A Dolls House Quotes

Question 1

“He’s so proud of being a man-

Answer 1

it’d be so painful and humiliating to know that he owed anything to me”

Question 2

“Find some work that will

Answer 2

excersise and occupy my mind”

Question 3

“We’re going to have heaps

Answer 3

and heaps of money”

Question 4

“A home that is founded on

Answer 4

debts and borrowing can never be a place of freedom and beauty”

Question 5

“If I get thrown into the gutter for a

Answer 5

second time, I shall take you with me”
-societal ladder

Question 6

“I’ll do everything that you like Torvald. I’ll

Answer 6

sing for you, dance for you”

Question 7

“Because an atmosphere of lies contaminates and poisons every corner of the home.

Answer 7

Every breath that the children draw in such a house contains the germs of evil”

Question 8

“It was great fun […]

Answer 8

it was almost like being a man”

Question 9

Torvald’s affectionate names for Nora

Answer 9

“my little skylark”
“my little sweetooth”

Question 10

stage directions showing Nora’s secrecy Act 1

Answer 10

“Pops the bag of macaroons in her pocket and wipes her mouth”

Question 11

stage directions showing Nora manipulating Torvald Act 1

Answer 11

“plays with his coat buttons; not looking at him”
- childish, using femininity to manipulate

Question 12

(Mrs Linde) “I’m a bit older than you and

Answer 12

have a little more experience of the world”

Question 13

(Torvald) “give the people the idea that

Answer 13

I am open to outside influence?”
-reputation
-victim of society’s attitudes

Question 14

“I am man enough to

Answer 14

bear the burden for us both”
-men used to take the blame for crimes to protect women’s virtue
-seems like he is having to remind himself to fit in with societal attitudes
-Ibsen commenting that roles should be equal

Question 15

“I feel the same about Torvald as

Answer 15

I did about Papa”
-marriage is like parent-child relationship
-child-wife
-Ibsen commenting on extreme and wired parallel and inequality in marriage

Question 16

“Under the ice? Down in the cold, black water? And then in the spring,

Answer 16

to float up again, ugly, unrecognisable, hairless-?
-talking about suicide
-beauty valued
-more descriptive than all other dialogue (realist play)

Question 17

stage directions of Nora’s tarentella

Answer 17

“dances more and more wildly”
“Helmer […] tries repeatedly to correct her, but she does not seem to hear him”
“Her hair works loose and falls over her shoulders”
-loose women- lower class behaviour
-disobeying Torvald
-representative of state of mind + psyche

Question 18

description of christmas tree in Act 1 vs Act 2 + why

Answer 18

described in Act 1 as needing to be “decorated”, implied that it will be “extravagant”.
Act 2 “stripped and dishevelled”
-symbolic of state of mind
-more realistic, contrasts well-made play where sets are lavish

Question 19

“Castaways have a better chance of

Answer 19

survival together than on their own”

(Mrs Linde saying to Krogstad”

Question 20

“I practically had to use force

Answer 20

to get her away”
-husbands power of women
-Svenglai, moving performer

Question 21

“Was I going to let her stay on and

Answer 21

spoil the impression?”
-bourgeious respectabilty and reputation

Question 22

“my most treasured

Answer 22

possession”
-19th century view that husbands owned wives

Question 23

“Aren’t I your husband”

Answer 23

-marital rape
- J.S Miller stood up against it

Question 24

“All your father’s recklessness and

Answer 24

instability he has handed onto you!”
-heritidary sin

Question 25

“there can be no question of happiness; we must

Answer 25

merely strive to save what shreds and tatters”
-must maintain reputation for survivial back then
-now, more accepting and morally relaxed

Question 26

“I shall watch over you like a hunted dove which I have

Answer 26

snatched unharmed from the claws of the falcon”
-predator is krogstad and innocent dove is Nora
-height of bird imagery
-Torvald acting like saviour but didn’t do anything

Question 27

“You and I have got to

Answer 27

face facts”
- out of world of delusion
- Nora taking more male stereotypes, assertive…

Question 28

“I’ve been your doll-wife, just as I used to be papa’s doll-child.

Answer 28

And the children have been my dolls”
-objectified
-perpetuating into next generation

Question 29

“I must educate

Answer 29

myself”
-finding herself as her identity has been defined by men
-women still denied education now eg Afghanistan

Question 30

“But you’re blind! You’ve no

Answer 30

experience of the real world”

Question 31

“Can you neglect your

Answer 31

most sacred duties?”
-Ibsen bringing in the church shows that he is criticising the entire patriachal system, showing that the problem is everywhere in society

Question 32

“Here is your ring back.

Answer 32

Give me mine”
-Nora in control, inverting inequality in their marriage
-shift in tone from beginning of play, out of role

Question 33

stage direction of door shutting + siginificance

Answer 33

“The street door is slammed shut downstairs”
- Nora going out of domestic sphere

Question 34

stage direction of door shutting + significance

Answer 34

“The street door is slammed shut downstairs”
- Nora going out of domestic sphere

Question 35

it would be a “miracle” for “life between us two could become

Answer 35

a marriage”
-unequal marriage