The first four or five pages of A Doll's House is meant to highlight the relationship between Torvald and Nora Helmer at the beginning of the play, before the introduction of new characters such as Krogstad, Mrs. Linde and Dr. Rank.
Possibly one of the main ideas prevalent through these first few pages is the way Torvald always seems to treat Nora like a pet or a child. He always calls her 'my little skylark' and 'a sweet little songbird'. This shows that in Torvald's eyes Nora is, and always will be, the frivolous innocent girl he considers his own. His pet names often begin with "my", signifying his belief that he owns Nora like a man can own a pet songbird. He gives Nora a lot of teacher-like gestures, like 'wagging his finger at her' and telling her 'But the thing is, you cant [save money]!', showing that he seems to view himself as Nora's father, which is an easy role to fill considering she no longer has one. This might explain why he always speaks to Nora with a playful, innocent tone: to him, Nora has the sophistication of a little girl and won't be able to contend with more serious, adultlike conversations. Finally, Torvald seems to think that this is what happens with all woman. When Nora claimed that if she owed money to someone and Torvald died then she wouldn't care about the money, Torvald claimed 'That is like a woman!'. These all show that Torvald views Nora as a pet unable to survive on her own and that Torvald thinks he must keep Nora as such an animal.
It seems that at face value Nora accepts Torvald's childlike depiction of her. She never complains that she is being called herself such names and even calls herself one of Torvald's pet names when she says 'You haven't any idea how many expenses we skylarks and squirrels have, Torvald.'. In someways the audience feels that Nora does act like a child or a pet sometimes. For example, she sometimes uses childlike words such as 'Pooh!' and the stage directions once described her 'squealing'. She also seems quite careless when it comes to finiancial matters; she carelessly bought a bag of macaroons and paid the Christmas tree porter twice what she should've. This childlish behaviour is heightened even more when Mrs. Linde, a widow for three years, arrives and the contrast between Nora and Linde's hardworking capability can be seen easier. This also shows that the reason Nora sometimes acts so childishly is because unlike Mrs. Linde she has a husband who expects her to behave like that.
However, it is also obvious that Nora aspires to be more than a child. This has caused her real personality to drift slightly from the personality her husband sees in her. For example, she had very little trouble keeping away the secret that she bought a bag of macaroons, even when Torvald told her to look him in the eyes. She has experience in keeping secrets from Torvald and probably derives some mischeivous sense of satisfaction from doing it (when she told Mrs. Linde how she borrowed money and kept it a secret from Torvald she felt proud of herself). Because she has diverged from Torvald's 'perfect wife model she begins to feel more afraid and secluded from Torvald than normal. For example she is afraid of disturbing Torvald at his study so she just cautiously sidles to the door and waits. When Torvald asks her whether she bought macaroons or not, or when he tells Nora he won't give her any more money, she retreats to some furniture object, such as a stove or a table, as if it's a place where she can feel secure and keep away from Torvald's probings. She also feels afraid of asking something from Torvald; for example when Torvald was asking her what she wanted for Christmas (money) Nora just hesitated and played with Torvald's coat buttons. In fact, this fear of Torvald seems to be the reason that Nora continues acting like a child; because it's what Torvald wants 'her little skylark' to act like, and Nora is to afraid of upsetting Torvald.
The final important idea of these first few lines is that all these relationships seems to revolve around money. Money was at the heart of middle class life at that time and Henrik Ibsen, being born to a middle class family which encountered severe monetary problems, understood the influence and power money can bring. In A Doll's House money seems to be at the hub of Nora and Torvald's relationship. For example, when Torvald agreed to give Nora forty dollars her mood suddenly brightened from cold to overjoyed as she turned quickly and shouted 'Money!'. Torvald himself views money very conservatively, telling Nora that the family can never borrow money even if greater riches (in this case Torvald's promotion) are just a few days away. The house seems to revolve around this attitude of fiscal conservatism, with the furniture inexpensive and the main investment being the books on the shelf. Nora, on the other hand, seems very careless around money, as we have already saw. Torvald says that 'as soon as you have got it [the money] it seems to melt in your hands.' Later we realize that this is partly because Nora actually does owe a large sum of money and is using the money she gets from Torvald to pay the debt. The fact that she's in debt, which Torvald would see as a mortal sin, probably contributes to Nora's slight emotional distance from Torvald. The importance of money in Nora and Torvald's relationship is a common feature of middle class life those days and hints that the imbalance of family status between Nora and Torvald draws some of its roots from the elements of the 19th century bourgoisie culture.
In conclusion, the stage directions and dialogue of the first five pages of A Doll's House shows how Torvald views Nora as a pet, how Nora half goes along with this notion and half wishes to be more than a pet, and how this entire relationship seems to be wrapped in the golden foil of money. Although covered by the warm, merry glow of Christmas Eve, their conversations and actions highlight the harsh coldness of their situation just outside the room, blowing its frosty reality at them all day long.
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