03 - A Doll's House - Act 3

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Act three, the same scene. The table has been placed
in the middle of the stage with chairs around it.
A lamp is burning on the table. The door into
the hall stands open. Dance music is heard in the
room above. Missus Lynde is sitting at the table, idly

(00:22):
turning over the leaves of a book. She tries to read,
but does not seem able to collect her thoughts. Every
now and then she listens intently for a sound at
the outer door. Missus Lynde looking at her watch. Not yet,
and the time is nearly up. If only he does
not listens again. Ah, there he is, goes into the

(00:46):
hall and opens the outer door carefully, like footsteps or
heard on the stairs. She whispers, come in. There is
no one here, crog staid in the doorway, I found
a note from you at home. What does this mean,
Missus Lynde. It is absolutely necessary that I should have

(01:07):
a talk with you, croxtaid, Really, and is it absolutely
necessary that it should be here, Missus Lynde. It is
impossible where I live. There is no private entrance to
my rooms. Come in. We are quite alone. The maid
is asleep, and the helmers are at the dance upstairs.

(01:28):
Croxdad coming into the room. Are the Helmers really at
a dance tonight, Missus Lynde? Yes, why not, Croxdaid? Certainly,
why not, Missus Lynde. Now, Nils, let us have a talk, Croxtaid.
Can we two have anything to talk about, Missus Lynde.

(01:51):
We have a great deal to talk about, Croxtaid. I
shouldn't have thought so, Missus Lynde. No, you never properly
understood me, Croxtaid. Was there anything else to understand except
what was obvious to all the world. A heartless woman
jilts a man when a more lucrative chance turns up,

(02:15):
Missus Lynde, do you believe I am as absolutely heartless
as all that? And do you believe that I did
it with a lightheart? Croxdad? Didn't you, Missus Lynde, Nils,
did you really think that, crostaid? If it were as
you say, why did you write to me as you

(02:36):
did at the time, Missus Lynde. I could do nothing
else as I had to break with you. It was
my duty also to put an end to all that
you felt for me. Krogstaid, wringing his hands. So that
was it, and all this only for the sake of money,
Missus Lynde. You must not forget that I had a

(03:00):
helpless mother and two little brothers. We couldn't wait on you, Nils.
Your prospects seemed hopeless. Then CrOx said, that may be so,
but you had no right to throw me over for
anyone else's sake, Missus Lynde. Indeed, I don't know many
a time did I ask myself if I had the

(03:22):
right to do it, CrOx said, more gently. When I
lost you, it was as if all the solid ground
went from under my feet. Look at me now, I
am a shipwrecked man clinging to a bit of wreckage,
Missus Lynde. But help may be near, Croggs said, it

(03:42):
was near. But then you came and stood in my way,
Missus Lynde, unintentionally, Neils. It was only today that I
learned it was your place I was going to take
in the bank. Krox said, I believe you if you
say so. But now that you know it, are you
not going to give it up to me, Missus Lynde, No,

(04:04):
because that would not benefit you in the least, CrOx deaid,
oh benefit benefit. I would have done it, whether or no,
Missus Lynde, I have learned to act prudently. Life and hard,
bitter necessity have taught me that, crostaid, and life has
taught me not to believe in fine speeches. Missus Lynde.

(04:27):
Then life has taught you something very reasonable, but deeds
you must believe in. CrOx said, what do you mean
by that, Missus Lynde. You said you were like a
shipwrecked man clinging to some wreckage. Crostaid, I had good
reason to say so, Missus Lynde. Well, I am like

(04:49):
a shipwrecked woman clinging to some wreckage, no one to
mourn for, no one to care for. CrOx said, it
was your own choice, Missus Lynde, there was no other
choice than Croxtad. Well, what now, Missus Lynde, Neils, how

(05:12):
would it be if we two shipwrecked people could join forces? Croxdad,
what are you saying, Missus Lynde, two on the same
piece of wreckage would stand a better chance than each
on their own. Croxtad Christine, I, Missus Lynde, what do
you suppose brought me to town? Croxtead, do you mean

(05:36):
that you gave me a thought? Missus Lynde, I could
not endure life without work. All my life, as long
as I can remember, I have worked, and it has
been my greatest and only pleasure. But now I am
quite alone in the world. My life is so dreadfully empty,

(05:57):
and I feel so forsaken. There is not the least
pleasure in working for oneself. Neils, give me someone and
something to work for, Krox said, I don't trust that
it is nothing but a woman's overstrained sense of generosity
that prompts you to make such an offer of yourself,

