leave of us. He is going to shut himself up and die.
Helmer.
Poor fellow! Of course I knew we couldn’t hope to keep him long. But so soon——! And to go and creep into his lair like a wounded animal——
Nora.
When we must go, it is best to go silently.[silently.] Don’t you think so, Torvald?
Helmer.
[Walking up and down.] He had so grown into our lives, I can’t realise that he is gone. He and his sufferings and his loneliness formed a sort of cloudy background to the sunshine of our happiness.—Well, perhaps it’s best as it is—at any rate for him. [Stands still.] And perhaps for us too, Nora. Now we two are thrown entirely upon each other. [Takes her in his arms.] My darling wife! I feel as if I could never hold you close enough. Do you know, Nora, I often wish some danger might threaten you, that I might risk body and soul, and everything, everything, for your dear sake.
Nora.
[Tears herself from him and says firmly.] Now you shall read your letters, Torvald.
Helmer.
No, no; not to-night. I want to be with you, my sweet wife.
Nora.
With the thought of your dying friend——?
Helmer.
You are right. This has shaken us both. Unloveliness has come between us—thoughts of death and decay. We must seek to cast them off. Till then—we will remain apart.
Nora.
[Her arms round his neck.] Torvald! Goodnight! good-night!
Helmer.
[Kissing her forehead!] Good-night, my little song-bird. Sleep well, Nora. Now I shall go and read my letters.
[He goes with the letters in his hand into his room and shuts the door.
Nora.
[With wild eyes, gropes about her, seizes Helmer’s domino, throws it round her, and whispers quickly, hoarsely, and brokenly.] Never to see him again. Never, never, never. [Throws her shawl over her head.] Never to see the children again. Never, never.—Oh that black, icy water! Oh that bottomless——! If it were only over! Now he has it; he’s reading it. Oh, no, no, no, not yet. Torvald, good-bye——! Good-bye, my little ones——!
[She is rushing out by the hall; at the same moment Helmer flings his door open, and stands there with an open letter in his hand.
Helmer.
Nora!
Nora.
[Shrieks.] Ah——!
Helmer.
What is this? Do you know what is in this letter?
Nora.
Yes, I know. Let me go! Let me pass!
Helmer.
[Holds her back.] Where do you want to go?
Nora.
[Tries to break away from him.] You shall not save me, Torvald.
Helmer.
[Falling back.] True! Is what he writes true? No, no, it is impossible that this can be true.
Nora.
It is true. I have loved you beyond all else in the world.
Helmer.
Pshaw—no silly evasions!
Nora.
[A step nearer him.] Torvald——!
Helmer.
Wretched woman—what have you done!
Nora.
Let me go—you shall not save me! You shall not take my guilt upon yourself!
Helmer.
I don’t want any melodramatic airs. [Locks the outer door.] Here you shall stay and give an account of yourself. Do you understand what you have done? Answer! Do you understand it?
Nora.
[Looks at him fixedly, and says with a stiffening expression.] Yes; now I begin fully to understand it.
Helmer.
[Walking up and down.] Oh! what an awful awakening! During all these eight years—she who was my pride and my joy—a hypocrite, a liar—worse, worse—a criminal. Oh, the unfathomable hideousness of it all! Ugh! Ugh!
[Nora says nothing, and continues to look fixedly at him.
Helmer.
I ought to have known how it would be. I ought to have foreseen it. All your father’s want of principle—be silent!—all your father’s want of principle you have inherited—no religion, no morality, no sense of duty. How I am punished for screening him! I did it for your sake; and you reward me like this.
Nora.
Yes—like this.
Helmer.
You have destroyed my whole happiness. You have ruined my future. Oh, it’s frightful to think of! I am in the power of a scoundrel; he can do whatever he pleases with me, demand whatever he chooses; he can domineer over me as much as he likes, and I must submit. And all this disaster and ruin is brought upon me by an unprincipled woman!
Nora.
When I am out of the world, you will be free.
Helmer.
Oh, no fine phrases. Your father, too, was always ready with them. What good would it do me, if you were “out of the world,” as you say? No good whatever! He can publish the story all the same; I might even be suspected of collusion. People will think I was at the bottom of it all and egged you on. And for all this I have you to thank—you whom I have done nothing but pet and spoil during our whole married life. Do you understand now what you have done to me?
Nora.
[With cold calmness.] Yes.
Helmer.
