Make sure that you can write about the theme of theatricality and pretence. Helmer tells Nora, ‘Don’t be  ’ (Act 3, p. 94).

Ask yourself: Why, at this point in the play, might we find this ironic?

Possible answer: Helmer is too self-absorbed to see that Nora is genuinely suicidal here. Once ‘saved’, he strikes protective poses like a melodramatic hero himself.