(06:19):
Missus Lynde, have you ever noticed anything of the sort
in me? Croxtaid, could you really do it? Tell me?
Do you know all about my past life, Missus Lynde, yes,
CROs said, and do you know what they think of
me here? Missus Lynde. You seemed to me to imply

(06:43):
that with me you might have been quite another man.
Frogs said, I am certain of it, Missus Lynde. Is
it too late now, croxdaid, Christine, are you saying this deliberately? Yes?
I am sure you are. I see it in your face.
Have you really the courage, then, Missus Lynde. I want

(07:06):
to be a mother to someone, and your children need
a mother. We two need each other, Neils, I have
faith in your real character. I can dare anything together
with you, Krox said, grasped her hands. Thanks, thanks Christine.
Now I shall find a way to clear myself in

(07:28):
the eyes of the world. Ah, but I forgot Missus
Lynde listening. Hush the tarantella, go go, Krox said, why
what is it, Missus Lynde. Do you hear them up there?
When that is over we may expect them back. Krox said, yes, yes,

(07:49):
I will go. But it is all no use. Of course,
you are not aware what steps I have taken in
the matter of the Helmers. Missus Lynde. Yes, I know
all about that, croxtaid, And in spite of that, you
have the courage to Missus Lynde. I understand very well
to what lengths a man like you might be driven

(08:11):
by despair, croxtaid. If I could only undo what I
have done, Missus Lynde, you cannot. Your letter is lying
in the letter box now, croxtaid, Are you sure of that,
Missus Lynde? Quite sure? But croxtaid, with a searching look

(08:31):
at her, is that what it all means? That you
want to save your friend at any cost. Tell me, frankly,
is that it, Missus Lynde, Niel's a woman who has
once sold herself for another's sake doesn't do it a
second time, croxtaid, I will ask for my letter back,

(08:54):
Missus Lynde. No, no, croxtaid, Yes, of course I will.
I will wait here until Helmer comes. I will tell
him he must give me my letter back, that it
only concerns my dismissal that he is not to read it.
Missus Lynde. No, Nils, you must not recall your letter, crostaid.

(09:17):
But tell me, wasn't it for that very purpose that
you asked me to meet you here, Missus Lynde in
my first moment of fright. It was but twenty four
hours have elapsed since then, and in that time I
have witnessed incredible things in this house. Helmer must know
all about it. The unhappy secret must be disclosed. They

(09:41):
must have a complete understanding between them, which is impossible
with all this concealment in falsehood going on, croxtaid, very well,
if you will take the responsibility. But there is one
thing I can do in any case, and I shall
do it at once. Lynd Listening, you must be quick

(10:03):
and go. The dance is over. We are not safe
a moment longer, croxtaid, I will wait for you below,
Missus Lynde. Yes, do you must see me? Back to
my door? Croxtaid, I have never had such an amazing
piece of good fortune in my life. Goes out through
the outer door. The door between the room and the

(10:26):
hall remains open. Missus Lynde tidying up the room and
laying her hat and cloak ready. What a difference, What
a difference, someone to work for and live for a
home to bring comfort into that, I will do. Indeed,
I wish they would be quick and come. Listens, Ah,

(10:49):
there they are now. I must put on my things.
Takes up her hat and cloak. Helmer's and Norah's voices
are heard outside. A key is turned and Helmer brings
Nora almost by force into the hall. She is in
an Italian costume with a large black shawl around her.
He is an evening dress and a black domino which

(11:10):
is flying open. Nora hanging back in the doorway and
struggling with him. No, no, no, don't take me in.
I want to go upstairs again. I don't want to
leave so early. Helmer but my dear Nora, Nora, please
to a vault. Dear, please please only an hour more, Helmer,

(11:34):
not a single minute, My sweet Nora, you know that
was our agreement. Come along into the room. You are
catching cold standing there. He brings her gently into the
room in spite of her resistance, Missus Lynde, Good evening, Nora,
Christine Helmer. You here so late, Missus Lynde. Missus Lynde, yes,

(11:59):
you must excuse me. I was so anxious to see
Nora in her dress, Nora. Have you been sitting here
waiting for me, Missus Lynde. Yes, Unfortunately I came too late.
You had already gone upstairs, and I thought I couldn't
go away again without having seen you. Helmer taking off

(12:19):
Nora's shawl. Yes, take a good look at her. I
think she is worth looking at. Isn't she charming, Missus Lynde.
Missus Lynde, Yes, indeed she is. Helmer. Doesn't she look
remarkably pretty? Everyone thought so at the dance. But she
is terribly self willed, this sweet little person. What are

(12:43):
we to do with her? You will hardly believe that
I had almost to bring her away by force? Nora Turvald,
you will repent not having let me stay, even if
it were only for half an hour. Helmer. Listen to her,
Missus Lynde. She has danced her tarantella, and it has

(13:04):
been a tremendous success, as it deserved. Although possibly the
performance was a trifle too realistic, a little more so,
I mean, than was strictly compatible with the limitations of art.
But never mind about that. The chief thing is she
has made a success. She has made a tremendous success.