The thing is so incredible, I can’t grasp it. But we must come to an understanding. Take that shawl off. Take it off, I say! I must try to pacify him in one way or another—the matter must be hushed up, cost what it may.—As for you and me, we must make no outward change in our way of life—no outward change, you understand. Of course, you will continue to live here. But the children cannot be left in your care. I dare not trust them to you.—Oh, to have to say this to one I have loved so tenderly—whom I still——! But that must be a thing of the past. Henceforward there can be no question of happiness, but merely of saving the ruins, the shreds, the show—— [A ring; Helmer starts.] What’s that? So late! Can it be the worst? Can he——? Hide yourself, Nora; say you are ill.
[Nora stands motionless. Helmer goes to the door and opens it.
Ellen.
[Half dressed, in the hall.] Here is a letter for you, ma’am.
Helmer.
Give it to me. [Seizes the letter and shuts the door.] Yes, from him. You shall not have it. I shall read it.
Nora.
Read it!
Helmer.
[By the lamp.] I have hardly the courage to. We may both be lost, both you and I. Ah! I must know. [Hastily tears the letter open; reads a few lines, looks at an enclosure; with a cry of joy.] Nora!
[Nora looks inquiringly at him.
Helmer.
Nora!—Oh! I must read it again.—Yes, yes, it is so. I am saved! Nora, I am saved!
Nora.
And I?
Helmer.
You too, of course; we are both saved, both of us. Look here—he sends you back your promissory note. He writes that he regrets and apologises, that a happy turn in his life——Oh, what matter what he writes. We are saved, Nora! No one can harm you. Oh, Nora, Nora——; but first to get rid of this hateful thing. I’ll just see—— [Glances at the I.O.U.] No, I will not look at it; the whole thing shall be nothing but a dream to me. [Tears the I.O.U. and both letters in pieces. Throws them into the fire and watches them burn.] There! it’s gone!—He said that ever since Christmas Eve——Oh, Nora, they must have been three terrible days for you!
Nora.
I have fought a hard fight for the last three days.
Helmer.
And in your agony you saw no other outlet but——No; we won’t think of that horror. We will only rejoice and repeat—it’s over, all over! Don’t you hear, Nora? You don’t seem able to grasp it. Yes, it’s over. What is this set look on your face? Oh, my poor Nora, I understand; you cannot believe that I have forgiven you. But I have, Nora; I swear it. I have forgiven everything. I know that what you did was all for love of me.
Nora.
That is true.
Helmer.
You loved me as a wife should love her husband. It was only the means that, in your inexperience, you misjudged. But do you think I love you the less because you cannot do without guidance? No, no. Only lean on me; I will counsel you, and guide you. I should be no true man if this very womanly helplessness did not make you doubly dear in my eyes. You mustn’t dwell upon the hard things I said in my first moment of terror, when the world seemed to be tumbling about my ears. I have forgiven you, Nora—I swear I have forgiven you.
Nora.
I thank you for your forgiveness.
[Goes out, to the right.
Helmer.
No, stay——! [Looking through the doorway.] What are you going to do?
Nora.
[Inside.] To take off my masquerade dress.
Helmer.
[In the doorway.] Yes, do, dear. Try to calm down, and recover your balance, my scared little song-bird. You may rest secure. I have broad wings to shield you. [Walking up and down near the door.] Oh, how lovely—how cosy our home is, Nora! Here you are safe; here I can shelter you like a hunted dove whom I have saved from the claws of the hawk. I shall soon bring your poor beating heart to rest; believe me, Nora, very soon. To-morrow all this will seem quite different—everything will be as before. I shall not need to tell you again that I forgive you; you will feel for yourself that it is true. How could you think I could find it in my heart to drive you away, or even so much as to reproach you? Oh, you don’t know a true man’s heart, Nora. There is some thing indescribably sweet and soothing to a man in having forgiven his wife—honestly forgiven her, from the bottom of his heart. She becomes his property in a double sense. She is as though born again; she has become, so to speak, at once his wife and his child. That is what you shall henceforth be to me, my bewildered, helpless darling. Don’t be troubled about anything, Nora; only open your heart to me, and I will be both will and conscience to you. [Nora enters in everyday dress.] Why, what’s this? Not gone to bed? You have changed your dress?
Nora.
Yes, Torvald; now I have changed my dress.
Helmer.
But why now, so late——?
Nora.
I shall not sleep to-night.
Helmer.
But, Nora dear——
Nora.
[Looking at her watch.] It’s not so late yet. Sit down, Torvald; you and I have much to say to each other. [She sits at one side of the table.
Helmer.
Nora—what does this mean? Your cold, set face——
Nora.
Sit down. It will take some time. I have much to talk over with you.
[Helmer sits at the other side of the table.
Helmer.
You alarm me, Nora. I don’t understand you.
Nora.
No, that is just it. You don’t understand me; and I have never understood you—till to-night. No, don’t interrupt. Only listen to what I say.—We must come to a final settlement, Torvald.
