In Act I Scene 1, Ibsen establishes Helmer as a character who (A) is modern in his attitude to women. (B) is paternalistic in dealing with his...

The correct answer to this question is (B)—Helmer is paternalistic in dealing with his wife. In the first scene of Act I, Helmer’s first line, “Is that my little lark twittering out there?” is directed toward Nora. In the exchange that follows, he refers to his wife as “my little squirrel bustling about,” “my little spendthrift,” and “you extravagant little person,” among other such diminutives. Helmer is speaking to Nora as he would a child, with lighthearted, patronizing admonishments. He reprimands her for spending too much money, and then teases her with a bag of coins as a man would tease his dog with treats. It is therefore clear that he does not treat Nora as an adult, nor does he respect her as a woman, but believes she should be monitored and rewarded as one would a little girl.

From these examples it is therefore clear that he definitely does not have a modern view toward women, so we may quickly rule out (A) as an answer. And he does not go so far as to abuse Nora; he simply teases and looks down upon her, and she plays along happily. So we can rule out (D) as well. His uptight attitude about money is a counterexample to (C)—with so many rules, he is certainly not relaxed about life. And he clearly does not (E) build up the confidence of those around him—look at how he speaks to his wife! He refers to her as “little” every chance he gets, and titters on about how much harm she is dong with her spending. This is not confidence-building behavior.