ADH Act 2 quotes Flashcards
dishevelled
*The chistmas tree… stripped of its ornaments and with burnt-down candle-ends on its dishevelled branches
Nora has been laid bare like this tree has been. Christmas tree represents family life, now bare, it could symbolise the stripping of her family life.
Candles traditionally represent light and hope
->absence of light shows an absence of hope Nora has
impossible
Such a thing couldn’t happen; it is impossible–I have three little children.
nora - naivety
thousand
Nora
I should like to tear it into a hundred thousand pieces.
This clearly shows Nora’s frustration and fear after Krogstad’s visit. The verb “tear” suggests violence and foreshadows her later thoughts for suicide. Nora’s less stereotypical feminine side is suggested and this is the turning point in which she starts to unconsciously express her bitterness. Further, the dress she wants to rips can be seen as a symbol of how Nora is only meant to be admired. To rip it, she is deliberately trying to escape Torvald’s restrictions.
altogether
Do you think they would forget their mother if she went away altogether? nora
wicked
A poor girl who has got into trouble should be glad to. Besides, that wicked man didn’t do a single thing for me. - nurse
pregnant outside of wedlock
no other mother
Little Nora, poor dear, had no other mother but me.
nurse - nora lack of maternal figure
i am sure
And if my little ones had no other mother, I am sure you would–
nora, suicide or leaving
screams
Out of my thoughts, out of my thoughts! One, two, three, four, five, six– [Screams.] Ah! there is someone coming–. [Makes a movement towards the door, but stands irresolute.]
nora losing control, paranoia
Tarantella
Torvald wants me to go as a Neapolitan fisher-girl, and dance the Tarantella
Ensuring his own societal superiority? Continues the idea of Torvald treating her as a ‘pet’. He wants to display her as a trophy.
Torvald treats his wife as a public display but only when he pleases.
fond
absurdly fond of me that he wants me absolutely to himself
extremely possessive husband. Chipping away at her identity, very toxic but Nora makes it sound nice. Mentally abusive. nora
older
You are still very like a child in many things, and I am older than you in many ways
christine
nice
Nice?–because you do as your husband wishes?
torvald - to do as expected
quill
Isn’t it an insult to think that I should be afraid of a starving quill-driver’s vengeance?
torvald
rotting
Probably within a month I shall lie rotting in the churchyard.
dr rank
amusements
My poor innocent spine has to suffer for my father’s youthful amusements.
victorian fear of stds - dr rank
tomorrow you will see how beautifully I shall dance, and you can imagine I am doing it all for you–and for Torvald too, of course.
nora - By saying this to Dr Rank, Nora shows a disregard for the boundaries of marriage and a delight in flaunting her femininity. Nora’s flirtatious behavior shows her ability to manipulate those around her and readers realize how she is not as innocent as she pretends to be.
legs
you may have leave to look at the legs too.
nora
sake
The only one who would gladly give his life for your sake.
dr rank
horrid
To have loved you as much as anyone else does? Was that horrid?
rank
anything
I can’t tell you anything now.
Nora’s manner of speaking in a self contradictory way becomes more obvious. She is first flirtatious with Dr Rank, asking him for a favor but then claims she cannot tell him anything. Nora seems upset and offended by Dr Rank’s confession of love for her, suggesting her disappointment when realizing she was just another doll in another man’s life.
entertaining
But I always thought it tremendous fun if I could steal down into the maids’ room, because they never moralised at all, and talked to each other about such entertaining things.
This shows the expectations for women and the constraint for Nora. She is only able to gain freedom by talking to others.
papa
IRank see–it is their place I have taken.
Nora [jumping up and going to him]. Oh, dear, nice Doctor Rank, I never meant that at all. But surely you can understand that being with Torvald is a little like being with papa--[Enter MAID from the hall.]
Misunderstanding of love? Also, it shows she is a dutiful daughter and wife
helen
Helen, you mustn’t say anything about it to anyone.
Nora is trying to conceal Krogstad’s visit, thus reinforcing how the theme of deceit is presented constantly at this point in the play. She must cover her tracts in front of everyone – even the maid – increasing her isolation and Nora’s desperation in keeping the truth from Torvald is apparent.
He is wearing a fur coat, high boots and a fur cap.]
abt krogstad after dismissal, animals - disease
rehabilitate
I want to rehabilitate myself…. For the last year and a half I have not had a hand in anything dishonourable, - krogstad
blaming Nora for setting him back
unrecognisable
And then, in the spring, to float up to the surface, all horrible and unrecognisable, with your hair fallen out–
krogtsad mocking her suicidalness
courage
Most of us think of that at first. I did, too–but I hadn’t the courage.
krogstad - suicide
gladly
There was a time when he would gladly do anything for my sake.
ms linde
tambourine
[laughing and swining the tambourine]
The Tarantella symbolizes Nora’s last attempts at being Torvald’s doll. The dance is a way she can release her wildest emotions and momentarily cast off her display of composure and respectability in a way that is still considered appropriate to the society
the dance
[RANK sits down at the piano and plays. NORA dances more and more wildly. HELMER has taken up a position beside the stove, and during her dance gives her frequent instructions. She does not seem to hear him; her hair comes down and falls over her shoulders; she pays no attention to it, but goes on dancing. Enter Mrs Linde.]
rank - patriarchy, stove - domestic sphere, dancing wildly - freedom
forgotten
You have forgotten everything I taught you.
torvald after tarentella
lots, just
Yes, a champagne banquet until the small hours. [Calls out.] And a few macaroons, Helen–lots, just for once! - nora
Despite knowing Torvald’s distaste for macaroons, Nora’s love for the sweets overcomes her self-control. This shows that she is unwilling to keep going along with Torvald’s strict rules and she no longer desires to be like a dependant child. The final scene where Nora leaves is foreshadowed.
31
Thirty-one hours to live.
this is a build up to the final part of the play. Nora’s words foreshadow the great shift in her internal and external circumstances that will come the next day and she is now not afraid to face the inevitable. She has resigned to Krogstad’s letter and she is embracing the destruction of her life.
