Question

Nora: Listen, Torvald. I have heard that when a wife deserts her husband’s house, as I am doing now, he is legally freed from all obligations towards her. In any case, I set you free from all your obligations. You are not to feel yourself bound in the slightest way, any more than I shall. There must be perfect freedom on both sides. See, here is your ring back. Give me mine.

–A Doll’s House,
Henrik Ibsen

Which statement best explains how the plot structure contributes to the theme in this passage?

Nora's speech resolves the conflict and develops the theme that women have an equal right to be free.
Nora’s speech resolves the conflict and develops the theme that freedom cannot be bought.
Nora’s speech complicates the conflict and develops the theme that the unexamined life is not worth living.
Nora’s speech creates a new conflict and develops the theme that people must make sacrifices to keep the peace.

Answer 1

Nora's speech resolves the conflict and develops the theme that women have an equal right to be free.

Explanation: Her final act—returning the ring, freeing Torvald, and leaving—closes the central marital conflict and asserts her demand for autonomy, underscoring Ibsen’s theme of a woman’s right to independence.