Quotes Flashcards
Torvald teases Nora in Act 1 for being a…
“spendthrift”
Nora’s first word in the play
it is very significant that Nora’s first word in the play is “Hide”
numerous critics suggest that this immediately signals her secrecy and links to the facade she maintains
Nora immediately demonstrating that she is not always sweetly compliant, she is actually happy to contradict Torvald when he claims she has inherited the bad habit of reckless overspending from her father
“I wish I’d inherited more of papa’s qualities”
Torvald growing irritated at the arrival of visitors, possibly because he wants to keep Nora all to himself
“What a bore”
role of money in the play, an early hint that money and debt will play a central part in the action of the play
Torvald says that “a home that is founded on debts and borrowing can never be a place of freedom and beauty”
Nora enjoys working because it gives her freedom and independence
“working and earning money… almost like being a man”
Nora as deceitful, manipulative and hyperaware in Act 1, she seems to be aware of her position in the marriage as a mere plaything and that once her beauty and youth fades, she will be left with nothing to interest her husband
she realises that a time will come when “it no longer amuses [Torvald] to see [her] dance and dress up and play the fool”
so when this time comes, she intends to keep him by revealing how she saved his life, planning to use her secret as leverage
the macaroons symbolising Nora’s childish and greedy side, hinting that she finds self-control difficult
“just a little one, two at most”
Krogstad’s determination to keep his job, he is not motivated by money, he may be blackmailing Nora but it is clear that he does this out of desperation rather than malice, all he wants is to keep his job at the bank
“I shall fight for my little job at the bank as I would fight for my life”
the audience may at first sympathise with Nora, she is fragile and innocent so there is something unsettling about Krogstad manipulating and intimidating someone so naïve, however, she is not entirely sympathetic – she displays classist attitudes when she regards Krogstad as a member of an inferior class
(no clear cut heroes or villains, all characters are complex and imperfect)
“one of my husband’s employees”
“filthy”
“beastly”
mirrors for Nora – while Mrs Linde shows Nora the independent and capable woman she can become, Krogstad also acts as a mirror as he and Nora have both committed the same crime and he shows her the scared and deceitful person she will become if she does not face her problems
“no bigger nor worse a crime than the one I once committed”
Nora is not as naïve and unaware as she first appeared, she manipulates the conversation, weaving the topic of Krogstad in and out of discussion, she is aware of how to appeal to her husband’s ego and bends him to her will
she says “it all seems so stupid and meaningless”
this seems to be her attempt to begin a new conversation, perhaps she is planning to introduce wider issues and eventually mention Krogstad
her words at the beginning of Act 2 mirror those at the end of Act 1, suggesting that she has been obsessively caught in her thoughts since then
“it couldn’t happen”
Nora’s dresses and costumes seem to be acquiring some kind of symbolic significance to her, they represent her false seeming and deception as well as Torvald’s control, she seems to be tired of having to dress up as her husband’s social and sexual inferior and being treated like a doll
she wants to “tear them into a million pieces” because of what they have come to symbolise
the same phrase is used to describe Nora’s costume AND decorating the Christmas tree
“dress up”
Nora and Rank flirting with the silk stockings, it is quite shocking to see Nora be so crude and dominating in the conversation, contrasts to her being belittled and infantilised by Torvald
her remark that Rank can “look a bit higher” is shocking behaviour for a seemingly respectable, innocent wife
Nora trying to bring Rank closer to her, Rank touching the tights, creates a sense of sensual intimacy between the pair
her repeated phrases of “sit down here” and “look here” seem to suggest that she is actively trying to bring Rank physically closer to her
the fact that he can tell the tights are silk implies he may be touching them
this creates a sense of sensual intimacy between the pair
parallels between Nora’s relationship with both Rank and Torvald, she manipulates them both by reducing herself to entertainment or a sexual object for their affections
she says to Rank “you’ll see how beautifully I shall dance and you must imagine I’m doing it just for you”
this mirrors her promise to Torvald to “dance… in the moonlight”
Torvald is oblivious to Nora’s manipulation and eager to become the guide and the protector in their marriage, he desires to be the powerful man and he expects Nora to be the submissive wife who constantly needs reassurance
he is only too happy to accept Nora’s invitation to “Correct me, lead me, the way you always do”
Nora may be being sarcastic here, she knows how to appeal to Torvald’s fragile masculinity and distract him but he is oblivious to her actions
Krogstad’s graphic description of Nora’s corpse
“ugly, unrecognisable, hairless”
Nora hints at the possibility of going mad, she is fragile and afraid at this point, she delivers a brief soliloquy here
“I should go out of my mind”
“Oh Torvald, Torvald! Now we’re lost”
female hysteria, Rank and Torvald reducing Nora’s emotions to mere hysteria in the scene where Nora dances to distract Torvald, the pathologisation of female resistance, silencing of the female voice, confining what they can and can’t express without being seen as mad
Helmer uses the word “lunacy”
Rank asks “she isn’t… expecting?”
