Self-Awareness
The theme of self-awareness unfolds throughout Nora's journey.Torvald speaks of Krogstad as a "poisonous" endangerment to his children and a person who must wear a mask "in the presence of those near and dear to him." These words plant the seed of self-discovery in Nora. The horror of the thought of herself as being unworthy or harmful to her children forces Nora to see the consequences of her actions at the end of Act 2. In that moment she makes the earnest decision, "I shall not be able to be so much with them now as I was before," and she withdraws incrementally from her children throughout the rest of the play.