Act 3- Alternate Ending

Nora: That our life together could be a real marriage.  Good-bye. [She goes out through the hall.]

Alternate Ending:  Picking up from page 232.

Nora: That our life together could be a real marriage.  Good-bye. [She begins to walk towards the door and opens it.  As she is about to walk down the stairs she tumultuously  falls down the whole flight headfirst.]

Helmer: NORA! NORA! [Running down the stairs.] Oh my poor Nora are you alright!?

Nora: Huh? [Makes a moaning noise unable to speak.]

Helmer: Nora, my sweet skylark do not fear. [Rushes over to the telephone and calls an ambulance.] 

Nora: [Laying on the floor unconscious.]

[The ambulance arrives and takes Nora to the hospital.  After a couple of hours Nora regains consciousness.  The doctor begins to ask her about the incident. Helmer, Nora, a nurse and the doctor are in the room.]

Nora: [Taking a couple of minutes to think.]  Please call my lawyer. Helmer, get out of the room right now.

Nurse: [Calls Nora’s lawyer.]

Helmer: [The doctor tries to stave Helmer.  He unwillingly leaves the room.]

Lawyer: [Knocks on the door and comes in.  Closes the door on his way in.] What happened Ms. Nora?

Nora:  As I was about to walk down the stairs, Torvald pushed me.  I fell down the stairs and was rushed to the hospital.     

Lawyer:  Oh my lord! Nora we must take action against your husband’s harassment towards you!  This is attempted murder!!!

Doctor:  I must agree with you.  Pushing her down the stairs, what a horrible thing to do!

Lawyer: I must call the police right now.  

[Half an hour passes and the police arrive at the hospital.  They are outside of Nora’s hospital room where Helmer was waiting.]

Policeman:  [Pulling out handcuffs.]  Torvald Helmer you are under arrest for attempted murder of your wife.

Helmer:  [Struggling to get out of the policeman’s grasp.] What? I did not do anything to her! She tripped down the stairs as she was leaving me, the children and everything she had at the house! I did not even touch her!

Nora:  [Screaming.] He treats me like a child, like a doll.  He thinks he has so much power over me and doesn’t even let me eat macaroons.  Just because he got a higher position as the bank manager he will not listen to my opinions because he is worried that his honor will be destroyed.  He suppressed me from finding myself and learning about the world.   So I decided to leave him and out of spite he tried to kill me.    

Helmer:  I did no such thing; let me go!

[The policeman did not listen and took Helmer away to the station.]

Lawyer: Ms. Nora do not worry we have taken care of your husband.  He will be put away in jail for good.  No trial is going to be held.

Nora: [A slight smirk appears on her face.  She quickly pretends to be sad.]  Oh goody, I could not bear knowing that there was someone lose out there who was trying to get me killed.  I would never have thought Helmer my own husband would try and hurt me.  

Lawyer:  Nora do not worry, you will get full custody of your children, home and Helmer’s savings.  Helmer will be in jail for a very long time. 

Act 2

      Ahhh…Act 2 was something and we were introduced to things we never expected!  So first off Mrs. Linde thinks that there is something fishy going on with Nora and Dr. Rank. She stated, “Does Dr. Rank come here everyday?” (Ibsen 184).  Mrs. Linde thought that Nora borrowed the money from Dr. Rank.  Nora actually borrowed the money from disreputable Krogstad.  Although Nora was thinking about asking Dr. Rank for the money she never did.  This was because he declared his love for her! Who expected this from him especially since Nora was a married woman?  How long do you guys think Dr. Rank loved Nora and do you think she has feelings for him back?  I feel that Nora does have feelings for Dr. Rank because based on her current relationship there is nothing lovable about it.  Back in the day woman were nothing compared to men and this situation can relate to real world situations.  Woman never had a say just likes Nora does not have a say in her relationship. Helmer calls her “you poor helpless little creature” (Ibsen 203).  That is so gross and it seems likes he is her dad or something of the sort. 

