a doll's house quotes- act 3

Mrs Linde

giving up her previous love out of social expectation

'I thought it my duty to destroy all the feelings you had for me'

Mrs Linde

economic necessity of marriage

'It would have been so long before you'd have had enough to support us'

Krogstad

loss

'When I lost you, it was just as though all solid ground had been swept from under my feet'

Mrs Linde

solidarity between outsiders, redemption through relationships deemed socially acceptable

'Castaways have a better chance of survival together than on their own'

Krogstad

female hysteria

'You're just being hysterical and romantic. You want to find an excuse for self-sacrifice'

Mrs Linde

social expectation of women

'I need someone to be a mother to'

Mrs Linde

closure to the lack of communication between Torvald and Nora

'there must be an end of all these shiftings and evasions'

Mrs Linde

sacrifices made by women

'a woman who has sold herself once for the sake of others doesn't make the same mistake again'

Nora

lack of autonomy or agency, controlled wholly by Torvald

'despite her efforts to resist him', 'almost forcibly'

Torvald

objectification of Nora, almost like something to be looked at and admired from a distance

'she's worth looking at, don't you think?'

Torvald

belief that women must be aesthetically presentable

'but knitting, now- that's an ugly business'

Torvald

infantilization of Nora

'my little songbird's talking just like a real big human being'

Torvald

possessiveness over Nora

'that's mine, mine alone, all mine', 'my secret mistress, my clandestine little sweetheart, and that nobody knows there's anything at all between us'

Torvald

prizing her innocence and virginity

'my young bride', 'taking you to my house for the first time'

Torvald

male desire

'a huntress, a temptress'

Torvald

entitlement to Nora's body

'Now, Nora, you're joking with me', 'Aren't I your husband?'

Dr Rank

closure in death yet tie to earthly relationships

'I felt I had to say goodbye'

Torvald

inability to see Nora as an intellectual equal

'Those are big words for my little Nora to use!'

Dr Rank

acceptance of his inevitable death

'Absolute certainty'

Nora

granting closure to Dr Rank, accepting his death

'Sleep well, Dr Rank'

Torvald

control over the doors in the house- responsible for the entrapment of Nora

'takes his bunch of keys from his pocket'

Nora

death as freedom- foreshadowing her own exit from the house for freedom

'when the time comes, it's best to go silently'

Torvald

aestheticization of Rank's suffering; lack of empathy compared to Nora's goodbye to Rank

'his suffering and loneliness seemed to provide a dark background to the happy sunlight of our marriage'

Torvald

idea of the 'male protector', fantasy to fulfil gender roles

'often I wish some terrible danger might threaten you, so that I could offer my life and my blood, everything, for your sake'

Nora

stoically takes control, uses imperatives to command Torvald

'(...says in a clear, firm voice) Read your letters now, Torvald'

Nora, Torvald

rejection of love as a motivation for social transgression (link to Twice and Jhansi)

'I've loved you more than anything else in the world', 'Oh, don't try to make silly excuses'

Torvald

immorality as a stain on his perception of Nora

'she who was my joy and my pride- a hypocrite, a liar- worse, worse- a criminal!'

Torvald

hereditary vice

'all your father's recklessness and instability he has handed on to you!'

Torvald

importance of reputation

'I am condemned to humiliation and ruin simply for the weakness of a woman'

Torvald

keeping up appearances for reputation's sake; recognizing the constraints of society

'only appear, of course'

Torvald

focus on his own reputation, it is most important to him above all

'I am saved! Nora, I am saved!'

Nora

retaining her composure in a sense of finality, not feeding into overemotional female stereotypes

'(coldly calm)'

Torvald

female infantilization, male protector- gender roles

'my frightened little songbird', 'I have broad wings to shield you'

Torvald

objectification through the feminine ideal

'I would not be a true man if your feminine helplessness did not make you doubly attractive in my eyes'

Torvald

heightens his possession of Nora- insinuating responsibility of her is all his

'she is now not only his wife, but also his child'

Torvald

dismissing Nora's capability to form thoughts- he doesn't see her as a thinking & feeling human being but instead an object to be controlled

'I shall be both your will and your conscience'

Nora

lack of communication and connection in the marriage

'You don't understand me. And I've never understood you- until this evening'

Nora

Torvald doesn't see her as an intellectual equal; he believes her to be naive and childlike

'Does it occur to you that this is the first time we two, you and I, man and wife, have ever had a serious talk together?'

Nora

criticizing patriarchal institutions

'A great wrong has been done to me, Torvald. First by papa, and then by you'

Nora

marriage solely as a means of fulfilling societal expectation- mirroring marriage as an economic and social necessity; no love as foundation

'You have never loved me. You just thought it was fun to be in love with you'

Nora

recognizing her objectification and control by men throughout her life

'I've been your doll-wife, just as I used to be papa's doll-child'

Nora

marriage as an exchange instead of equals- she is made financially and socially dependent on Torvald

'I performed tricks for you, and you gave me food and drink', 'living here like a pauper'

Nora

suggesting their marriage is unfixable and that Torvald simply isn't the right man (link to NTYJ)

'you're not the man to educate me into being the right wife for you'

Torvald

attempt to reclaim Nora's autonomy and agency, idea of female hysteria ('strove to match scorn with scorn' in MC)

'You're out of your mind! You can't do this! I forbid you!'

Torvald

societal expectations of women

'First and foremost you are a wife and mother'

Nora

her entire life is built upon what men have told her, and not her own thoughts

'I only know what Pastor Hansen told me', 'He explained that religion meant this and that'

Nora

sacrifices made by women for their husbands out of devotion

'Millions of women have done it' (in response to 'No man can be expected to sacrifice his honour, even for the person he loves'

Nora

rejection of Torvald (link to NTYJ)

'I can't spend the night in a strange man's house'

Nora

irreparability of their relationship

'Then the miracle of miracles would have to happen'

Nora

finality, yet there is no closure of Nora's fate

reclamation of her own autonomy and freedom

'The street door is slammed shut downstairs'