It was interesting to see that Nora recognizes the Electra factor that's at center of her relationship with Torvald as she tells Dr. Rank that "being with Torvald is like being with Papa" in her attempts to explain to Dr. Rank the many different ways people love one another. This implies that Nora does play into her husband's expectations of women being delicate, helpless, and dependent on men as opposed to actually fulfilling that stereotype.
Speaking of Torvald's expectations, we see now that he is a man who wants to be in complete control of his environment at all times so that everything fits his expectations of how things should be. We see this in the language of his 'compliments' to Nora and the living arrangement in the house with Nora kept separated from
him when he has guests or works. During Nora's plea to keep Krogstad at the bank, we see that his ability to control maybe more important than anything else as he gradually loses his composure as Nora persists on keeping Krogsatd. Torvald does not want to be undermined by others, especially Nora as revealed when she calls him petty for his reasoning to not keep Krogstad, he quickly takes action to impose his authority by sending off the notice that Krogstad is fired. This harmless labeling by Nora and subsequent outrage reveals that Torvald is not as calm and collected as he appears to be, it in fact shows Torvald to be insecure or sensitive as Dr Rank puts it.
Nora's failure to save Krogstad's job should've ended the manipulations that have been in play, but now Krogstad has returned with a new goal to keep Nora under his control. While Nora rejects his manipulation, we see the possible emergence of a new manipulation as Dr. Rank is later shown to seemingly instruct Torvald in how he handles his wife. Is this a secret plot by both Torvald and Dr. Rank?
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