(13:25):
Do you think I was going to let her remain
there after that and spirrel the effect? No, indeed, I
took my charming little Capri maiden, my capricious little Capri maiden,
I should say, on my arm, took one quick turn
round the room, a curtsey on either side, and as
they say in novels, the beautiful apparition disappeared. An exit

(13:49):
ought always to be effective, Missus Lynde. But that is
what I cannot make Nora understand. Pooh, this room is hot,
throws his domino on a chair and opens the door
of his room. Hullo, it's all dark in here. Oh,
of course, excuse me. He goes in and lights some candles,

(14:10):
Norah in a hurried, breathless whisper. Well, Missus Lynde in
a low voice, I have had a talk with him, Norah. Yes,
and Missus Lynde, Norah, you must tell your husband all
about it, Norah in an expressionless voice. I knew it.

(14:33):
Missus Lynde. You have nothing to be afraid of as
far as Crogstadt is concerned. But you must tell him, Norah.
I won't tell him, Missus Lynde. Then the letter will Norah.
Thank you Christine. Now I know what I must do. Hush,

(14:55):
Helmer coming in again. Well, Missus Lynde. Have you admired her,
Missus Lynde. Yes, and now I will say good night. Helmer.
What already is this yours? This knitting, Missus Lynde taking it? Yes,
thank you, I had very nearly forgotten it, Helmer. So

(15:16):
you knit, Missus Lynde, of course, Helmer. Do you know
you ought to embroader, Missus Lynde. Really? Why? Helmer? Yes,
it is far more becoming. Let me show you. You
hold the embroidery thus in your left hand and use
the needle with the right like this, with a long,

(15:38):
easy sweep. Do you see missus Lynde. Yes, perhaps Helmer
bought in the case of knitting that can never be
anything but ungraceful. Look here the arms close together, the
knitting needles going up and down. It has a sort
of Chinese effect. That was really it excellent champagne. They

(16:01):
gave us, missus Lynde. Well, good night, Nora, and don't
be self willed anymore, Helmer. That's right, Missus Lynde, Missus Lynde,
good night, mister Helmer. Helmer, accompanying her to the door,
good night, good night. I hope you will get home
all right. I should be very happy to, but you

(16:22):
haven't any great distance to go. Good night, good night.
She goes out. He shuts the door after her and
comes in again. Ah, that lass, we have got rid
of her. She is a frightful bore, that woman. Nora.
Aren't you very tired, Torvald Helmer, No, not in the least, Nora,

(16:46):
Nora sleepy, Helmer, not a bit. On the contrary, I
feel extraordinarily lively, and you, you willy, look both tired
and sleepy. Nora. Yes, I am very tired. I want
to go to sleep at once. Helmer. There you see,
it was quite right of me not to let you

(17:08):
stay there any longer. Nora. Everything you do is quite right,
Torvald Helmer, kissing her on the forehead. Now, my little
skylark is speaking reasonably. Did you notice what good Spirit's
rank was in this evening? Nora? Really was he? I

(17:29):
didn't speak to him at all, Helmer, and I very little,
but I have not for a long time seen him
in such good form. Looks for a while at her,
and then goes nearer to her. It is delightful to
be at home by ourselves again, to be all alone
with you, you fascinating, charming little darling. Nora. Don't look

(17:52):
at me like that, Torvald Helmer. Why shouldn't I look
at my dearest treasure at all? The beauty that is mine,
all my very own Nora, going to the other side
of the table. You mustn't say things like that to
me tonight, Helmer following her. You have still got the

(18:15):
tarantulla in your blood. I see, and it makes you
more captivating than ever. Listen, the guests are beginning to
go now, in a lower voice, Nora, soon the whole
house will be quiet. Nora. Yes, I hope so, Helmer. Yes,
my own darling. Nora. Do you know when I am

(18:39):
out at a party with you like this why I
speak so little to you, keep away from you and
only send a stolen glance in your direction now and then?
Do you know why I do that? It is because
I make believe to myself that we are secretly in
love and you are my secretly promised bride, and that

(19:01):
no one suspects there is anything between us. Norah. Yes, yes,
I know very well. Your thoughts are with me all
the time, Helmer. And when we are leaving and I
am putting the shawl over your beautiful young shoulders on
your lovely neck, then I imagine that you are my

(19:22):
young bride, and that we have just come from the wedding,
and I am bringing you for the first time into
our home to be alone with you for the first time,
quite alone with my shy little darling. All this evening,
I have longed for nothing but you. When I watched
the seductive figures of the Tarantella, my blood was on fire.

