a doll's house quotes- act 1

Torvald

infantilization of Nora through petnames- he sees her as an object not a person

'my skylark', 'my squirrel', 'my little songbird'

Torvald

belittling, female stereotypes

"Oh Nora, Nora, how like a woman!"

Torvald

objectification

'it's incredible what an expensive pet she is for a man to keep.'

Torvald

idea of hereditary vice

'it's in your blood. yes, yes, yes, these things are hereditary'

Mrs Linde

lack of love in marriage

'Not even a feeling of loss or sorrow'

Mrs Linde

economic necessity

'It must be lovely to have enough to cover one's needs, anyway'

Nora

incredulousness; expectation that a wife loves her husband

'Tell me, is it really true you didn't love your husband?'

Mrs Linde

weariness in life, lack of economic comfort

'these last three years have been just one endless slog for me, without a moment's rest'

Mrs Linde

lack of purpose in life

'just unspeakably empty. No one to live for anymore.'

Mrs Linde

patronizing, almost ridiculing (or perhaps pitying?) Nora's naivety

'Especially when you know so little about the worries and hardships of life'

Mrs Linde

patriarchal expectations and roles, rigid structure of society

'Well, a wife can't borrow money without her husband's consent'

Nora

denial, coyness towards her secret

'No one has said I borrowed the money. I could have got it in some other way'

Nora

recognition of importance of reputation for Torvald, Torvald's fragile masculinity in upholding gender roles

'he's so proud of being a man- it'd be so painful and humiliating for him to know that he owed anything to me'

Nora

recognition that her actions would ultimately ruin their relationship because of social unacceptability

'this life we have built together would no longer exist'

Nora

pleasure in work, subversion of gender roles

'It was almost like being a man'

Dr Rank

association of illness with Krogstad's moral failure; stigma placed on outsiders in a society

'a moral cripple'

Nora

disregard for society and to some extent its expectations

'What do I care about society? I think it's a bore'

Nora

gender roles- her word taken as less even to her own husband because he doesn't see her as intelligent enough

'How on earth could you imagine that I would have any influence over my husband?'

Krogstad

emphasis on reputation in society; irrecoverable

'from that day, every opening was barred to me'

Nora

ownership and possessiveness over her secret- only thing she has outside of her husband's control

'This secret that is my pride and my joy'

Krogstad

punishment for social transgression

'you will be judged according to it'

Nora

social role of women & expectations of a 'good' devoted wife/daughter

'Hasn't a daughter the right to shield her father from worry and anxiety while he's old and dying? Hasn't a wife the right to save her husband's life?'

Nora

questioning the moral rightness of her actions

'I did it for love, didn't I?'

Nora

self-infantilisation, dependency on her husband

'Yes, Torvald. I can't get anywhere without your help'

Torvald

fear of hereditary vice, idea that immorality is passed down 'It's usually the mother [...] Every lawyer knows that all too well'

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

Torvald

stigma attached to people who are outsiders to society (Krogstad)

'I literally feel physically ill in the presence of a man like that'

Nora

hereditary vice; fear of failing her duty as a wife and mother

'(pale with fear) Corrupt my little children! Poison my home! It isn't true! It couldn't be true!'