Helmer.
How do you mean?
Nora.
[After a short silence.] Does not one thing strike you as we sit here?
Helmer.
What should strike me?
Nora.
We have been married eight years. Does it not strike you that this is the first time we two, you and I, man and wife, have talked together seriously?
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?
Nora.
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.
Helmer.
What! By your father and me?—By us, who have loved you more than all the world?
Nora
[Shaking her head.] You have never loved me. You only thought it amusing to be in love with me.
Helmer.
Why, Nora, what a thing to say!
Nora.
Yes, it is so, Torvald. While I was at home with father, he used to tell me all his opinions, and I held the same opinions. If I had others I said nothing about them, because he wouldn’t have liked it. He used to call me his doll-child, and played with me as I played with my dolls. Then I came to live in your house——
Helmer.
What an expression to use about our marriage!
Nora.
[Undisturbed.] I mean I passed from father’s hands into yours. You arranged everything according to your taste; and I got the same tastes as you; or I pretended to—I don’t know which—both ways, perhaps; sometimes one and sometimes the other. When I look back on it now, I seem to have been living here like a beggar, from hand to mouth. I lived by performing tricks for you, Torvald. But you would have it so. You and father have done me a great wrong. 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.
There is some truth in what you say, exaggerated and overstrained though it be. But henceforth it shall be different. Play-time is over; now comes the time for education.
Nora.
Whose education? Mine, or the children’s?
Helmer.
Both, my dear Nora.
Nora.
Oh, Torvald, you are not the man to teach me to be a fit wife for you.
Helmer.
And you can say that?
Nora.
And I—how have I prepared myself to educate the children?
Helmer.
Nora!
Nora.
Did you not say yourself, a few minutes ago, you dared not trust them to me?
Helmer.
In the excitement of the moment! Why should you dwell upon that?
Nora.
No—you were perfectly right. That problem is beyond me. There is another to be solved first—I must try to educate myself. You are not the man to help me in that. I must set about it alone. And that is why I am leaving you.
Helmer.
[Jumping up.] What—do you mean to say——?
Nora.
I must stand quite alone if I am ever to know myself and my surroundings; so I cannot stay with you.
Helmer.
Nora! Nora!
Nora.
I am going at once. I daresay Christina will take me in for to-night——
Helmer.
You are mad! I shall not allow it! I forbid it!
Nora.
It is of no use your forbidding me anything now. I shall take with me what belongs to me. From you I will accept nothing, either now or afterwards.
Helmer.
What madness this is!
Nora.
To-morrow I shall go home—I mean to what was my home. It will be easier for me to find some opening there.
Helmer.
Oh, in your blind inexperience——
Nora.
I must try to gain experience, Torvald.
Helmer.
To forsake your home, your husband, and your children! And you don’t consider what the world will say.
Nora.
I can pay no heed to that. I only know that I must do it.
Helmer.
This is monstrous! Can you forsake your holiest duties in this way?
Nora.
What do you consider my holiest duties?
Helmer.
Do I need to tell you that? Your duties to your husband and your children.
Nora.
I have other duties equally sacred.
Helmer.
Impossible! What duties do you mean?
Nora.
My duties towards myself.
Helmer.
Before all else you are a wife and a mother.
Nora.
That I no longer believe. I believe that before all else I am a human being, just as much as you are—or at least that I should try to become one. I know that most people agree with you, Torvald, and that they say so in books. But henceforth I can’t be satisfied with what most people say, and what is in books. I must think things out for myself, and try to get clear about them.
Helmer.
Are you not clear about your place in your own home? Have you not an infallible guide in questions like these? Have you not religion?
Nora.
Oh, Torvald, I don’t really know what religion is.
Helmer.
What do you mean?
Nora.
I know nothing but what Pastor Hansen told me when I was confirmed. He explained that religion was this and that. When I get away from all this and stand alone, I will look into that matter too. I will see whether what he taught me is right, or, at any rate, whether it is right for me.
Helmer.
Oh, this is unheard of! And from so young a woman! But if religion cannot keep you right, let me appeal to your conscience—for I suppose you have some moral feeling? Or, answer me: perhaps you have none?
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 you 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.
Nora, you are ill; you are feverish; I almost think you are out of your senses.
Nora.
I have never felt so much clearness and certainty as to-night.
Helmer.
You are clear and certain enough to forsake husband and children?
Nora.
Yes, I am.
Helmer.
Then there is only one explanation possible.
Nora.
What is that?
Helmer.
You no longer love me.
Nora.
No; that is just it.
Helmer.
Nora!—Can you say so!
Nora.
Oh, I’m so sorry, Torvald; for you’ve always been so kind to me. But I can’t help it. I do not love you any longer.
