Torvald is really happy and forgives Nora. Nora, however, doesn't forgive Torvald. She tells him that she was expecting a wonderful thing to happen. She thought he would try to sacrifice himself for her, taking all the blame on himself.
After learning the scandal would be resolved secretly, Torvald is overjoyed and forgives Nora. However, Nora, who has seen Torvald's true selfish character, decides to leave. She tells Torvald that like her father, he had never known her—even she doesn't know who she really is herself.
Earlier, Nora complained that Torvald would not let her stay longer. In an attempt to appease Torvald, however, Nora later revealed she was tired and was happy he made her leave early.
In this act, Nora learns that she alone must face the consequences of her guilt. Refusing to allow Torvald to take the blame, she prepares to kill herself. The theme of death in this scene suggests a parallel between Nora and Dr. Rank, for the knowledge of his death coincides with her decision to commit suicide.
More Debt than a New College Grad
On the contrary, she saved his life... by getting them both into massive debt. Unbeknown to Torvald, Nora borrowed money so that they could afford a year-long trip to Italy. Doctors said that Torvald would die without it—but that he shouldn't know how bad his condition was.
When Torvald accuses Nora of not loving him anymore, Nora says his claim is true. She then explains that she realized that she didn't love Torvald that evening, when her expectation that he would take the blame for her—showing his willingness to sacrifice himself for love—wasn't met.
In order to continue as husband and wife, Nora insists that she and Torvald must have a “true wedlock” like that of Mrs. Linde and Krogstad, one where there is mutual trust and respect.
Nora and Torvald each undergo a transformation of their character from the start of the play until the finish. Torvald begins the play appearing very strong and confident, but by the end he is broken down to a scared and unhappy man who is holding onto an image of himself to receive respect from all he encounters.
The play was so controversial that Ibsen was forced to write a second ending that he called “a barbaric outrage” to be used only when necessary. The controversy centered around Nora's decision to abandon her children, and in the second ending she decides that the children need her more than she needs her freedom.
What does Nora say about her happiness with Torvald? She thought she was happy, but has never really been happy.
At the beginning of the play, Nora and Torvald appear to be very happily married, even to themselves. Nora talks joyfully about her love for Torvald, and Torvald refers to Nora using affectionate pet names.
Nora asks that he not look at her “like that,” and Torvald responds by asking if he can't look at his “most treasured possession.” He says that he can tell she still has the tarantella in her blood and that makes her even more desirable.
This act shows that Torvald amuses himself by manipulating his wife's feelings. Nora is like Torvald's doll—she decorates his home and pleases him by being a dependent figure with whose emotions he can toy.
"How painful and humiliating it would be for Torvald, with his manly independence, to know that he owed me anything [says Nora]. It would upset our mutual relations altogether; our beautiful happy home would no longer be what it is now."
Torvald Helmer betrays his wife by not defending and understanding her when he finds out the secret she has been keeping from him. To her utter disappointment, Helmer tells her that he can work day and night for her, bear sorrow for her but no man would sacrifice his honour for the one he loves.
Torvald Helmer
He treats Nora like a child, in a manner that is both kind and patronizing. He does not view Nora as an equal but rather as a plaything or doll to be teased and admired.
The main themes of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House revolve around the values and the issues of late 19th-century bourgeoisie, namely what looks appropriate, the value of money, and the way women navigate a landscape that leaves them little room to assert themselves as actual human beings.
The main message of A Doll's House seems to be that a true (read: good) marriage is a joining of equals. The play centers on the dissolution of a marriage that doesn't meet these standards.
There are major opposing moral views between characters in Henrik Ibsen 's dramatic play A Doll 's House. One moral trail leads to the conclusion that once someone commits a bad deed, there is no saving them; that person is now a low-life degenerate with no redemption in sight.
Nora is a victim of the male-dominated society of the nineteenth century. To save her husband, Torvald, she borrows money so that he might be able to recover from a life-threatening illness in a warmer climate.
The first instance of female sacrifice is seen in Act 1 through the interaction between Torvald and Nora, where Nora sacrifices her opinions and desires to satisfy her husband. Nora puts on a submissive façade, whose characteristics are similar to a child.
In the third act of the play, Nora shifts from a fragile and immature mother and wife to an independent and courageous woman who challenges society's gender roles in the 19th century and redefines womanhood as individualistic. As Torvald becomes aware of Nora's forgery, she becomes more aware of her feelings.
Nora believes herself to be a doll because the men in her life see her more as a toy than a human being. They view her as a pretty object without any thoughts of her own that they can use as they want.
She is both a victim of her circumstances and also at fault for actions which she committed. Nora is a victim. Throughout her entire life, she has never been taken seriously by anyone. She has been treated like a doll by both male characters in her life, her father and her husband, and has acted accordingly.
With this staging, we learn Nora has returned to get Torvald to sign divorce papers to finalize their separation.