"A Doll's House" by Henrik Ibsen

has just moved to town and has been a widow for 3 years. She asks Nora for help getting a job, and Nora responds by telling her she could ask her husband who is now the manager at the bank to give her a job there. They go on talking and Nora tells her the secret that she has been keeping from Torvald. She tells her about how her husband was very ill and they did not have a lot of money, yet the doctors said the only way to cure him was to take a trip to Italy. So Nora says that she had to borrow money from someone, who goes unnamed, to take the trip to Italy. She never told Torvald that he was sick or that she borrowed money from anyone because she thinks he would look down upon this and it would bruise his ego. Dr. Rank then comes back from talking with Torvald and he chats with the girls for a little bit until a man that works for Torvald named Krogstad arrives to speak with him about keeping his job. After he is done talking to Torvald he goes to Nora and it is revealed that he is the one she borrowed money from and the contract she and her father signed for the money was forged. Krogstad threatens Nora that she better tell her husband to let him keep his job or else he would tell him of what she had done. After Krogstad leaves Nora tells Torvald that he should not fire him, but he says that he has to because of his dishonesty and that he already gave his job to Mrs. Linde. The maid then enters with a Ball Gown for Nora because she is going to dance the tarantella at the Ball the day after Christmas. Kristine comes by to help her stitch up her dress and then leaves once Torvald comes. They talk about Krogstad and again he refuses to let him keep his job, this time sending him the notice that he is fired in the mail so there is no turning back. Torvald leaves to go to his study and Dr. Rank comes to tell Nora that he is very ill and will be dying soon, and then he tells her that he loves her and she is very shocked, but does not love him back. Dr. Rank then goes into Torvald’s study and Krogstad enters. He is very angry and Nora is very scared of him, he tells her that he has left a letter in the mailbox explaining the whole crime of forgery that Nora has committed to her husband. Nora is very upset by this and talks to Kristine about it. Kristine says that she had known Krogstad a long time ago, and that she will talk to him for her. After they leave, Dr. Rank and Torvald come back and Nora makes them help her practice her dance to keep him from going to check the mail. Kristine comes back after they are finished and tells Nora that Krogstad left town, but she left a note for him and he will be back soon. Nora tells her that she is waiting for a miracle to happen or else her life will be ruined and she will run away. That night while the Helmers are at the Ball upstairs, Krogstad and Kristine talk in their apartment. She tells him that she had to leave him all those years ago because of her situation with money, and she had no other choice, but she still loves him. They talk for a while and decide to get back together, and then Krogstad says he will forget about the whole thing with Nora and ask for his letter back. Kristine tells him not to ask for it back because she thinks that Torvald ought to know about what happened. Krogstad leaves to wait for her outside while Nora and Torvald come back from the dance. Kristine talks to them for a while admiring Nora’s dress and then also leaves, telling Nora that she better tell her husband about what she had done, or else the letter will. Torvald then goes to check his mail, finding two letters from Dr. Rank with a black cross on them, announcing that he is dying. Torvald then goes into his study to read the rest of the mail and Nora, frightened, prepared to run away and commit suicide possibly. But before she gets the chance to leave, Torvald comes running out of his study screaming at her and asking if what the letter from Krogstad says is true. She tells him that it is and he tells her what a deceitful liar she is. The maid then comes in with another letter from Krogstad, which he reads immediately. In the letter he says that he forgives her and is sorry and gives her back the I.O.U that she had given her with the forged signature. Nora and Torvald are both very happy and they burn the letter along with the I.O.U, getting rid of all evidence and saying that they are saved. Nora goes to change and then tells Torvald they need to sit down and have a serious conversation, she tells him that he does not understand her and he treats her like a doll, just to play with but never anything serious. She tells him that she has to leave him, he begs her not to but she says she must and then walks out the door.