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Act III Monologue: Helmer

HELMER

[standing at the open door]

Yes, do. Try and calm yourself, and make your mind easy again, my frightened little singing-bird. Be at rest, and feel secure; I have broad wings to shelter you under.

[Walks up and down by the door].

How warm and cosy our home is, Nora. Here is shelter for you; here I will protect you like a hunted dove that I have saved from a hawk’s claws; I will bring peace to your poor beating heart. It will come, little by little, Nora, believe me. Tomorrow morning you will look upon it all quite differently; soon everything will be just as it was before. Very soon you won’t need me to assure you that I have forgiven you; you will yourself feel the certainty that I have done so. Can you suppose I should ever think of such a thing as repudiating you, or even reproaching you? You have no idea what a true man’s heart is like, Nora. There is something so indescribably sweet and satisfying, to a man, in the knowledge that he has forgiven his wife--forgiven her freely, and with all his heart. It seems as if that had made her, as it were, doubly his own; he has given her a new life, so to speak; and she has in a way become both wife and child to him. So you shall be for me after this, my little scared, helpless darling. Have no anxiety about anything, Nora; only be frank and open with me, and I will serve as will and conscience both to you--. What is this? Not gone to bed? Have you changed your things?

Read the full dialogue.
 

 

Understanding the Given Circumstances

  • This scene takes place in Nora and Helmer’s home. Helmer has literally dragged Nora against her will from a Christmas party into their home. 
  • Earlier in the scene, Krogstad threatened Helmer with blackmail. Nora had secretly taken out an illegal loan to help pay for her husband’s medical costs. Helmer’s reputation will collapse if this information comes to light.
  • After discovering his wife’s secret, Helmer calls Nora a hypocrite, a liar, and a criminal. He says he will let Nora stay in the house to keep up appearances, but he forbids Nora from raising her own children. 
  • Just before this monologue, however, the threat of blackmail vanishes: A second letter arrives from a repentant Krogstad with all the evidence enclosed. Krogstad wrote the letter to Nora, but Helmer seizes it and destroys the evidence in the fire.
  • After Helmer destroys the incriminating evidence, his attitude toward Nora shifts again. Helmer’s reputation and career are now safe, and he softens considerably in his attitude toward his wife.
  • Helmer talks to Nora through the door while she changes clothes in the next room. He thinks Nora is dressing for bed, but she is actually exchanging her party outfit for traveling clothes. 

 

Blocking and Movement

In theater, blocking is the process of planning the actors’ physical movements and positions. Be sure to show respect and establish trust when working with scene partners. As you prepare to block this scene, ask yourself the following questions:

  • Nora dresses in the next room while Helmer speaks. Although he is supposedly talking to his wife, how much of this monologue is Helmer working things out for himself while pacing the room? How much of it does he specifically direct toward Nora on the other side of the door? 
  • Helmer and Nora have returned from a masquerade party. Earlier in the act, Helmer spoke about how much champagne he had to drink. How does this affect his movements?
  • Helmer paces during this scene. Where is he pacing to and from? Are there objects that draw his attention? For example, he has recently burned incriminating evidence against Nora. Might he check to see if the letters have burned? Are there other preparations Helmer makes before getting ready to turn in for the evening?

 

Historical Context

The first performance of A Doll’s House was in 1879, in Copenhagen, Denmark, but it is set in a small town in Norway, the home country of the playwright, Henrik Ibsen. Ibsen wrote the play during an extended period of self-imposed exile. He had been frustrated with the limitations of Norwegian social and artistic life and moved to Italy and Germany for much of his writing career. Even so, the gravitational pull of his homeland informed most of his work. 

Ibsen’s plays are often critical of how society crushes the individual and fiercely advocate independence and free will. Nora leaves her husband to discover what her own distinct identity might be, to break from the role society has forced her to play. In this monologue, Helmer represents a system that demands conformity and control, which Ibsen resisted when he left Norway. Helmer is not only one man but also a representative of a system that demands conformity and control.

This might not seem obvious, but, when A Doll’s House premiered, it was not set in the past. The characters, costumes, and language were modern. To the audience of the time, the play was about now—about them. 

  • What does Helmer’s monologue suggest about the gender roles of the time?  
  • How is the concept of forgiveness used as a tool of social control?
  • What does the monologue reveal about the institution of marriage in 1879? How is this institution different today?
  • At the end of the monologue, Nora appears in the doorway, but she is not dressed for bed as Helmer assumed she would be. How does Helmer’s body language show his reaction to this new information?

 

Full Act/Scene Dialogue

[A ring is heard at the front-door bell].

HELMER

[with a start]. What is that? So late! Can the worst--? Can he--? Hide yourself, Nora. Say you are ill.

[NORA stands motionless. HELMER goes and unlocks the hall door].

MAID

[half-dressed, comes to the door]. A letter for the mistress.

HELMER

Give it to me. [Takes the letter, and shuts the door]. Yes, it is from him. You shall not have it; I will read it myself.

NORA

Yes, read it.

HELMER

[standing by the lamp]. I scarcely have the courage to do it. It may mean ruin for both of us. No, I must know. 

[Tears open the letter, runs his eye over a few lines, looks at a paper enclosed, and gives a shout of joy]. 

Nora! [She looks at him questioningly]. Nora!--No, I must read it once again--. Yes, it is true! I am saved! Nora, I am saved!

NORA

And I?

