Question

helmer: what sort of an expression is that to use about our marriage?
nora undisturbed: i mean that i was simply transferred from papas hands into yours. you arranged everything according to your own taste, and so i got the same tastes as you—or else i pretended to, i am really not quite sure which—i think sometimes the one and sometimes the other. when i look back on it, it seems to me as if i had been living here like a poor woman—just from hand to mouth. i have existed merely to perform tricks for you, torvald. but you would have it so. you and papa have committed a great sin against me. it is your fault that i have made nothing of my life.
helmer: how unreasonable and how ungrateful you are, nora!
—a doll’s house,
henrik ibsen
what evidence from the text best supports the theme that the oppressed live unsatisfying lives? check all that apply.
□ \i was simply transferred from papa’s hands into yours.\
□ \i had been living here like a poor woman.\
□ \i have existed merely to perform tricks for you.\
□ \it is your fault that i have made nothing of my life.\
□ \how unreasonable and how ungrateful you are.\

Explanation:

• "I was simply transferred from papa's hands into yours" shows Nora had no control over her life, like being passed around, indicating an oppressed and unfulfilling existence.
• "I had been living here like a poor woman" implies a lack of real, satisfying life experiences.
• "I have existed merely to perform tricks for you" shows she was treated as an object for entertainment, not having a meaningful life.
• "It is your fault that I have made nothing of my life" indicates that due to oppression (from Helmer and her father), she couldn't have a fulfilling life.
• "How unreasonable and how ungrateful you are" is Helmer's reaction, not evidence of Nora's oppressed and unsatisfying life.

Answer:

"I was simply transferred from papa's hands into yours.", "I had been living here like a poor woman.", "I have existed merely to perform tricks for you.", "It is your fault that I have made nothing of my life"