(19:46):
I can endure it no longer, and that was why
I brought you down so early. Nora, go away, Torvald,
you must let me go. I won't Helmer. What's that joking,
my little Nora? You won't you won't? Am I not
your husband? A knock is heard at the outer door,

(20:09):
Nora starting. Did you hear Helmer going into the hall?
Who is it? Rank? Outside? It is? I? May I
come in for a moment? Helmer, in a fretful whisper, Oh,
what does he want now? Aloud? Wait a minute, unlocks
the door. Come. That's kind of you not to pass

(20:32):
by our door. Rank. I thought I heard your voice
and felt as if I should like to look in
with a swift glance round. Ah. Yes, these dear familiar rooms.
You are very happy and cozy, and hear you two, Helmer.
It seems to me that you looked after yourself pretty

(20:53):
well upstairs, too, Rank excellently. Why shouldn't I? Why should
one enjoy everything in this world at any rate, as
much as one can and as long as one can.
The wine was capital, Helmer, especially the champagne. Rank, So

(21:13):
you noticed that too. It is almost incredible how much
I managed to put away. Nora. Turval drank a great
deal of champagne tonight, too, Rank, did he Nora? Yes?
And he is always in such good spirits afterwards. Rank Well,

(21:33):
why should one not enjoy a merry evening after a
well spent day? Helmer, well spent. I'm afraid I can't
take credit for that, Rank, clapping him on the back,
But I can you know, Nora, doctor Rink, you must
have been occupied with some scientific investigation today. Rank exactly Helmer,

(22:00):
Little Nora talking about scientific investigations, Nora, And may I
congratulate you on the result? Rank? Indeed you may, Nora.
Was it favorable then? Rank the best possible for both
doctor and patient? Certainty, Nora, quickly and searchingly certainty, Rank

(22:29):
absolute certainty. So wasn't I entitled to make a merry
evening of it after that? Nora, Yes, you certainly were, doctor,
Rank Helmer, I think so too, so long as you
don't have to pay for it in the morning. Rank. Oh, well,
one can't have anything in this life without paying for it, Nora,

(22:54):
doctor Rink, Are you fond of fancy dress balls? Rank? Yes,
if there is a fine lot of pretty costumes, Norah,
tell me what shall we two wear at the next Helmer,
little feather brain, are you thinking of the next already? Rank?

(23:14):
We too? Yes, I can tell you you shall go
as a good fairy Helmer. Yes, but what do you
suggest as an appropriate costume for that? Rank? Let your
wife go dressed just as she is in everyday life. Helmer.
That was really very prettily turned. But can't you tell

(23:38):
us what you will be? Rank? Yes, my dear friend,
I have quite made up my mind about that, Helmer. Well, Rank.
At the next fancy dress ball, I shall be invisible. Helmer.
That's a good joke. Rank. There is a big black hat.

(24:01):
Have you never heard of hats that make you invisible?
If you put one on, no one can see you. Helmer,
suppressing a smile. Yes, you are quite right, Rank, But
I am clean forgetting what I came for. Helmer, give
me a cigar, one of the dark comanas. Helmer, with

(24:24):
the greatest pleasure, offers him his case. Rank takes a
cigar and cuts off the end. Thanks Nora, striking a match,
let me give you a light, Rank, Thank you. She
holds the match for him to light his cigar. And now, goodbye, Helmer, goodbye, goodbye,

(24:47):
dear old man. Norah, sleep well, doctor, Rank, Rank, thank
you for that wish. Nora. Wish me the same rank
you well if you want me to sleep well. And
thanks for the light. He knots to them both, then
goes out Helmer in a subued voice. He has drunk

(25:10):
more than he ought Nora absently maybe. Helmer takes a
bunch of keys out of his pocket and goes into
the hall. Trevald, what are you going to do there? Helmer?
Emptying the letterbox. It is quite full. There will be
no room to put the newspaper in tomorrow morning. Nora?

