A DOLL'S HOUSE
by Henrik Ibsen


three small excerpts from
ACT I


Servant [at the hall door]: Excuse me, ma'am--there is a gentleman to see the master, and as the doctor is with him--

Nora: Who is it?

Krogstad [at the door]. It is I, Mrs. Helmer. [Mrs. LINDE starts, trembles, and turns to the window.]

Nora [takes a step towards him, and speaks in a strained, low voice]: You? What is it? What do you want to see my husband about?

Krogstad: Bank business--in a way. I have a small post in the Bank, and I hear your husband is to be our chief now--

Nora: Then it is--

Krogstad: Nothing but dry business matters, Mrs. Helmer; absolutely nothing else.

Nora: Be so good as to go into the study, then. [She bows indifferently to him and shuts the door into the hall; then comes back and makes up the fire in the stove.]…

Rank: Certainly. However wretched I may feel, I want to prolong the agony as long as possible. All my patients are like that. And so are those who are morally diseased; one of them, and a bad case too, is at this very moment with Helmer--

Mrs. Linde [sadly]: Ah!

Nora: Whom do you mean?

Rank: A lawyer by the name of Krogstad, a fellow you don't know at all. He suffers from a diseased moral character Mrs. Helmer, but even he began talking of it being highly important that he should live.

Nora: Did he? What did he want to speak to Torvald about?

Rank: I have no idea. I only heard that it was something about the bank.

Nora: I didn't know this…what's his name…Krogstad had anything to do with the bank.

Rank: Yes, he has some sort of appointment there. [To Mrs. Linde.] I don't know whether you find also in your part of the world that there are certain people who go zealously snuffing about to smell out moral corruption, and, as soon as they have found some, put the person concerned into some lucrative position where they can keep their eye on him. Healthy natures are left out in the cold…

Krogstad: Excuse me, Mrs. Helmer.

Nora [with a stifled cry, turns round and gets up on to her knees]: Ah! What do you want?

Krogstad: Excuse me, the outer door was ajar. I suppose someone forgot to shut it.

Nora [rising]: My husband is out Mr. Krogstad.

Krogstad: I know that.

Nora: What do you want here then?

Krogstad: A word with you.

Nora: With me? [To the children, gently.] Go in to nurse. What? No, the strange man won't do mother any harm. When he has gone we will have another game. [She takes the children into the room on the left, and shuts the door after them.] You want to speak to me?

Krogstad: Yes, I do.

Nora: Today? It is not the first of the month yet.

Krogstad: No, it is Christmas Eve, and it will depend on yourself what sort of a Christmas you will spend.

Nora: What do you mean? Today it is absolutely impossible for me--

Krogstad: We won't talk about that until later on. This is something different. I presume you can give me a moment?

4
How does Nora's reaction at seeing Krogstad create suspense in the play?
A.
Her reaction makes readers wonder how Nora knows Mrs. Linde.
B.
Her reaction makes readers wonder what Nora's children think about Krogstad.
C.
Her reaction makes readers wonder why Nora's husband is not at home.
D.
Her reaction makes readers wonder how Nora knows Krogstad.