Peter Shaw
Analysis
The play opens with Nora and the porter, and it immediately puts the spotlight on money, which emerges as one of the forces driving the play’s conflicts as it draws lines between genders, classes, and moral standards. Though Nora owes the porter a shilling, she gives him a pound, twenty times the value, presumably because she is infused with the holiday spirit. While Nora likes to spend and allows the idea of buying presents to block out financial concerns, Torvald holds a more pragmatic view of money, jokingly calling Nora a spendthrift and telling her that she is completely foolish when it comes to financial matters.
Torvald’s assertion that Nora’s lack of understanding of money matters is the result of her gender “Nora, my Nora, that is just like a woman” reveals his prejudiced viewpoint on women. He quickly makes it known that appearances are very important to him, and that Nora is like an ornament or trophy that serves to his home and his reputation.
Nora’s first conversation with Mrs. Linde plays a key role in establishing Nora’s childlike, self-centered, and insensitive character. Though she claims to be interested in Mrs. Linde’s problems, Nora repeatedly turns the conversation back to her own life with Torvald. Nora’s self-centeredness is further demonstrated in her revelation that she failed to write to Mrs. Linde after her husband passed away. It is only now, three years after the fact, that Nora expresses her sympathy; up to this point, she has made no effort to think beyond herself, and the fact that she does so now seems only a matter of polite reflex. She is unashamed and delights in the fact that she and Torvald will soon have “pots and pots” of money. She does not recognize that such comments might be hurtful to her old friend who happens to be in a very difficult finical situation.
