Question

Read the excerpt from act 3 of A Doll's House. Mrs. Linde: We have a great deal to talk about. Krogstad: I shouldn't have thought so. Mrs. Linde: No, you have never properly understood me. Krogstad: Was there anything else to understand except what was obvious to all the world—a heartless woman jilts a man when a more lucrative chance turns up? Mrs. Linde: Do you believe I am as absolutely heartless as all that? And do you believe that I did it with a light heart? Krogstad: Didn't you? Mrs. Linde: Nils, did you really think that? Krogstad: If it were as you say, why did you write to me as you did at the time? Mrs. Linde: I could do nothing else. As I had to break with you, it was my duty also to put an end to all that you felt for me. Krogstad [wringing his hands]. So that was it. And all this—only for the sake of money! Mrs. Linde: You must not forget that I had a helpless mother and two little brothers. We couldn't wait for you, Nils; your prospects seemed hopeless then. Krogstad: That may be so, but you had no right to throw me over for anyone else's sake. Mrs. Linde: Indeed, I don't know. Many a time did I ask myself if I had the right to do it. How does Ibsen use dramatic irony to heighten suspense in this scene? Mrs. Linde knows that she has always loved Krogstad, and so does the audience, but Krogstad does not know this at the beginning of the scene. Mrs. Linde knows that she is taking Krogstad's job, and so does the audience, but Krogstad does not know that this will happen. Krogstad has always been in love with Mrs. Linde, and the audience knows it, but Mrs. Linde does not know this at the beginning of the scene. Krogstad is going to try to take his job back from Mrs. Linde, and the audience knows it, but Mrs. Linde does not know that this will happen.

Answer 1

Answer:

The dramatic irony is used by Ibsen in the following manner:

A. Mrs. Linde knows that she has always loved Krogstad, and so does the audience, but Krogstad does not know this at the beginning of the scene.

Explanation:

Krogstad and Mrs. Linde are characters in the play "A Doll's House", by Henrik Ibsen. As we can see in this excerpt, Mrs. Linde and Krogstad were in love once. She, however, broke up with him in order to marry a rich man. She did not do it because she did not love Krogstad. It was only because she had to think of her family and their well being. Still, when she wrote him the letter that would end their relationship, she made it seem as if she had no feelings left for him. Krogstad was deeply hurt and, as is made clear in their dialog, is still resentful over that. What he does not know is that she only made it seem that her feelings were gone because she thought it would be better that way. She has always loved him, and the audience knows that - it is Krogstad himself who does not know it. That constitutes dramatic irony - the audience knows something that the character does not.