A Doll's House: Act II

by Henrik Ibsen
Nora Helmer appears to be a happy wife and mother—but when someone from her past threatens to reveal a devastating secret, Nora must reevaluate the assumptions she made about her marriage. Read the full text here.

Here are links to our lists for the play: Act I, Act II, Act III
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. irresolute
    uncertain how to act or proceed
    [Makes a movement towards the door, but stands irresolute.]
  2. tarantella
    a lively whirling Italian dance for two persons
    Tomorrow evening there is to be a fancy-dress ball at the Stenborgs', who live above us; and Torvald wants me to go as a Neapolitan fisher-girl, and dance the Tarantella that I learned at Capri.
  3. tactless
    lacking what is considerate in dealing with others
    But how can this well-bred man be so tactless?
  4. prevaricate
    be deliberately ambiguous or unclear
    Don't prevaricate, Nora.
  5. scurrilous
    expressing offensive, insulting, or scandalous criticism
    This fellow writes in the most scurrilous newspapers; you have told me so yourself.
  6. malicious
    having the nature of threatening evil
    Just recall to your mind what these malicious creatures wrote in the papers about papa, and how horribly they slandered him.
  7. contrive
    make or work out a plan for; devise
    You never can tell what mischief these men may contrive.
  8. intercede
    act between parties with a view to reconciling differences
    And it is just by interceding for him that you make it impossible for me to keep him.
  9. intolerable
    incapable of being put up with
    He would make my position in the Bank intolerable.
  10. loathsome
    physically offensive or sickening
    As soon as I am quite certain that the worst has come, I shall send you my card with a black cross on it, and then you will know that the loathsome end has begun.
  11. inexorable
    impossible to prevent, resist, or stop
    And in every single family, in one way or another, some such inexorable retribution is being exacted....
  12. amicably
    in a friendly manner
    The whole thing can be arranged amicably; there is no reason why anyone should know anything about it.
  13. expedient
    a means to an end
    Or perhaps that you have some expedient for raising the money soon?
  14. lenient
    characterized by tolerance and mercy
    In as lenient a manner as I possibly could.
  15. variegated
    having an assortment of colors
    Nora [takes out of the box a tambourine and a long variegated shawl.]
Created on Mon Jun 10 11:38:07 EDT 2013 (updated Thu Jul 17 19:19:12 EDT 2025)

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