A Doll’s House

procuring money. But it’s all the same now; the tiresome old person can stay where he is, as far as I am concerned; I don’t care about him or his will either, for I am free from care now. Jumps up. My goodness, it’s delightful to think of, Christine! Free from care! To be able to be free from care, quite free from care; to be able to play and romp with the children; to be able to keep the house beautifully and have everything just as Torvald likes it! And, think of it, soon the spring will come and the big blue sky! Perhaps we shall be able to take a little trip⁠—perhaps I shall see the sea again! Oh, it’s a wonderful thing to be alive and be happy. A bell is heard in the hall. Mrs. Linde Rising. There is the bell; perhaps I had better go. Nora No, don’t go; no one will come in here; it is sure to be for Torvald. Servant At the hall door. Excuse me, ma’am⁠—there is a gentleman to see the master, and as the doctor is with him⁠— Nora Who is it? Krogstad At the door. It is I, Mrs. Helmer. Mrs. Linde starts, trembles, and turns to the window. Nora Takes a step towards him, and speaks in a strained, low voice. You? What is it? What do you want to see my husband about? Krogstad Bank business⁠—in a way. I have a small post in the Bank, and I hear your husband is to be our chief now⁠— Nora Then it is⁠— Krogstad Nothing but dry business matters, Mrs. Helmer; absolutely nothing else. Nora Be so good as to go into the study, then. She bows indifferently to him and shuts the door into the hall; then comes back and makes up the fire in the stove. Mrs. Linde Nora⁠—who was that man? Nora A lawyer, of the name of Krogstad. Mrs. Linde Then it really was he. Nora Do you know the man? Mrs. Linde I used to⁠—many years ago. At one time he was a solicitor’s clerk in our town. Nora Yes, he was. Mrs. Linde He is greatly altered. Nora He made a very unhappy marriage. Mrs. Linde He is a widower now, isn’t he? Nora With several children. There now, it is burning up. Shuts the door of the stove and moves the rocking chair aside. Mrs. Linde They say he carries on various kinds of business. Nora Really! Perhaps he does; I don’t know anything about it. But don’t let us think of business; it is so tiresome. Doctor Rank Comes out of Helmer’s study. Before he shuts the door he calls to him. No, my dear fellow, I won’t disturb you; I would rather go in to your wife for a little while. Shuts the door and sees Mrs. Linde. I beg your pardon; I am afraid I am disturbing you too. Nora No, not at all. Introducing him. Doctor Rank, Mrs. Linde. Rank I have often heard Mrs. Linde’s name mentioned here. I think I passed you on the stairs when I arrived, Mrs. Linde? Mrs. Linde Yes, I go up very slowly; I can’t manage stairs well. Rank Ah! some slight internal weakness? Mrs. Linde No, the fact is I have been overworking myself. Rank Nothing more than that? Then I suppose you have come to town to amuse yourself with our entertainments? Mrs. Linde I have come to look for work. Rank Is that a good cure for overwork? Mrs. Linde One must live, Doctor Rank. Rank Yes, the general opinion seems to be that it is necessary. Nora Look here, Doctor Rank⁠—you know you want to live. Rank Certainly. However wretched I may feel, I want to prolong the agony as long as possible. All my patients are like that. And so are those who are morally diseased; one of them, and a bad case too, is at this very moment with Helmer⁠— Mrs. Linde Sadly. Ah! Nora Whom do you mean? Rank A lawyer of the name of Krogstad, a fellow you don’t know at all. He suffers from a diseased moral character, Mrs. Helmer; but even he began talking of its being highly important that he should live. Nora Did he? What did he want to speak to Torvald about? Rank I have no idea; I only heard that it was something about the Bank. Nora I didn’t know this⁠—what’s his name⁠—Krogstad had anything to do with the Bank. Rank Yes, he has some sort of appointment there. To Mrs. Linde. I don’t know whether you find also in your part of the world that there are certain people who go zealously snuffing about to smell out moral corruption, and, as soon as they have found some, put the person concerned into some lucrative position where they can keep their eye on him. Healthy natures are left out in the cold. Mrs. Linde Still I think the sick are those who most need taking care of. Rank Shrugging his shoulders. Yes, there you are. That is the sentiment that is turning Society into a sick house. Nora, who has been absorbed in her thoughts, breaks out into smothered laughter and claps her hands. Rank Why do you laugh at that? Have you any notion what Society really is? Nora What do I care about tiresome Society? I am laughing at something quite different, something extremely amusing. Tell me, Doctor Rank, are all the people who are employed in the Bank dependent on Torvald now? Rank Is that what you find so extremely amusing? Nora Smiling and humming. That’s my affair! Walking about the room. It’s perfectly glorious to think that we have⁠—that Torvald has so much power over so many people. Takes the packet from her pocket. Doctor Rank, what do you say to a macaroon? Rank What, macaroons? I thought they were forbidden here. Nora Yes, but these are some Christine gave me. Mrs. Linde What! I?⁠— Nora Oh, well, don’t be alarmed! You couldn’t know that Torvald had forbidden them. I must tell you that he is afraid they will spoil my teeth. But, bah!⁠—once in a way⁠—That’s so, isn’t it, Doctor Rank? By your leave! Puts a macaroon into his mouth. You must