(25:32):
Are you going to work tonight? Helmer? You know quite
well I'm not. What is this? Someone has been at
the lock, Nora? At the lock? Helmer, Yes, someone has?
What can it mean? I should never have thought the maid?
Here is a broken hairpin, Nora. It is one of yours? Nora,

(25:57):
quickly then it must have been that you, Helmer. Then
you must get them out of those ways. There, at last,
I have got it open, takes out the contents of
the letter box and calls to the kitchen. Helen put
out the light over the front door, goes back into
the room and shuts the door into the hall. He

(26:20):
holds out his hand full of letters. Look at that.
Look what a heap of them there are, turning them over?
What on earth is that? Nora? At the window, the
letter no traval, no Helmer. Two cards of ranks, Nora,

(26:41):
of doctor Rank's Helmer, looking at them, doctor Rank. They
were on the top. He must have put them in
when he went out, Nora. Is there anything written on them? Helmer?
There is a black cross over the name. Look there,
what an uncomfortable idea. It looks as if he were

(27:04):
announcing his own death. Nora. It is just what he
is doing, Helmer. What do you know anything about it?
Has he said anything to you? Nora? Yes, he told
me that when the cards came it would be his
leave taking from us. He means to shut himself up

(27:27):
and die, Helmer, my poor old friend. Certainly I knew
we should not have him very long with us, but
so soon, and so he hides himself away like a
wounded animal, Nora. If it has to happen, it is
best it should be without a word, don't you think so?

(27:48):
Torvald Helmer walking up and down. He has grown into
our lives. I can't think of him having gone out
of them. He, with his sufferings and his loneliness, was
like a cloudy background to our sunlit happiness. Well, perhaps
it is best so for him anyway standing still, and

(28:11):
perhaps for us too, Nora. We two are thrown quite
upon each other. Now puts his arms round her, my
darling wife. I don't feel as if I could hold
you tight enough, do you know, Nora? I have often
wished that you might be threatened by some great danger,
so that I am I risk by life's blood and

(28:33):
everything for your sake. Nora disengages herself and says, firmly
and decidedly, now you must read your letters, Torvald Helmer. No, no,
not tonight. I want to be with you, my darling wife, Nora.
With the thought of your friend's death, Helmer, you are

(28:56):
quite right. It has affected us both. Something ugly has
come between us, the thought of the horrors of death.
We must try and rid our minds of that. Until
then we will each go to our own room. Norah
hanging on his neck, good night, Torvald, good night, Helmer

(29:19):
kissing her on the forehead. Good night. My little singing
bird sleeps sound, Nora. Now I will read my letters through.
He takes his letters and goes into his room, shutting
the door after him. Nora gropes distractedly about seizes Helmer's
domino throws it round her while she says in quick, hoarse,

(29:40):
spasmodic whispers, never to see him again, never never, puts
her shawl over her head. Never to see my children
again either, never again, never never, Ah, the icy blackwater,
the unfathomable depths. If only it were over. He has

(30:04):
got it now, now he is reading it, a goodbye
to Evolved and my children. She is about to rush
out through the hall when Helmer opens his door hurriedly
and stands with an open letter in his hand. Helmer, Nora, Nora, Ah, Helmer,

(30:25):
what is this? Do you know what is in this letter? Nora? Yes,
I know. Let me go. Let me get out, Helmer,
holding her back. Where are you going, Norah, trying to
get free? You shan't save me to Revolved? Helmer? Really true?

(30:46):
Is this true that I read here? Horrible? No, No,
it is impossible that it can be true. Nora. It
is true. I have loved you above everything else in
the world. Helmer. Oh, don't let us have any silly excuses. Nora,

(31:07):
taking a step towards him, traveled Helmer, miserable creature? What
have you done? Nora? Let me go? You shall not
suffer from my sake. You shall not take it upon yourself, Helmer,
no tragic airs. Please locks the hall door. Here. You

(31:30):
shall stay and give me an explanation. Do you understand
what you have done? Answer me? Do you understand what
you have done? Nora, looking steadily at him, and says,
with a growing look of coldness in her face. Yes,
now I am beginning to understand thoroughly, Helmer. Walking about

(31:56):
the room, What a horrible awakening, all these eight years,
she who was my joy and pride, a hypocrite, a liar,
worse worse, a criminal, the unutterable ugliness of it all
for shame, for shame. Nora is silent and looks steadily

(32:21):
at him. He stops in front of her. I ought
to have suspected that something of the sort would happen.
I ought to have foreseen it. All your father's want
of principle, be silent. All your father's want of principle
has come out in you. No religion, no morality, no

(32:42):
sense of duty. How I am punished for having winked
at what he did. I did it for your sake,
And this is how you repay me, Norah. Yes, that's
just it, Helmer. Now you have destroyed all my happiness.