      Krogstad had a letter for Helmer that contained information about Nora’s signature forgery and that she had borrowed money.  Helmer reproached Krogstad and would not listen to Nora’s plead to let him keep his job so Mrs. Linde had a plan to help her out.  Mrs. Linde was going to go convince Krogstad to not send the letter.  Nora thought that Krogstad would never listen to Mrs. Linde.  Mrs. Linde replied back to Nora, “There was once a time when he would gladly have done anything for me” (Ibsen 202).  Then we found out some juicy information from Krogstad’s and Mrs. Linde’s past.  They used to date but she had left him for a rich man. Why do you think Mrs. Linde is willing to get back together with him?  I feel that she never stopped loving him and she had to leave for the richer man so she could help her mom and brothers. 

      Nora was still in the crisis of Helmer finding our about her crime and I guess she found that so intolerable.  Nora was thinking about suicide!!! That is honestly ridiculous.  She shouldn’t have those thoughts just because her husband doesn’t approve of something.  If you were placed in Nora’s situation would you react the same?

Act 1

      Starting off this play we were introduced to many new characters.  The first of many was Nora and her husband Helmer.  From the start of this play we were shown that their relationship wasn’t very husband-wife like.  Helmer was more of an adult or father figure to Nora.  Nora even stated,” Yes, Torvald I can’t do anything without you to help me” (page 178).  He would scold her for squandering money all the time.  She feels as though she can spend money since Helmers advancement as the bank manager.  Do you think Nora is just putting up an act of not being capable to do things on her own? Nora’s old friend Mrs. Linde came to look for a job at the bank.  Since Helmer was the bank manager he was going to hire her and fire Krogstad.  Now Krogstad was seen as a moral outcast in town because he forged someone’s signature and got caught. 

      Krogstad saw this coming therefore he decided to blackmail Nora about how she forged her father’s signature.  He wanted Nora to tell her husband to let him keep his job.  Nora did not want anybody to find out about her crime because she knew how Helmer felt about corrupt people like that.  This is similar to “A Problem” by Anton Chekhov where Sasha cashes a false note that puts his family in jeopardy.  Nora tried to convince Helmer to help Krogstad keep his job but Helmer refused to listen to his wife’s suggestion.  Helmer stated, “ I tell you, it’d be quite impossible for me to work with him, when I’m near people like that, I actually feel physically ill” (page 180).  What do you think would happen if Helmer found out that Nora forged her father’s signature?  Oh my I almost forgot about Dr. Rank.  He loves Nora!!! Who saw that coming?       

What I have enjoyed about English class so far is all the works of literature we have read from many different authors.  All the authors come from different places around the world and so we are able to learn about many new cultures and lifestyles.  I also enjoy the group discussions because I like hearing other peoples opinions on things.  Everyone doesn't have the same opinion and therefore it doesn't get boring hearing the same thing over and over again.  I am able to learn something new everyday I come to this class.

Henrik Ibsen was born on March 20, 1828.  He was born to Knud and Marichen Ibsen and was the eldest of 5 children.  He grew up in the small Norwegian coastal town of Skien, Norway.  His father was a successful merchant and his mother painted, loved to go to the theater and played the piano.  The family went into poverty when Henrik Ibsen was 8 years old dude to a failure with his father's business.  The family moved to a rundown farm near town and Henrik spent his time reading, painting and doing magic tricks.  At age 15 he stopped school and started to work.  He got a position as an apprentice in an apothecary in Grimstad. In 1849, Henrik wrote his first play Catilina.  While exiled to Italy, he wrote Brand.

When Henrik moved to Germany he wrote A Doll's House. I feel like the title relates to the play because it can be about a woman who choses what she wants.  It is her house and she can do as she pleases.  The decisions that the main character makes can help her find who and where she wants to be in life.   One symbol or theme this play might focus on is freedom.  This can relate to the research I did about Henrik.

http://www.biography.com/people/henrik-ibsen-37014#writing-in-exile