Krogstad and Linde are able to be honest with each other while Nora and Torvald are not. Although Krogstad committed a serious crime and Linde was forced to work to support her family, both of these burdens have already been removed from them. Therefore, they are able to be open because they have no secrets left to conceal. Linde tells Krogstad she believes they must "have a complete understanding [...] which is impossible with [...] concealment and falsehood [...]" (52). Nora keeps a dangerous secret from Torvald in order for them to still appear "normal" to society. Consequently, they are not honest with each other so they cannot keep their marriage together. Nora pretends to "be someone she is not in order to fulfill the role that Torvald, her father, and society at large have expected of her" (Gillis). She is also wronged because she is led to believe "she was happy, that she was an ideal wife, and that her husband loves her" (Goonetilleke) only to find out he impulsively refuses to stay with her because she has committed a crime.
Mrs. Linde and Krogstad are also able to have serious conversations. In Act III, they communicate their needs to one another and discuss how they should forget their pasts and move on to live a happy life together. They can communicate well because they do not treat each other as inferiors, which is very dissimilar to Torvald who constantly calls his wife his "little featherhead" (4) and his "little skylark" (6). He treats her as though she is a fragile child and, therefore, they are unable to communicate on a serious level. Because they cannot openly express their needs, they cannot keep their relationship strong. He "instructs her with trite, moralistic sayings" (Gillis) and also "imposes his [self-interest] because it satisfies his vanity and makes her subservient to him" (Goonetilleke). Although he has a decent job and loves to take care of and guide his wife, Torvald is ironically unable to communicate with Nora on a serious level.
Krogstad and Mrs. Linde have both been wronged by society and are therefore already exposed to outside criticism yet they can still be together. In their discussion, Mrs. Linde says, "Nils, how would it be if we two shipwrecked people could join forces [...] [t]wo on the same piece of wreckage would stand a better chance than each on their own" (51). Since they have no secrets to hide, they can maintain a healthy marriage. After Torvald finds out Nora's secret, he immediately tells her she has "ruined [his] future" (60) and that he is "in the power of an unscrupulous man" (60). The man refers to the world that will openly criticize him. Nora realizes "her need for rebellion [...], culminating in her walking out on her husband and children to find independence" (Gillis). Although Linde and Krogstad are both failures, they ironically form a bond that is stronger than Nora and Torvald's who live as a normal family and have succeeded in society.
Nora and Torvald succeed in society but their relationship fails. Ironically, Krogstad and Linde maintain a true relationship although they are both failures. They are able to be honest with each other, converse seriously, and have both been wronged by society. Therefore, they are already exposed to criticism of the world.
Works Cited
Gillis, G. J. and Westhagen, Jen. SparkNote on A Doll's House. 1 Apr. 2004
<http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/dollhouse>.
Goonetilleke, D.C.R.A. "A Doll's House: Overview" in Reference Guide to World
Literature. 2nd ed. Ed. Lesley Henderson. St. James Press, 1995.
Ibsen, Henrik. Four Great Plays. Trans. R. Farquharson Sharp. Bantom Books: New
York, 1959.