A Doll's House, Part 2: Suspense and Irony — Unit test
Question 8 • LHS English 10
Read the excerpt from act 1 of A Doll’s House.Mrs. Linde: Yes, but your father gave you the necessary funds.Nora: [smiling] Yes, that is what Torvald and all the others think, but—Mrs. Linde: But—Nora: Papa didn't give us a shilling. It was I who procured the money.Mrs. Linde: You? All that large sum?Nora: Two hundred and fifty pounds. What do you think of that?Mrs. Linde: But, Nora, how could you possibly do it? Did you win a prize in the Lottery?Nora: [contemptuously] In the Lottery? There would have been no credit in that.Mrs. Linde: But where did you get it from, then?Nora: [humming and smiling with an air of mystery]. Hm, hm! Aha!Mrs. Linde: Because you couldn't have borrowed it.Nora: Couldn't I? Why not?Mrs. Linde: No, a wife cannot borrow without her husband's consent.Nora: [tossing her head] Oh, if it is a wife who has any head for business—a wife who has the wit to be a little bit clever—
Answer
A
As a woman, Nora is supposed to do whatever it takes to save her husband, but she cannot act alone.
B
As a woman, Nora cannot borrow money, but she does so behind her husband’s back in order to save him.
C
As a woman, Nora cannot discuss money with men, so she does not reveal her actions to her husband.
D
As a woman, Nora is supposed to be flawless, so she must hide from her husband any mistake she makes.
Explanation
Nora reveals that she procured the large sum herself, even though Mrs. Linde says a wife cannot borrow without her husband’s consent. Nora’s secretive response suggests she found a way to borrow the money without Torvald knowing; she obtained it to help save him. Choice B captures both her legal restriction as a woman and her decision to act behind her husband’s back.
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