HELMER

You too, of course; we are both saved, both you and I. Look, he sends you your bond back. He says he regrets and repents--that a happy change in his life--never mind what he says! We are saved, Nora! No one can do anything to you. Oh, Nora, Nora!--no, first I must destroy these hateful things. Let me see--. [Takes a look at the bond]. No, no, I won't look at it. The whole thing shall be nothing but a bad dream to me. [Tears up the bond and both letters, throws them all into the stove, and watches them burn]. There--now it doesn't exist any longer. He says that since Christmas Eve you--. These must have been three dreadful days for you, Nora.

NORA

I have fought a hard fight these three days.

HELMER

And suffered agonies, and seen no way out but--. No, we won't call any of the horrors to mind. We will only shout with joy, and keep saying, "It's all over! It's all over!" Listen to me, Nora. You don't seem to realise that it is all over. What is this?--such a cold, set face! My poor little Nora, I quite understand; you don't feel as if you could believe that I have forgiven you. But it is true, Nora, I swear it; I have forgiven you everything. I know that what you did, you did out of love for me.

NORA

That is true.

HELMER

You have loved me as a wife ought to love her husband. Only you had not sufficient knowledge to judge of the means you used. But do you suppose you are any the less dear to me, because you don't understand how to act on your own responsibility? No, no; only lean on me; I will advise you and direct you. I should not be a man if this womanly helplessness did not just give you a double attractiveness in my eyes. You must not think anymore about the hard things I said in my first moment of consternation, when I thought everything was going to overwhelm me. I have forgiven you, Nora; I swear to you I have forgiven you.

NORA

Thank you for your forgiveness. 

[She goes out through the door to the right].

HELMER

No, don't go--. [Looks in]. What are you doing in there?

NORA

[from within]. Taking off my fancy dress.

HELMER

[standing at the open door].

Yes, do. Try and calm yourself, and make your mind easy again, my frightened little singing-bird. Be at rest, and feel secure; I have broad wings to shelter you under.

[Walks up and down by the door].

How warm and cosy our home is, Nora. Here is shelter for you; here I will protect you like a hunted dove that I have saved from a hawk's claws; I will bring peace to your poor beating heart. It will come, little by little, Nora, believe me. Tomorrow morning you will look upon it all quite differently; soon everything will be just as it was before. Very soon you won't need me to assure you that I have forgiven you; you will yourself feel the certainty that I have done so. Can you suppose I should ever think of such a thing as repudiating you, or even reproaching you? You have no idea what a true man's heart is like, Nora. There is something so indescribably sweet and satisfying, to a man, in the knowledge that he has forgiven his wife--forgiven her freely, and with all his heart. It seems as if that had made her, as it were, doubly his own; he has given her a new life, so to speak; and she has in a way become both wife and child to him. So you shall be for me after this, my little scared, helpless darling. Have no anxiety about anything, Nora; only be frank and open with me, and I will serve as will and conscience both to you--. What is this? Not gone to bed? Have you changed your things?

NORA

[in everyday dress]. Yes, Torvald, I have changed my things now.

HELMER

But what for?--so late as this.

NORA

I shall not sleep tonight.

HELMER

But, my dear Nora--

NORA

[looking at her watch]. It is not so very late. Sit down here, Torvald. You and I have much to say to one another. [She sits down at one side of the table].

HELMER

Nora--what is this?--this cold, set face?

NORA

Sit down. It will take some time; I have a lot to talk over with you.

HELMER

[sits down at the opposite side of the table]. You alarm me, Nora!--and I don't understand you.

NORA

No, that is just it. You don't understand me, and I have never understood you either--before tonight. No, you mustn't interrupt me. You must simply listen to what I say. Torvald, this is a settling of accounts.

HELMER

What do you mean by that?

NORA

[after a short silence]. Isn't there one thing that strikes you as strange in our sitting here like this?

HELMER

What is that?

NORA

We have been married now eight years. Does it not occur to you that this is the first time we two, you and I, husband and wife, have had a serious conversation?

HELMER

What do you mean by serious?

NORA

In all these eight years--longer than that--from the very beginning of our acquaintance, we have never exchanged a word on any serious subject.

HELMER

Was it likely that I would be continually and forever telling you about worries that you could not help me to bear?

NORA

I am not speaking about business matters. I say that we have never sat down in earnest together to try and get at the bottom of anything.

HELMER

But, dearest Nora, would it have been any good to you?

NORA

That is just it; you have never understood me. I have been greatly wronged, Torvald--first by papa and then by you.

HELMER

What! By us two--by us two, who have loved you better than anyone else in the world?

NORA

[shaking her head]. You have never loved me. You have only thought it pleasant to be in love with me.

HELMER

Nora, what do I hear you saying?

NORA

It is perfectly true, Torvald. When I was at home with papa, he told me his opinion about everything, and so I had the same opinions; and if I differed from him I concealed the fact, because he would not have liked it. He called me his doll-child, and he played with me just as I used to play with my dolls. And when I came to live with you--

HELMER

What sort of an expression is that to use about our marriage?

NORA

[undisturbed]. I mean that I was simply transferred from papa's hands into yours. You arranged everything according to your own taste, and so I got the same tastes as you--or else I pretended to, I am really not quite sure which--I think sometimes the one and sometimes the other. When I look back on it, it seems to me as if I had been living here like a poor woman--just from hand to mouth. I have existed merely to perform tricks for you, Torvald. But you would have it so. You and papa have committed a great sin against me. It is your fault that I have made nothing of my life.

HELMER

How unreasonable and how ungrateful you are, Nora! Have you not been happy here?

NORA

No, I have never been happy. I thought I was, but it has never really been so.

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