ld feels about her at the time. He has something about him that observes the mood of the people that he is around, like later in the story when he says to Nora "Did you notice what good spirits Rank was in this evening?"(pg. 55) The animals Ibsen chooses to use are related to how Nora is acting, or how she needs to be portrayed to the reader. For example not even a dozen lines into Act I, Torvald asks (referring to Nora), "Is that my little lark twittering out there" and "Is that my squirrel bustling about?" A lark is a songbird; a happy, carefree bird. It is can also be used as a verb that means to engage in spirited fun or merry pranks. A squirrel is quite the opposite: it is a small, furry rodent. If you are to squirrel away something, you were hiding or storing it, kind of like what Nora was doing with her bag of macaroons. Torvald calls her these names to fit the situation. Nora was definitely a carefree woman, just like a lark, and Torvald refers to her as such: "my little lark." When he says that, Nora is moving around the room and humming with a carefree spirit that would resemble a lark. Whenever she is in this mood, Torvald refers to her as his "little lark." On the other hand, Nora must be some sort of scrounge, because Torvald also refers to her as his "little squirrel." He asks if "that is my squirrel bustling about?" It seems that maybe Ibsen was using this imagery to show that Nora was burying something deep down inside-maybe the macaroons or the knowledge of the promissory note-and that Torvald might have known about it (but I doubt it) and she felt ashamed. Throughout the play Torvald refers to Nora as his lark, or songbird; two birds that are stereotypically peaceful, carefree, happy birds. At least from what you can tell. On the inside the birds may have many struggles, but they don't show it, much like Nora avoids showing her feelings and concerns. Torvald can't tell the difference. He thinks Nora is always happy...
