A Doll's House: Key Quotations (OCR A Level English Literature)

Key Quotations

One of the ways to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the text is through the effective use of quotations and references to the text. This means that summarising, paraphrasing, referencing single words and referencing plot events are all as valid as using direct quotations.

Overall, you should aim to secure a strong knowledge of the text, rather than memorising a list of pre-prepared quotations, as this will better enable you to respond to the question. It is the quality of your knowledge of the text which will enable you to select references effectively.

If you are going to revise quotations, the best way is to group them by character, or theme. Below you will find definitions and analysis of the best quotations, arranged by the following key themes:

• Power and money

• Gender

• Marriage and identity

• Appearance and reality

Power and money

Power and money is a significant theme in A Doll’s House as Ibsen depicts how societal autonomy is restricted by access to money in a 19th-century capitalist society.

“Oh, what a glorious feeling it is, knowing you’ve got a nice, safe job, and a good fat income.” – Torvald Helmer, A Doll’s House, Act I

“One has no one to work for; and yet one has to be continually sponging for jobs.” – Kristine Linde, A Doll’s House, Act I

Meaning and context

• Torvald introduces the theme of money and power in the exposition

• His promotion to bank manager brings huge relief to the Helmers

• Ibsen presents the security that comes from a good job

• However, the foil character of Kristine Linde tells Nora that work has made her bitter 

• In particular, she expresses her frustration at begging for work to support herself and says that this is less satisfying than working to support someone else

Analysis

• Torvald’s attitude to money is introduced immediately as important to his contentment

• The happiness between the couple appears to come from his promotion:

  • Although Nora is excited about Christmas with the children, Torvald notably only celebrates his promotion in such exclamatory language as this line

• The word “safe” implies the pressures of society, and the power that comes from secure earnings

• His reference to a “fat income” implies, perhaps, excess and surplus:

  • This idea is supported by Ibsen’s setting, their large and comfortable house 

  • Ironically, Torvald also tells Nora to be frugal and not to overspend on Christmas

• Later, when Kristine Linde arrives she explains to Nora that she has to beg for work:

  • Her use of the verb “sponging” refers negatively to the idea of charity 

  • She suggests the relentlessness of this pursuit with the temporal adverb “continually” 

• This line alludes to her sense of powerlessness in society earning a meagre wage:

  • Even though she is working for herself, she feels she is a victim

“Now I’ve been chucked back into the mud, and I’m not going to be satisfied with just getting back my job. I’m going to get to the top, I tell you.” – Nils Krogstad, A Doll’s House, Act II

Meaning and context

• Nils Krogstad stresses his determination to keep his job at the bank under the threat of dismissal

• Here, he tells Nora that he is not going to relent in his appeal to her to speak to Torvald on his behalf

Analysis

• Krogstad’s sense of powerlessness is implied through the imagery:

  • Her refers here to the way he was discarded, as if useless, once he fell on hard times

  • The “mud” refers to the bad reputation he gained from his immoral deeds

• Krogstad’s determination is stressed:

  • He insists to Nora that he will not allow others to overpower him this time

  • His reference to the “top” presents Ibsen’s ideas on the power of money in a capitalist society

“I repeat, all your father’s recklessness and instability he has handed on to you! No religion, no morals, no sense of duty!” – Torvald Helmer, A Doll’s House, Act III

Meaning and context

• Torvald is furious when he finds out Nora arranged a loan and kept it from him

• He tells Nora how much he despises debt as it shows moral weakness

• His outburst is expected: 

  • Earlier in the play, he lectures Nora on the sins of debt

Analysis

• Ibsen highlights bourgeoisie attitudes to money and autonomy:

  • Torvald connects religion and duty to careful spending

• Torvald’s outrage does not stem from the secret Nora has kept but that she has behaved immorally by loaning money, challenging his capitalist priorities 

• Torvald blames Nora’s father, suggesting she has inherited his extravagant nature:

  • This is ironic as the audience knows Nora has budgeted carefully and sacrificed her own needs in order to save Torvald

Gender

The theme of gender in A Doll’s House is closely linked to both power and money. The play explores the way in which restrictions placed on female characters lead to unsettling results. In particular, Ibsen portrays the shocking and sudden mental decline of the protagonist as a result of her limited personal agency.