Helmer.
[Mastering himself with difficulty.] Are you clear and certain on this point too?
Nora.
Yes, quite. That is why I will not stay here any longer.
Helmer.
And can you also make clear to me how I have forfeited your love?
Nora.
Yes, I can. It was this evening, when the miracle did not happen; for then I saw you were not the man I had imagined.
Helmer.
Explain yourself more clearly; I don’t understand.
Nora.
I have waited so patiently all these eight years; for of course I saw clearly enough that miracles don’t happen every day. When this crushing blow threatened me, I said to myself so confidently, “Now comes the miracle!” When Krogstad’s letter lay in the box, it never for a moment occurred to me that you would think of submitting to that man’s conditions. I was convinced that you would say to him, “Make it known to all the world”; and that then——
Helmer.
Well? When I had given my own wife’s name up to disgrace and shame——?
Nora.
Then I firmly believed that you would come forward, take everything upon yourself, and say, “I am the guilty one.”
Helmer.
Nora——!
Nora.
You mean I would never have accepted such a sacrifice? No, certainly not. But what would my assertions have been worth in opposition to yours?—That was the miracle that I hoped for and dreaded. And it was to hinder that that I wanted to die.
Helmer.
I would gladly work for you day and night, Nora—bear sorrow and want for your sake. But no man sacrifices his honour, even for one he loves.
Nora.
Millions of women have done so.
Helmer.
Oh, you think and talk like a silly child.
Nora.
Very likely. But you neither think nor talk like the man I can share my life with. When your terror was over—not for what threatened me, but for yourself—when there was nothing more to fear—then it seemed to you as though nothing had happened. I was your lark again, your doll, just as before—whom you would take twice as much care of in future, because she was so weak and fragile. [Stands up.] Torvald—in that moment it burst upon me that I had been living here these eight years with a strange man, and had borne him three children.—Oh, I can’t bear to think of it! I could tear myself to pieces!
Helmer.
[Sadly.] I see it, I see it; an abyss has opened between us.—But, Nora, can it never be filled up?
Nora.
As I now am, I am no wife for you.
Helmer.
I have strength to become another man.
Nora.
Perhaps—when your doll is taken away from you.
Helmer.
To part—to part from you! No, Nora, no; I can’t grasp the thought.
Nora.
[Going into room on the right.] The more reason for the thing to happen.
[She comes back with out-door things and a small travelling-bag, which she places on a chair.
Helmer.
Nora, Nora, not now! Wait till to-morrow.
Nora.
[Putting on cloak.] I can’t spend the night in a strange man’s house.
Helmer.
But can we not live here, as brother and sister——?
Nora.
[Fastening her hat.] You know very well that wouldn’t last long. [Puts on the shawl.] Goodbye, Torvald. No, I won’t go to the children. I know they are in better hands than mine. As I now am, I can be nothing to them.
Helmer.
But some time, Nora—some time——?
Nora.
How can I tell? I have no idea what will become of me.
Helmer.
But you are my wife, now and always!
Nora.
Listen, Torvald—when a wife leaves her husband’s house, as I am doing, I have heard that in the eyes of the law he is free from all duties towards her. At any rate, I release you from all duties. You must not feel yourself bound, any more than I shall. There must be perfect freedom on both sides. There, I give you back your ring. Give me mine.
Helmer.
That too?
Nora.
That too.
Helmer.
Here it is.
Nora.
Very well. Now it is all over. I lay the keys here. The servants know about everything in the house—better than I do. To-morrow, when I have started, Christina will come to pack up the things I brought with me from home. I will have them sent after me.
Helmer.
All over! all over! Nora, will you never think of me again?
Nora.
Oh, I shall often think of you, and the children, and this house.
Helmer.
May I write to you, Nora?
Nora.
No—never. You must not.
Helmer.
But I must send you——
Nora.
Nothing, nothing.
Helmer.
I must help you if you need it.
Nora.
No, I say. I take nothing from strangers.
Helmer.
Nora—can I never be more than a stranger to you?
Nora.
[Taking her travelling-bag.] Oh, Torvald, then the miracle of miracles would have to happen——
Helmer.
What is the miracle of miracles?
Nora.
Both of us would have to change so that——Oh, Torvald, I no longer believe in miracles.
Helmer.
But I will believe. Tell me! We must so change that——?
Nora.
That communion between us shall be a marriage. Good-bye.
[She goes out by the hall door.
Helmer.
[Sinks into a chair by the door with his face in his hands.] Nora! Nora! [He looks round and rises.] Empty. She is gone. [A hope springs up in him.] Ah! The miracle of miracles——?!
[From below is heard the reverberation of a heavy door closing.
THE END