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Get every literary device explanation for A Doll's HousePlus so much more...
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Irony
Explanation and Analysis—The Really Big Thing:
Nora, chafing at constantly being underestimated, ends up confiding in Mrs. Linde near the start of Act 1, seemingly wanting to discreetly unburden herself by sharing her secret about the loan. In an act of situational irony, though, Nora’s attempt to ease some of her worries and frustrations ultimately exacerbates her circumstances later in the play:
Nora: You’re just like the rest of them. You all think I’m useless when it comes to anything really serious…
Mrs. Linde: Come, come…
Nora: You think I’ve never had anything much to contend with in this hard world.
Mrs. Linde: Nora dear, you’ve only just been telling me all the things you've had to put up with.
Nora: Pooh! They were just trivialities! [Softly.] I haven’t told you about the really big thing. [...] Nobody must know about it, Kristine, nobody but you.
Telling Mrs. Linde this secret turns out to backfire on Nora spectacularly, ironically leading to even more troubles and the eventual dissolution of her marriage. Following Nora’s confession, Mrs. Linde condemns the fact that Nora has introduced deception into her marriage, and it is Mrs. Linde’s very dedication to truthfulness that ultimately cements the chain of events that lead to Torvald’s discovery of Nora’s deception. Nora’s attempt to unburden herself from the stress of keeping her family afloat thus ends up leading to even more trouble and hardship.
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