ra. I shall not sleep tonight.

Helmer. But, my dear Nora--

Nora (looking at her watch). It is not so very late. Sit 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 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. Torvald, this is a settling of
accounts.

Helmer. What do you mean by that?

Nora (after a 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. 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 exchanged a 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 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, Torvald--first by papa and then by you.

Helmer. What! By us two--by us two, 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?

Nora. It is perfectly true, Torvald. When I was at home with papa, he
told me his opinion about everything, and so I had the same opinions;
and if I differed from him I concealed the fact, because he would not
have liked it. He called me his doll-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 sort of an expression is that to use about our marriage?

Nora (undisturbed). I mean that I was simply transferred from papa's
hands into yours. You arranged everything