(33:03):
You have ruined all my future. It is horrible to
think of I am in the power of an unscrupulous man.
He can do what he likes with me, ask anything
he likes of me, give me any orders he pleases.
I dare not refuse, and I must sink to such
miserable depths because of a thoughtless woman, Norah. When I

(33:29):
am out of the way, you will be free, Helmer.
No fine speeches, please. Your father always had plenty of
those ready too. What good would it be to me
if you were out of the way, As you say,
not the slightest. He can make the affair known everywhere,
and if he does, I may be falsely suspected of

(33:52):
having been a party to your criminal action. Very likely
people will think I was behind it all that it
was I who prompted you, And I have to thank
you for all this, you whom I have cherished during
the whole of our married life. Do you understand now
what it is you have done for me? Norah? Coldly

(34:17):
and quietly, yes, Helmer. It is so incredible that I
can't take it in. But we must come to some
understanding take off that shall take it off. I tell
you I must try to appease him some way or another.
The matter must be hushed up at any cost. And

(34:39):
as for you and me, it must appear as if
everything between us were just as before, but naturally only
in the eyes of the world. You will still remain
in my house, that is a matter of course. But
I shall not allow you to bring up the children.
I dare not trust them to you to think that

(35:00):
I should be obliged to say so to one whom
I have loved so dearly, and whom I still know.
That is all over from this moment. Happiness is not
the question. All that concerns us is to save the remains,
the fragments the appearance. A ring is heard at the
front door. Bell Helmer with a start, What is that

(35:24):
so late? Can the worst? Can he hide yourself? Norah,
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,

(35:45):
takes the letter and shuts the door. Yes, it is
from him, You shall not have it. I shall read
it myself. Nora, Yes, read it. Helmer, Standing by the lamp,
I scarcely have the courage to do it. It made
me ruin for both of us. No I must know.

(36:08):
Tears open the letter, runs his eyes over a few lines,
looks at the 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 two. Of course,

(36:34):
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

(36:55):
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

(37:18):
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 see no
way out. But no, we won't call any of the
horrors to mind. We will only shout with joy and

(37:41):
keep saying it's all over, It's all over. Listen to me, Nora.
You don't seem to realize 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

(38:01):
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

(38:23):
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.

(38:46):
You must not think any more 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. Norah. Thank
you for your forgiveness. She goes out through the door
to the right Helmer. No, don't go looks in. What

(39:11):
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 it rest and feel secure.
I have broad wings to shelter you under. Walks up

(39:34):
and down by the door. How warm and cozy our
home is, Nora. Here is a 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

(39:57):
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

(40:20):
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

(40:43):
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 hunchients both do you? What is this? Not
gone to bed? Have you changed your things Nora in

(41:07):
every day dress? Yes, Torvald, I have changed my things now, Helmer.
But what for so late is this? Nora? I shall
not sleep tonight, Helmer. But my dear Nora, Nora, looking
at her watch, it is not so very late. Sit

(41:28):
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

(41:52):
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, Tarvald. This is a

(42:16):
settling of accounts. Helmer, What do you mean by that? Nora?
That's very 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.

(42:38):
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

(42:59):
exchanged 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

(43:21):
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 to revolved, first by Papa and then
by you. Helmer. What by us two? By us two

(43:46):
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? Naura? It is perfectly
true to our vald. When I was at home with Papa,

(44:08):
he told me his opinion about everything, and so I
had the same opinions, and if I differed from him,
I conceal the fact because he would not have liked it.
He called me his dull 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

(44:30):
sort of an expressions 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

(44:52):
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.

(45:13):
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. Helmer, not not happy, Norah, No,

(45:39):
only merry. And you have always been so kind to me.
But our home has been nothing but a play room.
I have been your doll wife, just as at home
I was Papa's doll child, and here the children have
been my dolls. I thought it great fun when you
played with me, just as they thought a great fun

(46:01):
when I played with them. That is what our marriage
has been, Torvald Helmer. There is some truth in what
you say, exaggerated and strained as your view of it is,
But for the future, it shall be different. Playtime shall
be over, and lesson time shall begin, Nora, whose lessons

(46:24):
mine are the children's, Helmer, both yours and the children's,
My darling, Nora, Nora, I'll ask Torvald. You are not
the man to educate me into being a proper wife
for you, Helmer. And you can say that, Nora and I.

