B.)
All events from the beginning of Act 1 in the play build up to this particular moment where Nora comes face to face with her supposed nemesis, Krogstad, whom she does not want her husband to have any dealings with due to the fact that Krogstad is the bearer of a secret with which Nora is not too keen about revealing. Mrs. Linde, Nora’s friend seems uneasy when Krogstad arrives in the house and tries to enquire about him from Nora. The same happens with Krogstad when he comes back into the house. This hints an underlying tension between Mrs. Linde and Krogstad which has little to do with her taking up Krogstad’s position at the bank. Again, Krogstad’s return back to Nora’s house after seeing her husband puts a hasty end to her joyous games with her children and precedes a dark mood for Nora.
Krogstad on the other hand, knows the effect he has on Mrs. Helmer and proceeds by intimidating her, on the grounds of the money she owes him. Nora assures Krogstad that she will repay all her loans by the new year and asks him to leave her alone. Krogstad implies that he isn’t concerned only about the money; his position at the bank is very important to him. He speaks of a “bad mistake” he committed, which ruined his reputation and made it very difficult for his career to advance. Thus, he tells Nora, he began doing the loan business. Krogstad announces that he wishes to rebuild his reputation and to behave properly for the sake of his sons, who are growing up. He then threatens Nora, saying that he has “the power to force” her to help him. Nora, who is devastated by the thought of her husband hearing of this ‘favor’ from somebody else goes into total frenzy but tries to hide this and calls Krogstad’s bluff, knowing Torvald would pay off the loan, and dealings with Krogstad would be terminated. In