Krogstad tells Nora that "the law cares nothing about motives" because her seemingly noble act of forging her father's signature to save Torvald's life is still a crime, and the legal system judges actions, not good intentions. He uses this principle to highlight the harsh, unforgiving nature of societal rules and to assert his power, as her good motives don't negate her forgery, making her vulnerable to his blackmail for a job at the bank.
Krogstad's motive for blackmailing Nora is not money but a desire to secure respect again from society, and he is willing to fight "as if I were fighting for my life." He views his post at the bank as his one and only chance to find redemption.
Krogstad has come to ask Nora to try and get her husband Torvald to save his job at the bank. He feels entitled to pressure Nora because it turns out she is in debt to him: Nora took out a loan from Krogstad for a trip that was needed for Torvald's health.
Nora's motive for committing the crime was that she needed to do it in order to save Torvald's life. She loans $1200 to go to Italy, which is where Torvald layed sick. However, her motives DO NOT excuse her crime. Although her intent was good, she still went against the law.
Why does Krogstad want to blackmail Nora? Krogstad knows that Nora forged her father's signature on the loan that he gave her, and he uses this information to blackmail Nora. He demands that she convince Torvald to keep him on as an employee at the bank.
Nils Krogstad is, at least at the beginning, the antagonist of the play. Known to the other characters as unscrupulous and dishonest, he blackmails Nora, who borrowed money from him with a forged signature, after learning that he is being fired from his job at the bank.
The play contains ample evidence to suggest that Nora did love her husband, although this love was eventually unable to withstand the stark difference between what Nora expected from Torvald and what he actually gave her.
Nora Helmer's tragic flaw is undoubtedly her naiveté. As Aristotle stated, 'the tragedy is usually triggered by some error of judgment or some character flaw' and it can be said that it is Nora's innocence that inevitably leads her to her tragic fall.
Years ago, Nora Helmer committed a forgery in order to save the life of her authoritarian husband Torvald. Now she is being blackmailed, and lives in fear of her husband finding out.
At no point do we get the impression that Torvald ever thinks of this wife as a fully-grown woman with a mind of her own, with her own needs and desires. Because Torvald looks upon Nora as little more than an object, he infantilizes her, treating her like a child, or even worse, a doll.
(Sharma 106) describes the character of Krogstad and his actions in the play, claiming that Krogstad can be accepted as a negative character in the first and second acts. However, he redeems himself in the third act exactly when he gets his past love, Mrs. Linde, back.
Considered a shortened form of Honora, Nora assumes the meaning of "honor" from the Latin Honorius. A title synonymous with respect and reverence, it's no wonder Nora has become an enduringly popular pick. Nora earns the additional translations of "the other Aenor" and "old north" from the French Eleanor and Eleanora.
Nora procured money and told Torvald that her father gave it to them, though she really raised it herself. Nora's father died before Torvald had a chance to find out that the money didn't come from him. Nora has kept the source of the money a secret because she doesn't want his “man's pride” to be hurt.
Though his willingness to allow Nora's torment to continue is cruel, Krogstad is not without sympathy for her. As he says, “Even money-lenders, hacks, well, a man like me, can have a little of what you call feeling, you know.” He visits Nora to check on her, and he discourages her from committing suicide.
Mrs. Linde says that she felt the marriage was necessary for the sake of her brothers and mother but regrets having ignored her heart, which told her to stay with Krogstad. She tells Krogstad that she wants to get back together with him, to take care of him and his children.
We learn through the conversation that Nora is an individual who will put up a fight till the end in order to protect her family and it's reputation. Her fear of Torvald finding out has put ideas of running away in her head, however she still stays to fight that Krogstad doesn't tell her husband till the end.
After the investigation of Krogstad's motives, the dramatic effect on the protagonist and on the plot, and the antagonistic features of his characterization, it can be concluded that Krogstad is the major antagonist in Ibsen's A Doll's House.
While he thinks that such a bad character is in direct contrast to his “sweet little Nora,” we are aware that Krogstad and Nora have committed exactly the same crime—forgery.
Dr. Rank visits and he and Nora flirt. She shows him her silk stockings, a symbol of female sexuality. Some part of Nora believes she needs a man's assistance in getting out of trouble.
This was primarily due to the play's ending, in which the protagonist, Nora, leaves her husband and three small children in order to seek self-realization. Although condemned for having created a feminist home-wrecker, Ibsen remained steadfast in his choice of endings.
On the contrary, Nora lies to Torvald about eating macaroons because she feels the need to maintain her dignity, while catering to her own desires. Moreover, as Nora enters her house, she “then goes cautiously to her husband's door and listens” (1), exhibiting her propensity to sneak earlier in the play.
Nora is the main character of the play, and we get to find out about her secret when Mrs. Linde comes to have a chat with her. It appears that Nora borrowed a large sum of money from Krogstad to pay for the trip to Italy. It was the only chance to help Torvald improve his health.
At first, Nora's interaction with Dr. Rank is similarly manipulative. When she flirts with him by showing her stockings, it seems that she hopes to entice Dr. Rank and then persuade him to speak to Torvald about keeping Krogstad on at the bank.
Ibsen's emendation was written to satisfy Hedwig Niemann-Raabe, a prominent actress in the German theater, who wanted to play Nora but refused to perform the ending as first written, claiming she would never leave her children in such a manner.
Torvald cares a lot about morals and social standing, but Nora has a secret: she has taken a loan without her husband's knowledge (illegal at the time) by forging her father's signature, and even though this loan money was used to help Torvald, he is about to find out.