(46:47):
How am I fitted to bring up the children? Helmer, Norah, Nora,
didn't you say so yourself a little while ago, that
you dare not trust me to bring them up? Helmer
in a moment of anger. Why do you pay any
heed to that, Nora? Indeed, you were perfectly right. I

(47:10):
am not fit for the task. There is another task
I must undertake first. I must try and educate myself.
You are not the man to help me in that.
I must do that for myself. And that is why
I am going to leave you now, Helmer springing up,

(47:31):
what do you say, Norah? I must stand quite alone
if I am to understand myself and everything about me.
It is for that reason that I cannot remain with
you any longer, Helmer. Nora, Nora, Nora, I am going
away from here now at once. I am sure, Christine

(47:53):
will take me in for the night. Helmer, you are
out of your mind. I won't allow it. I forbid you, Nora.
It is no use forbidding me anything any longer. I
will take with me what belongs to myself. I will
take nothing from you, either now or later. Helmer, what

(48:14):
sort of madness is this? Nora? Tomorrow I shall go home,
I mean to my old home. It will be easiest
for me to find something to do there. Helmer, You blind,
foolish woman, Nora. I must try and get some sense,
Tarvald Helmer. To desert your home, your husband, and your children,

(48:40):
and you don't consider what people will say. Nora, I
cannot consider that at all. I only know that it
is necessary for me. Helmer. It's shocking. This is how
you would neglect your most sacred duties, Norah. What do

(49:00):
you consider my most sacred duties? Helmer? Do I need
to tell you that? Are they not your duties to
your husband and your children? Nora? I have other duties
just as sacred, Helmer, that you have not What duties
could those be? Nora? Duties to myself? Helmer before all else,

(49:28):
you are a wife and a mother, Nora, I don't
believe that any longer. I believe that before all else,
I am a reasonable human being, just as you are,
or at all events, that I must try and become one.
I know quite well, Torvald, that most people would think
you right, and that views of that kind are to

(49:51):
be found in books. But I can no longer content
myself with what most people say, or with what is
found in books. I must think over things for myself
and get to understand them. Helmer, can you not understand
your place in your own home? Have you not a

(50:12):
reliable guide in such matters as that? Have you no religion? Nora?
I am afraid to revolved. I do not exactly know
what religion is, Helmer. What are you saying, Nora? I
know nothing but what the clergy man said. When I
went to be confirmed. He told us that religion was

(50:36):
this and that and the other. When I am away
from all this and am alone, I will look into
that matter too. I will see of what the clergyman
said is true are at all events? If it is true?
For me? Helmer? This is unheard of in a girl
your age. But if religion cannot lead you all right,

(50:56):
let me try and awaken your conscience. I suppose you
have some moral sense or answer me. Am I to
think you have none? Nora. I assure you Torvald that
it's not an easy question to answer. I really don't
know the thing perplexes me altogether. I only know that

(51:17):
you and I look at it in quite a different light.
I am learning too that the law is quite another
thing from what I supposed. But I find it impossible
to convince myself that the law is right. According to it,
a woman has no right to spare her old dying
father or to save her husband's life. I can't believe that, Helmer,

(51:42):
you talk like a child. You don't understand the conditions
of the world in which you live, Nora. No, I don't.
But now I am going to try. I am going
to see if I can make out who is right
the world or I. Helmer. You are ill, Nora, you

(52:03):
are delirious. I almost think you are out of your mind. Nora.
I have never felt my mind so clear and certain
as tonight, Helmer. And is it with a clear and
certain mind that you forsake your husband and your children? Nora, Yes,
it is, Helmer. Then there is only one possible explanation Nora.

(52:30):
What is that, Helmer? You do not love me anymore? Nora. No,
that is just it, Helmer. Nora, and you can say that, Nora.
It gives me great pain to revolved, for you have
always been so kind to me. But I cannot help it.

