Doll's House Flashcards
Act 1 summary
Nora embodies the perfect Victorian wife and is totally controlled by Helmer. She has no key to her own house and is reluctant to knock on his door.
In Act 1, Nora is subservient
Act 1 quotes + analysis - Nora
“I would never dream of doing anything you didn’t want me to.” Nora plays the part of the perfect wife, conveying her love for Helmer and accepting her gender role. HOWEVER, she has already lied to him (macaroons and debt.) Ironic, paints her as deceptive, exaggerated nature = increased tension
“Almost like being a man.” Indicates she might be dissatisfied with her role as the traditional wife, and foreshadows her sacrifice at the end where she chooses to become autonomous
Act 1 quotes + analysis - Helmer
“Nora, how like a woman!” Helmer considers women to be irrational and untrustworthy when it comes to money - mirrors societal beliefs from that time.
“A home that is founded on debts and borrowing can never be a place of freedom and beauty.” Ironic because Nora has already borrowed money, he has less control over his life than he believes. Foreshadows the eventual disintegration of their home
“What a glorious feeling it is, knowing you’ve got a nice, safe job, and a good, fat income.” Indicates that Helmer takes pleasure in having a high-paying job and highlights the importance of money and status at the time.
“Fog of lies.” Melodramatic language shows the fierce contempt Helmer feels for Krogstad. He believes that dishonesty corrupts the purity of domestic life
Act 2 summary
Nora still plays her role as the wife but the pressure of the lies is taking a toll on her, especially when she contemplates suicide. The lack of power women held in Victorian society is also explored further
Act 2 quotes + analysis - Nora
“A man’s better coping at these things than a woman.” Suggests that Nora has internalised the sexist idea that women are unsuited to serious matters. Nora is convinced she needs a man to help her with the debt predicament, despite borrowing the money herself.
“Tell me what to do, keep me right - as you always do.” Could be manipulation by Nora because she knows that the Tarantella dance will catch Helmer’s attention - she’s appeasing him by playing the role of the obedient wife. OR this could be a genuine desire on Nora’s behalf, she may want him to take care of her
Act 2 quotes + analysis - Helmer
“My dear darling Nora, you are dancing as though your life depended on it.”
Perhaps Nora’s inner turmoil has reached a new level of crisis, she is no longer able to play the part of the carefree, child-like doll wife. Nora’s dancing style could be seen as representative of her longing to break away from the strict behaviour codes forced upon Victorian women. Nora ignoring Helmer’s instructions when dancing foreshadows her eventual decision to leave him
Act 2 quotes + analysis - Nursemaid
“When a poor girls been in trouble, she must make the best of things.”
Highlights how little freedom and power women had. Each woman in the play was forced to act in ways they otherwise would not have chosen - the Nursemaid gave up her child, for example. All three women in the play acted in a selfless and pragmatic way, yet were punished for it. This exposes the inaccuracy of the belief that women are foolish and incapable of making rational decisions
Act 2 quotes + analysis - Krogstad
“You can’t frighten me! A precious little pampered thing like you…”
Krogstad treats Nora like a doll which implies she does not have any agency.
“Pampered” alludes to the fact that Nora has been spared the harsh realties of life due to her husbands wealth. The characters in the play do not think Nora is capable of making decisions for herself, this underestimation turns out to be a mistake.
Act 3 summary
Nora undergoes a transformation and breaks free from her role as a subservient wife, and Helmer’s true colours are revealed
Act 3 quotes + analysis - Helmer
“His suffering and his loneliness seemed almost to provide a background of dark cloud to the sunshine of our lives.” Foreshadows his cruel reaction to the revelation of Nora’s secret. Highlights that Helmer’s idea of a perfect and happy life is dependent on outside appearances - prefigures his insistence on staying married to Nora to keep up appearances
“I wouldn’t be a proper man if I didn’t find a woman doubly attractive for being so obviously helpless.” Exposes normality of Victorian men treating their wives like children, Helmer’s love for Nora is superficial because he only loves her when she embraces her child-like role
“She becomes in a way both his wife and at the same time his child.” Metaphor takes patriarchal logic to the extreme, it becomes clear that Helmer never wished his relationship with Nora to be equal and mutually respectful.
Act 3 quotes + analysis - Nora
“I have been your doll wife, just as at home I was daddy’s doll child.”
Nora has undergone a transformation, implies that all their interactions were doomed and meaningless because Helmer does not see her as autonomous. Helmer only valued her because of the control he had over her, and how their marriage appeared to society
“I believe that first and foremost I am an individual.”
Foreshadows future debate about gender and autonomy.
Krogstad character analysis
Like Nora, Krogstad is a person who has been wronged by society, and both Nora and Krogstad have committed the same crime: signature forgery. Krogstad’s claim that his immoral behaviour began when Mrs. Linde abandoned him so she could provide for her family, so one may suggest that Krogstad is a victim of circumstances. Though society’s unfair treatment of Krogstad does not justify his actions, it does align him more closely with Nora and therefore tempers our perception of him as a despicable character.
Christine Linde character analysis
Mrs. Linde acts as a foil to Nora, providing a serious contrast to Nora’s frivolous personality and highlighting the spoiled life Nora leads. Linde, like the “hundreds of thousands” of women that Nora points out led a self-sacrificing life in order to help her loved ones. By working so much, Linde learned how to become a self-sufficient woman which caused genteel society like Helmer to find her “boring.”
Because of the hardships she endured for much of her life, Mrs. Linde describes herself as becoming “bitter,” and since she is “obliged to be always on the lookout for chances” to survive, she calls herself “selfish.” Yet Mrs. Linde uses the eventual job offer to save Krogstad, the man she once truly loved and never forgot.
