ADH Quotes

Gender

‘My little _______/________/___________’

‘My little skylark/squirrel/spendthrift’: Torvald nicknames Nora throughout the play and often uses possessive pronouns like ‘my‘ to show she is his property - this was how Victorian women were treated when married. Ironically, the ‘skylark‘ is symbolic of freedom which Nora lacks.

Gender

‘I am certain that there must be ________________________’

‘I am certain that there must be laws permitting such things’: Nora is established as being naïve and childish due to her not even understanding how the law works. Her class and privilege are also explored here as she expects to be excused. Furthermore, critics like Wiseman have argued that characters like Nora and Krogstad are victims of their circumstance rather than inherently immoral people.

Gender

‘It was like being a ___’

‘It was like being a man’: Nora is talking about how it felt working as a woman in Victorian England. Particularly, the idea of men being breadwinners and women being housewives is discussed.

Gender

‘How painful […] it would be for Torvald, ________________________’

‘How painful […] it would be for Torvald, with his manly independence’: Nora highlights Torvald’s reputation as one of his main traits, which he certainly shows concern about damaging throughout the play. Again, traditional gender roles are explored, including the idea of men being more independent than women and that women should respect this by not interfereing with a man’s independence.

Gender

‘______ duties’

‘Sacred duties’: This is referring to a woman’s purpose in life, linking to ideas communicated in other poetry such as ‘Angel in the House’ by Patmore where it is implied that women should be self-sacrificing and domestic.

Gender

‘I have been your ________, just as at home I was Papa’s _________’

‘I have been your doll wife, just as I was Papa’s doll child’: Interestingly, Nora draws upon similarities between her husband and her father, alluding to the patriarchy and how, in this societal struture, women are passed from one man to the next.

Gender / Money & Work

‘A wife cannot borrow _________________________’

‘A wife cannot borrow without her husband’s consent’: Here, Ibsen raises the gender inequality present in the Victorian era, especially regarding the Napoleonic Code. Nora’s situation is obviously being discussed in this instance, which perhaps links to critics’ accusations that Ibsen loves the ‘repulsive’ as he is seen to be justifying immorality.

Gender / Money & Work

‘No one to ____ for anymore’

‘No one to live for anymore’: Mrs. Linde’s words here imply she has no purpose now she is not sacrificing herself for others and Ibsen suggests work may not fulfill women in the same way it does men, linking back to traditional gender roles.

Gender / Individual vs. Society

‘I believe that before all else I am _____________________’

‘I believe that before all else I am a reasonable human being‘: This gets across Ibsen’s humanistic message with the play - he strongly believes Nora has every right to leave because she is human thus meaning she has the free-will to make that decision, linking to critical quotations like that of Meyer, claiming the play has ‘nothing to do with the sexes’.

Individual vs. Society

‘I do not exactly know what ________ is’

‘I do not exactly know what religion is’: Ibsen alludes to Nietzsche’s famous quote ‘God is dead’ and his idea that one must find their own ways and set their own goals in order to find meaning in life - Nora does just this when leaving the house at the end of the play.

Individual vs. Society

‘We are _____’

‘We are saved’: Torvald says this after ridiculing Nora for her actions after reading Krogstad’s first letter which exposes her forgery however, this is his reaction after reading Krogstad’s second letter which claims he is no longer taking legal action against her, meaning the Helmers’ reputation will be preserved. Ibsen is exposing the fact Torvald doesn’t necessarily care about Nora or the forgery she committed in an act of love, more about the idea of his reputation being tarnished.

Individual vs. Society

‘[Christmas tree stands ________ and ___________]’

‘[Christmas tree stands stripped and dishevelled]’: The state of the tree at this point in the play is symbolic of Nora’s mental state as she is caught in a web of lies and is slowly crumbling under the Victorian patriarchy and the restraints placed on her by marriage. Additionally, trees are symbolic of nature therefore, Ibsen could be communicating the idea that Nora is breaking out of what was seen as a woman’s purpose (nature) as she rebels by leaving at the end.

Individual vs. Society

‘Tear [the __________] into a hundred thousand pieces’

‘Tear [the fancy dress] into a hundred thousand pieces’: The dress here is symbolic of all the acting and dressing up Nora and Torvald do in their house as the two pretend this is the perfect marriage - Nora never leaving the stage in multiple productions of the play alludes to her lack of privacy, whereas Torvald has his private office, exemplifying the unfair divide within their marriage. Nora’s want to tear it to shreds shows her realisation of this and action towards the iconic ending of the play, in which she slams the door, leaving her husband and children.

Individual vs. Society

‘Have you no ________?’

‘Have you no religion?’: This is said by Torvald soon before Nora leaves and it heavily resembles concerns at the time that people were losing their faith and becoming corrupted, as communicated by Nietzsche famous quote ‘God is dead’. Contemporary audiences ridiculed Ibsen, viewing this as a ‘bad ending’ due to England devoutness during the Victorian era however, modern feminist critics see the door Nora slams at the end of the play as a symbol of new beginnings and self-actualisation.

Morality

‘I’ve _________ my disease’

‘I’ve inherited my disease’: Ibsen explores ideas of inheritence through Dr. Rank’s illness which has been interpreted as a representation of society dying which is very appropriate given Nora’s situation and the reaction the play received due to Ibsen’s realistic and naturalistic style. For example, German audiences insisted he wrote a different ending which Ibsen later referred to as a ‘barbaric outrage’.

Mortality

‘Those who are gone ________________’

‘Those who are gone are soon forgotten’: Dr. Rank accepts his fate (death) and the fact that mourning is of no use however, this is a very controversial statement to make during a time like the Victorian era as mourning was popularised by Queen Victoria who mourned her late husband for 40 years after his death.

Morality

‘I did it for ___________’

‘I did it for love’s sake’: Nora doesn’t recognise that committing crime for the sake of your love for someone else does not impact the severity of the consequences however, this does bring about the point that she is not an innately bad person because of this, she is a victim of her circumstance as she simply wants to help her husband and his ailing health - critics like Wiseman have preached this view.

Morality

‘An atmosphere of lies _________________ the whole life of a home’

‘An atmosphere of lies infects and poisons the whole life of a home’: This is said at the end of the play, when Nora leaves to save her children because she has been led to believe she is morally corupt, not abandon them as Torvald sees it. This quote communicates the idea that children who grow up corrupted have their mothers to blame as it is her who raises them, reflecting patraichal Victorian society. In Nora’s case, forging her father’s signature made her a bad role model though she hoped Torvald would defend her but he doesn’t, forcing Nora to realise he wouldn’t sacrifice himself in the same way she had sacrificed herself. Ibsen almost returns to patriachal norms due to Nora leaving in order to protect her children, characterising her as a maternal and caring figure.