Nora’s corruption of her children
she believes she is one of the “constitutional liars” that is “poisoning” her children
the melodramatic convention that unbound hair implies mental disorder, Ibsen may be implying her descent into madness and the fast pace of the dance represents the fast deterioration of Nora’s mental state
Nora’s hair falls “over her shoulders” as she dances
Torvald’s ironic comment that shows he has no idea that Nora is in the process of abandoning most of what has been taught to her by not only him but society as well, he is unknowingly talking about a much wider issue than just the tarantella
“You’ve forgotten everything I’ve taught you”
Krogstad once he knows that Christine’s feelings are genuine, Nora will be in this same position on stage at the end of the play before she prepares to leave, she will be liberated much like Krogstad
“I’ve never been so happy in my life before!”
sacrificial role of women, Mrs Linde understands her situation, this foreshadows Nora’s decision to leave her husband rather than sacrifice her chances of freedom and independence
“a woman who has sold herself once for the sake of others doesn’t make the same mistake again”
the costume Torvald has chosen for Nora, she is being infantilised and he puts her in this costume to feel above her, demonstrates his need to exert dominance and control, the costume also links to his view of her as a fantasy rather than a real person, in this costume she is not part of the real world
“capricious little Capricienne”
Torvald’s emotional insensitivity and inability to see that her exhaustion and anxiety is real, this is also the first time that Torvald has said anything outwardly violent and sinister, he seem to expect sex seeing as she is his wife, he thinks he owns her and her body, Nora refuses but he completely ignores her
“Don’t want, don’t want? Aren’t I your husband?”
Nora has constantly flattered and complimented Torvald, but now we see her tone change to one of sarcasm and irony, Torvald doesn’t pick up on her frustration at all and doesn’t understand her
“You’re always right, whatever you do”
Rank seems to understand how Torvald undervalues his wife, his respect for Nora provides a stark contrast to Torvald’s objectified and sexualised view of his wife, it seems to be becoming clear to Nora that Rank is a true companion and Torvald only values her beauty
she “need only appear as her normal, everyday self”
the light is symbolic and Rank recognises this when he thanks Nora, perhaps because she has brought light in the form of happiness to his last remaining days, it’s significant that Nora is an abbreviation of the name Leanora which means ‘light’
“thank you for the light”
(refers to her lighting his cigar but has a deeper symbolic meaning as the two know this is goodbye and he seems to be thanking her for the time they’ve spent together)
Torvald drunkenly claims he will make a noble sacrifice for her, Nora now seems to be eager for the secret to be revealed, perhaps she is still convincing herself that he will be willing to forgive and sacrifice himself for her
“offer my life and my blood, everything”
one of the cruellest ironies is Torvald’s description of Nora’s behaviour in Act 3, he is criticising her for weakness but throughout the play weakness and submissiveness is exactly what he wanted from Nora
“the weakness of a woman”
Torvald locks the door, he traps her and confines her inside the ‘doll house’
“You’re going to stay here and explain yourself”
Torvald repeatedly uses the pronoun “I”, he is still thinking purely of himself and the consequences he will face, he believes this may be punishment for helping Nora’s father but still manages to blame her
“I did it for your sake. And now you reward me like this”
Torvald sneers at Nora and fails to realise that she intends to take her own life in order to take responsibility for her crimes, this is ironic as only a few moments ago he himself used melodramatic language in claiming he will offer his life and blood for her
he sneers at her for being “melodramatic”
“don’t be so melodramatic”
Torvald is the only character who receives no development, he remains very two dimensional, he still thinks solely of himself and even criticises Rank, he is utterly convinced that their marriage was a happy one which suggests that he is not an evil character and genuinely thought Nora was happy, this just reinforces his emotional insensitivity and self-centred nature – he doesn’t see anyone but himself
criticises Rank by claiming that “his suffering and loneliness seemed to provide a kind of dark background to the happy sunlight of our marriage”
Torvald is still deeply unaware of how disillusioned she has become, he still does not see any fault within himself, believing it is Nora who needs to change and whose fault it is that she is unhappy
he believes he can solve her unhappiness by changing her with an “education” he imagines he can deliver
he is unable to grasp that he needs to change too, trying to suggest what she or “we” might do, but never just him or “I”
“Playtime is over. Now the time has come for education”
Nora accuses Torvald of having done her a…
“great wrong”
Torvald’s nicknames for Nora, he repeatedly objectifies her using animal names
“skylark”
“squirrel”
“squanderbird”
Nora purposefully playing into the roles that she knows Torvald loves, manipulating and influencing him to get what she wants, sexualising and objectifying herself
by “playing with his coat buttons”
“turn myself into a little fairy and dance for you in the moonlight”
Nora growing into a mature and realistic woman, while Torvald remains delusional and unwilling to strip away the facade
Torvald suggests they should live as brother and sister (i.e. platonically) to which she replies “you know quite well that wouldn’t last”
Torvald is not an evil character and cannot be easily categorised as a villain, he is controlling but seems to truly believe he is doing what is best for Nora and that he genuinely loves her
even when leaving Nora says “you’ve always been kind to me”
at the beginning of the play, he wanted to surprise her with something “to hang in gold paper” on the tree
Torvald being melodramatic in Act 1
“Suppose I were to borrow fifty pounds today and you spend it all over Christmas and then on New Years Eve a tile fell off a roof and on to my head”
Torvald is not evil or malicious, he believes he loves Nora, he is simply unaware of his controlling nature and toxic possessiveness
he says that he and her father loved her “more than anyone in the world”
when her secret is revealed he says that she is “someone I once loved so dearly - and whom I still!”
Torvald treats Nora like a trophy or an object to be showed off and displayed to other people, he shows her off to the neighbours at the party and then to Christine afterwards
“worth looking at, don’t you think?”
Torvald is possessive and controlling, wanting Nora to himself
Nora tells Mrs Linde that he wants to “have me all to himself”
when Rank is dying he comments it is good now that they “only have each other”
Torvald being melodramatic, only moments before telling Nora to stop being so melodramatic, he is just as self-dramatising as Nora
he imagines that he’d save her from “terrible danger”
produces many cliches of melodrama (“no man can be expected to sacrifice his honour”)
Torvald desires to be the rescuer and forgiver, he believes he is protecting her, when really he is imprisoning her, if anything he is the falcon that she needs saving from
“I shall watch over you like a hunted dove which I have snatched unharmed from the claws of the falcon”
Torvald stuck in his ways, he assumes that anyone who suggests change is making no sense at all, he dismisses Nora’s attempts to have an adult conversation with him
“Nora, what kind of way is that to talk?”
