Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary
devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.
Nora’s Definition of Freedom
Nora’s understanding of the meaning of freedom evolves
over the course of the play. In the first act, she believes that
she will be totally “free” as soon as she has repaid her
debt, because she will have the opportunity to devote herself fully
to her domestic responsibilities. After Krogstad blackmails her,
however, she reconsiders her conception of freedom and questions
whether she is happy in Torvald’s house, subjected to his orders
and edicts. By the end of the play, Nora seeks a new kind of freedom.
She wishes to be relieved of her familial obligations in order to
pursue her own ambitions, beliefs, and identity.
Letters
Many of the plot’s twists and turns depend upon the writing
and reading of letters, which function within the play as the subtext
that reveals the true, unpleasant nature of situations obscured
by Torvald and Nora’s efforts at beautification. Krogstad writes
two letters: the first reveals Nora’s crime of forgery to Torvald;
the second retracts his blackmail threat and returns Nora’s promissory
note. The first letter, which Krogstad places in Torvald’s letterbox
near the end of Act Two, represents the truth about Nora’s past
and initiates the inevitable dissolution of her marriage—as Nora
says immediately after Krogstad leaves it, “We are lost.” Nora’s
attempts to stall Torvald from reading the letter represent her
continued denial of the true nature of her marriage. The second
letter releases Nora from her obligation to Krogstad and represents
her release from her obligation to Torvald. Upon reading it, Torvald
attempts to return to his and Nora’s previous denial of reality,
but Nora recognizes that the letters have done more than expose
her actions to Torvald; they have exposed the truth about Torvald’s
selfishness, and she can no longer participate in the illusion of
a happy marriage.
Dr. Rank’s method of communicating his imminent death
is to leave his calling card marked with a black cross in Torvald’s
letterbox. In an earlier conversation with Nora, Dr. Rank reveals
his understanding of Torvald’s unwillingness to accept reality when he proclaims,
“Torvald is so fastidious, he cannot face up to -anything ugly.”
By leaving his calling card as a death notice, Dr. Rank politely
attempts to keep Torvald from the “ugly” truth. Other letters include
Mrs. Linde’s note to Krogstad, which initiates her -life-changing
meeting with him, and Torvald’s letter of dismissal to Krogstad.
