Nora Essay - (Revision)

Pamela Ferreira
10/22/09
Mr. Gallagher
English 12

Nora is the most sympathetic. Nora has something special in Act 3 when she totally and completely changes her attitude towards Torvald. In Act 1, she has this happy glow about her, its close to Christmas, she just came home from shopping, she is happy and in good holiday spirits and she is excited, she comments on how chilly it is outside and feels proud of herself for buying Christmas presents for everybody. She shows herself as a greedy, self assured person in the first act because she makes a big deal about having money, especially when she asks Torvald for money and she seems to go crazy with delight as he hangs it above her for her to grab. She acts loveable with Torvald, like a little kid when she is being sneaky with the macaroons. As all stories start, the characters, in the beginning look like they don’t really have anything to worry about or don’t have any hidden secrets or nothing, they are shown as “perfect” people until one of them reveals some deep secret then it seems to start a chain of people telling the one character (in this case, Nora) to do something about it before things get worse, she’s stubborn because she doesn’t really take this advice as she should. In the first Act, Nora comes home happy and acts secretive with Torvald when she’s showing him the presents she bought and he picks up one and she says, “No, no! You mustn’t see that till this evening.” (pg. 5, middle) Basically, she bought him something and doesn’t want him to see it, which is her being lovable towards him and so happy to give it to him later.In the second Act, we see her cast differently, she has changed a little because she is worried about this threat that Krogstad made to her, she constantly denies throughout the Act that,” No, no –it isn’t true. Impossible; it must be impossible.” (pg. 28, last page) She starts to get really worried that Krogstad is at the door and that he is going to come in and expose her to Torvald, now she’s frantic with worry.By the third act, she doesn’t change until the end of the story, during half of the third act, she is trying to get Torvald to get away from the letterbox and distracting him from opening it because they have just come down from the party, by the end of the act, she’s turned in to a cold person because of what Torvald said to her, it was the last straw for her, “I would gladly work night and day for you, Nora –bear sorrow and want for your sake. But no man would sacrifice his honour for the one he loves.” (pg. 66, bottom)She leaves because she realizes that she does not love him like she thought she did, and feels used, she tells him that nothing can work out between them. She tells him that they both need a change and if they were to be together later again, it would be because they have changed so much that they would have a real marriage, with that she leaves, she matured throughout this time and opened her eyes.