(52:52):
I do not love you anymore, Helmer, regaining his composure.
Is that a clear and certain conviction to Nora? Yes,
absolutely clear and certain. That is the reason why I
will not stay here any longer. Helmer. And can you

(53:14):
tell me what I have done to forfeit your love? Nora? Yes,
indeed I can. It was tonight when the wonderful thing
did not happen. Then I saw you were not the
man I had thought you were. Helmer, explain yourself better.
I don't understand you, Nora. I have waited so patiently

(53:38):
for eight years, for goodness knows, I knew very well
that wonderful things don't happen every day. Then this horrible
misfortune came upon me, and then I felt quite certain
that the wonderful thing was going to happen at last,
when Krogstat's letter was lying out there, Never for a

(53:59):
moment did I imagine that you would consent to accept
this man's conditions. I was so absolutely certain that you
would say to him, publish the thing to the whole world.
And when that was done, Helmer, Yes, what then when
I had exposed my wife to shame and disgrace, Nora,

(54:20):
When that was done, I was so absolutely certain you
would come forward and take everything upon yourself and say
I am the guilty one. Helmer, Nora, Nora, you mean
that I would never have accepted such a sacrifice on
your part. No, of course not. But what would my

(54:42):
assurances have been worth against yours. That was the wonderful
thing which I hoped for and feared, And it was
to prevent that that I wanted to kill myself. Helmer.
I would gladly work night and day for you, Nora,
bear sorrow and want for your sake. But no man
would sacrifice his honor for the one he loves, Nora.

(55:07):
It is a thing hundreds of thousands of women have done. Helmer. Oh,
you think and talk like a hebeless child, Nora, maybe,
but you neither think nor talk like the man I
could bind myself to as soon as your fear was over.
And it was not fear for what threatened me, but

(55:29):
for what might happen to you. When the whole thing
was passed, as far as you were concerned, it was
exactly as if nothing at all had happened, exactly as before.
I was your little skylark, your doll, which you would
in future treat with doubly gentle care, because it was
so brittle and fragile. Getting up Tarvald, it was then

(55:55):
it dawned upon me that for eight years I had
been living here with a strange man and had borne
him three children. Oh, I can't bear to think of it.
I could tear myself into little bits. Helmer, sadly, I see,
I see an abyss has opened between us. There is

(56:19):
no denying it. But Nora, would it not be possible
to fill it up? Norah? As I am now, I
am no wife for you, Helmer. I have it in
me to become a different man, Nora, perhaps if your
doll is taken away from you, Helmer, but to part

(56:42):
to perform you. No, No, Nora, I can't understand that idea.
Nora going out to the right that makes it all
the more certain that it must be done. She comes
back with her cloak and hat and a small bag,
which she puts on a chair by the table, Helmer, Nora, Nora,

(57:03):
not now, wait until tomorrow, Norah, putting on her cloak.
I cannot spend the night in a strange man's room, Helmer.
But can't we live here like brother and sister? Norah
putting on her hat. You know very well that would
not last long. Puts the shawl round her. Goodbye, Torvald.

(57:27):
I won't see the little ones. I know they are
in better hands than mine. As I am now, I
can be of no use to them, Helmer. But someday, Nora, someday, Norah,
how can I tell? I have no idea what is
going to become of me, Helmer. But you are my wife,

(57:49):
whatever becomes of you, Norah, Listen, Torvald, I have heard
that when a wife deserts her husband's house, as I
am doing now, he is legally free from all obligations
towards her. In any case, I set you free from
all your obligations. You are not to feel yourself bound

(58:10):
in the slightest way any more than I shall. There
must be perfect freedom on both sides. See here is
your ring back, give me mine, Helmer, that too, Nora,
that too, Helmer. Here it is Norah, that's right now,

(58:33):
it is all over. I have put the keys here.
The maids know all about everything in the house better
than I do. Tomorrow, after I have left her, Christine
will come here and pack up my own things that
I have brought with me from home. I will have
them sit after me, Helmer. All over all over, Nora.

(58:56):
Shall you never think of me again? Norah? I know
I shall often think of you, the children and this house. Helmer.
May I write to you, Nora, Nora, No, never, you
must not do that, Helmer. But at least let me
send you Norah nothing nothing, Helmer. Let me help you

(59:22):
if you are in want. Nora. No, I can receive
nothing from a stranger, Helmer, Norah. Can I never be
anything more than a stranger to you? Norah? Taking her bag, Ah, Torvald,
the most wonderful thing of all would have to happen, Helmer.

(59:44):
Tell me what that would be, Nora. Both you and
I would have to be so changed that, Oh, Touvald,
I don't believe any longer in wonderful things happening, Helmer,
but I I will believe in it. Tell me so
change that, Nora, that our life together would be a

(01:00:06):
real wedlock. Goodbye. She goes out through the hall. Helmer
sinks down on a chair at the door and buries
his face in his hands. Nora, Nora looks round and
rises empty. She is gone. A hope flashes across his mind,

(01:00:31):
the most wonderful thing of all. The sound of a
door shutting is heard from below. End of Act three,
end of A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen,