Theme - Love And Marriage Flashcards
A dolls house is highly dependent on the focus around love and marriage. But more importantly it focuses more profoundly on whether there can be love in marriage. At the beginning of the play it is certain that they love each other as they speak in a joyous tone and torvald uses affectionate pet names. Their marriage stands in a stark contrast to the Mrs Linda and krogstad marriage which is built upon the necessity rather than love. Though their marriage is still governed by the strict social system. At first it appears the pair enjoy playing the role of both husband and wife respectable for society. However we learn that Nora has went behind her husbands back to lend money to save his life - a true act of love. Yet this act is condemned by society and therefore places rules of society above love. When torvald finds out it is clear that he cares far more about his reputation rather than their love which cements Nora’s dissiluisonment with her marriage, but marriage in general. She comes to the conclusion that torvald does not love her and in fact even questions whether love is possible under the strict Victorian code.
“No ______! Never borrow! There’s always something inhibited, something ____________ about a home built on credit it and ____________ money.”
Debts
Unpleasant
Borrowed
• although torvald has just recently received a promotion he chastises Nora for spending too much on Christmas. Torvald and Nora’s differing opinions reveal their contrasting attitudes towards the issue of money and debt. While torvald is cautious about spending money and borrowing money as he believes it is irresponsible and immoral, as something that destroys one’s self sufficiency and the house they live in. Nora believes there is nothing wrong with spending money. Furtherly, by torvald saying she acts “just like a woman” enforces that torvald believes all women are irresponsible and untrustworthy when it comes to money. The irony of the exposition is that Nora has already borrowed money. Though torvald does not know it. This shows that torvald has less control over his wife than what he thinks. The passage also suggests that there is not something always “unpleasant” about a home built on debt. At the same time, the statement seems to foreshadow the unpleasantness and eventual disintegration of torvald and Nora’s home and marriage later in the play.
“I would never ________ of doing anything you ________ want me to.”
Dream
Didn’t
• here Nora plays the role of a perfect wife promising absolute obedience to torvald. In this case specifically related to the fact he has forbidden her eat macaroons. On one level this quote seems to convey Nora’s love for her husband and her acceptance of gender roles, suggesting that she adores torvald so much that she is willing to give up her own agency in order to make him unhappy. However, the reality of it is she is just lying, she has disobeyed him in secrecy through the minor act of eating macaroons and borrowing money. Nora has thus decided torvald on two levels: first she is disobeying him and then lying about. The exaggerated nature of the phrase “I wouldn’t dream” adds further tension to the lie and suggests that the ‘perfect wife’ is an impossible role to play, hinting at her eventual refusal to play it.
He can never drop the _______. A fog of _____ like that in a household spreads diseases and infection to every part of it. Every ________ the children take in that kind of house is reeking evil germs.”
Mask
Lies
Breath
• torvald described the consequences of krogstads deception, using a metaphor Ibsen attempts to insist that deception will have devastating consequences on a household. The melodramatic language emphasises that torvald sees dishonesty as a kind of poison that corrupts the purity of domestic life. Again, the passage holds double meaning as torvald unwittingly reveals his own ignorance as he does not think there is a “fog of lies” that “poison” his children. At the same time, torvald comment that krogstad can never “drop the mask” rings true for Nora. Ibsen has already shown that Nora pretends to obedient while in reality she disobeys him. The pressure of this deception comes to take a toll on Nora as the play progresses. However, Ibsen suggests that the pressure to perform the role of the perfect wife is itself a kind of “mask”, as torvald has unrealistic expectations of Nora in which she has to place on a mask of her own as she cannot act freely as an individual. Thus the “mask” connects the symbol of the dolls house, foreshadowing how Nora’s claim at the end of the play that torvald has treated her like a doll.
“When a poor girls been in __________ she must make the _______ out of things”
Trouble
Best
• Nora has asked the nursemaid how she could bear up her child and the nursemaid responds by having to act out of necessity. The quote highlights how little freedom and power women had at the time. Without a man to depend on the woman would be unable to raise the child herself. The nursemaids predicament connects Mrs lindes revelation that she married a man she didn’t love due to the financial security it gave her. As well as Nora’s decision to forge her father’s signature to secure the loan. Each woman was forced to act in a way due to the restrictive legal economic and social position of women in their society. Significantly, all three women choose to act in a way that is both selfless and pragmatic. Ibsen thus exposes the inaccuracy of the belief that women are foolish and incapable of making rational decisions.
“You see torvald is so terribly in love with me that he wants ____ all to _________”
Me
Himself
• within this passage we see Nora attempting to justify torvalds possessive behaviour due to the love he has for. The phrase “wants me all to himself” suggests that torvald views her as a possession - again foreshadowing Nora’s later claims that he treats her like a doll. At the same time, the passage is ironic as Nora claims torvald possessive behaviour is normal due to the love he has. However, by the end of the player we learn that his controlling behaviour is actually so they can conform to gender roles as the perfect marriage to heighten the status he has. He is possessive because he wants to control her and make sure she conforms to the perfect wife for his own benefit. This quote also reveals Nora’s strong desire to conform to gender roles and be a perfect wife, even if it comes at the expense of her own happiness. Highlighting just how suppressed women had to be.
“What else is there to understand apart from the ______, ______ story? A heartless woman throws a man over the moment something more _____________ offers itself.”
Old old
Profitable
• within this moment is revealed that krogstad wanted to marry Mrs linde but she ended up marrying another man. His comments show how he is still embittered all these years later and that she chose to marry someone else out of greed. Krogstads harsh judgements of linde regret the stereotypes of women as frivolous and materialistic, in the same way Nora is thought to be a spendthrift obsessed with luxurious possessions. Krogstad refers to the “old old story” of women choosing to marry rich men implying that this was a common understanding of women’s behaviour throughout the time. This stands in stark contrast to ibsens point made throughout the play that women are left vulnerable by their low economic and financial status. Forcing them to make decisions they would not otherwise choose. Indeed, it is revealed that Mrs linde married another man because she had to take care of her mother and two brothers, once again, what appears to be greed is in fact a selfless, strategic choice.
“Without work I couldn’t _______. But now, I’m completely _______ in the world, and feeling horribly ________. Nils, give me somebody and __________ to work for.”
Live
Alone
Empty
Something
• within this moment Mrs linde embodies a traditional idea of womanhood which poses that women mostly find meaning in life through selfless acts and caring for others. Unlike Nora, who feels ambivalent about a life totally dedicated to her husband, Mrs linde is fully committed to this path. By including both Nora and Mrs lindes differing attitudes toward this model of selfless womanhood, Ibsen shows that women do not have one single relationship to femininity and traditional values. The message of the play is not that all women should live independent lives as Nora eventually decides to, but rather that women should be able to choose their own life path based on their own preferences. Rather than being controlled and forced into a life of marriage simply because societal constructs make life worthless without it.
“His suffering and ____________ seemed almost to provide a ____________ of dark cloud to the sunshine of our lives.”
Loneliness
Background
• within this passage we understand that torvald has learnt about dr ranks impending death. Though torvald does not feel pity to his friend but only regretful that dr rank will not be around to make his and Nora’s life seem even happier. The fact that torvald responds this way highlights his cold heartedness which completely shifts the antagonising power from krogstad to torvald. This quote also makes clear how much torvalds idea of a happy and meaningful life is dependent on the outside appearances. Again, this prefigures his insistence upon learning Nora’s secret that they stay married and keep up appearances for societies sake, even though they’d be miserable.
“And as far as you and I are concerned, things must _________ to go on exactly as before. But only in the ______ of the world of course. Preserve _____________.”
Appear
Eyes
Appearance
• having discovered the letter from krogstad exposing Nora for borrowing money, torvald flies into rage insulting both Nora and her father. However, torvald insists that they stay married and that everything must appear to go on as before. The fact that torvald clearly despises Nora admits that they will never be happy and yet they must “preserve appearance”, which is simply showing the extreme extent in which he values societal approval above everything else. In many ways, this is the worse than any of the possible outcomes Ibsen has lead the audience to anticipate. Torvald vows to never forgive Nora insisting that their relationship is destroyed forever. At the same time he traps her in the marriage. This reaction demonstrates the absolute power torvald believes to have over Nora because her is a man and her husband.
“I wouldn’t be a __________ man if I didn’t find a woman doubly attractive for being so obviously ___________”
Proper
Helpless
• upon torvalds discovery of krogstads second later in which he revokes his original threat of blackmail, torvald immediately forgives Nora, rejoicing the fact that his reputation is no longer in jeopardy. This total reversal makes sense when we consider the fact that torvald only truly cares about societal approval. While torvald still believes that korgstad will blackmail him, he blames the situation on Nora, calling her a hypocrite liar criminal and a “miserable feather brained woman”. However, as soon as he knows his reputation is safe he shows mercy towards her calling her helpless and saying that she made an error without his guidance. This stark contrast exposes the superficiality of torvalds love for Nora, and emphasises the extent to which he loves her as long as she is remaining in a passive child like role. His statement about loving her for being helpless shows how normal it was in Victorian society for men to treat their wives like children.
“For a man there is something indescribably _________ in knowing that he has ___________ his wife. It’s as though it made her his ___________ in a double sense. She becomes in a way both his wife and his _________.”
Moving
Forgiven
Property
Child
• Nora has attempted to leave the room and torvald has stopped her. This speech takes a perverse turn when he explains that Nora is “his property in a double sense”. Because by forgiving her, he has given her a new life. Torvalds use of this metaphor takes patriarchal logic to an entire new level as he sees himself in a godlike role. Torvald then remarks that his double ownership means that Nora is both his wife and child. Putting aside the peadophilic overtones, it is clear that torvald never wished for his relationship to be equal and mutually respectful. His joy seems to stem from the fact that if Nora decides to stay he will have an enjoyed unquestionable moral superiority over his wife.
“I have been your ________ wife, just as at home I was daddy’s doll ________. And the children in turn have been my ________. That’s been our __________ torvald.
Doll
Child
Dolls
Marriage
• Nora here accuses torvald and her father of treating her like a doll and compares her life to a dolls house. This point in the play the full meaning of the plays title becomes clear. Nora acknowledges that she has found pleasure in her doll life enjoying the moments when torvald chooses to “play” with her and when she chooses to play with the children. Ibsen has shown evidence of this, particularly of the beginning of the play when Nora delighted in performing for torvald and playing the role of a perfect obedient wife. However, at this moment it is clear that Nora has undergone a transformation, leading her to view life from a different perspective as she has came to the realisation that their interactions are doomed to be superficial and meaningless because of the fact that torvald does not see her as an autonomous person but rather as a possession. He only values her because of the control he has over her and because of how their marriage appears to be in society.
“I believe that first and foremost I am an ___________ just as much as you are. I know most people ________ with you torvald and that’s also what it says in the ________. But I’m not content anymore with what people say. I have to think for myself and get things clear.”
Individual
Agree
Books
• shocked by Nora’s obejectiond to their life together and by her decision to leave. Torvald has insisted that she stay arguing that she is a “wife and mother”. Nora rejects this by saying that she is an individual, a human being, before she is anything else. Significantly Nora does acknowledge that most people remain committed to societal norms about gender and the family. The fact that Nora mentions this shows how central the approval of society remains within the play, even at the moment when Nora decides to radically subvert societal expectations. It is important to note that Nora rejects three major sources of knowledge about how she should choose to conduct her life: the opinion of her husband, the opinion of society as a whole, and the knowledge found in books. The last of these is especially important because it emphasises the fact that Nora believes the truth about how she should live can only be found within herself, not the knowledge of those things that surround her. Though a fairly common notion in today’s society, this was a highly unusual position to take in the 19th century, especially for a woman. Nora’s speech thus confirms the extent to which a “dolls house” was ahead of its time, foreshadowing debates about gender and autonomy that would not emerge till many decades later.