“A man’s better at coping with these things than a woman…” – Nora Helmer, A Doll’s House, Act I

Meaning and context

• In the exposition, audiences witness Nora accepting her subordinate role as woman

• Her husband’s comments insult her intelligence and strength of mind 

• Here, and throughout the early parts of the play, Nora repeats the things Torvald has told her

Analysis

• Nora’s repetition of things she has heard from Torvald or other male characters around her signify her diminished identity as a woman

• The word “coping” alludes to a general ability to survive independently, which Nora seems happy to suggest is not something a woman is able to do as well as a man

“But it was great fun, though, sitting there working and earning money. It was almost like being a man.” – Nora Helmer, A Doll’s House, Act II

Meaning and context

• Nora is keen to insist to Kristine that she has acted independently and resourcefully in the past 

• She tells her friend she worked at night in secret in order to pay back the loan

Analysis

• Although Nora says it was tiring working at night, she emphasises the rewards, hinting at the personal agency work offers 

• She suggests independent work made her “almost” like a man, implying the dominance of the male workforce in nineteenth century Europe

“And besides – 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. It’d completely wreck our relationship.” – Nora Helmer, A Doll’s House, Act II

“But no man can be expected to sacrifice his honour, even for the person he loves.” – Nora Helmer, A Doll’s House, Act III

Meaning and context

• Nora tells Kristine Linde she cannot tell her husband she paid for his trip to Italy

• She is aware that her independent actions would emasculate him as it would be perceived as female control

• When Torvald tells Nora, in the final act, that a man’s pride is more important than love, Nora replies that “Millions of women have done it” 

Analysis

• Nora’s use of the adjective “proud” speaks to gender stereotypes under a patriarchal society:

  • That men are perceived as entirely in control suggests their strength under such systems

• Here Nora highlights the shame Torvald would feel if a wife had any sense of agency with the verbal phrase “completely wreck”

• By the resolution, however, Nora challenges Torvald’s views, suggesting through hyperbole that there are very different standards for men and women

“I would not be a true man if your feminine helplessness did not make you doubly attractive in my eyes.” – Torvald Helmer, A Doll’s House, Act III

Meaning and context

• This line comes in the resolution of the play

• Torvald is beginning to realise their marriage is at an end

• He justifies himself, suggesting his attitudes simply conform to social standards

Analysis

• Here, Ibsen confirms the way gender stereotypes have caused a rift in the relationship

• Torvald’s almost innocent confusion presents the extent of his ignorance to any flaws in his attitudes, again alluding to his egotism

• Torvald’s justification is ironic and serves to undermine his integrity: 

  • Earlier in the play he pontificates on Krogstad’s potential redemption if he just  admitted his mistakes

• Torvald’s use of the word “helplessness” collaborates his earlier desire to save his wife from complete disaster

• His reference to “doubly attractive” highlights the desire he feels from her complete powerlessness

Marriage and identity

he removal of individual identity in A Doll’s House is a key way in which the patriarchal society of 19th-century Europe enforces power and control within social constructs and institutions such as marriage.

“What else is there to understand, apart from the old, old story? A heartless woman throws a man over the moment something more profitable offers itself.” – Nils Krogstad, A Doll’s House, Act III

Meaning and context

• When Kristine Linde asks to talk with Nils Krogstad, he is indignant

• His heartbreak is evident as he tells Kristine how he felt about her leaving him for a richer man

• Kristine Linde explains that she had to support her sick mother and brothers and had no choice

Analysis

• Krogstad’s rhetorical question suggests his strong emotions

• He feigns resignation at the “old story” of a woman leaving a poor man for someone wealthier 

• Through Krogstad’s desperation Ibsen challenges the patriarchal ideology that prohibits wives from engaging in work or financial affairs, thus placing all responsibility on the husband:

  • Here we see Ibsen’s presentation of how this affects males and females negatively

• Krogstad’s third-person reference to a “heartless woman” is directed toward Kristine Linde but conveys his hurt and pride as he distances himself from her

“When we first married, it even used to make him sort of jealous if I only as much as mentioned any of my old friends back home. So of course I stopped doing it.“ – Nora Helmer, A Doll’s House, Act I

Meaning and context

• Nora Helmer boasts about her happy marriage to Kristine Linde in Act I

• She says that the reason she has not been in contact is because of Torvald’s controlling nature

• Her obedience to him is highlighted in the exposition

Analysis

• Nora’s boastful tone portrays her as a naive and unaware victim of her husband’s zealous control

• Ibsen presents an unsettling acceptance of her role as obedient wife without any discussion:

  • Indeed, Nora suggests there was no choice but to stop seeing any of her friends if it displeased her husband

“Leave your home, your husband and your children! And you haven’t a thought for what people will say.” – Torvald Helmer, A Doll’s House, Act III

“I’ve been your doll-wife here, just as at home I was Daddy’s doll-child.” – Nora Helmer, A Doll’s House, Act III

Meaning and context

• Torvald is outraged when Nora tells him she is leaving the marriage

• His preoccupation with how this will appear shameful in the eyes of the world portrays the marriage as a façade 

• Nora shows awareness of this in her reply that she has been playing a role all her life under the control of her father and her husband 

Analysis

• Torvald’s attitude to Nora and his marriage is highlighted in the resolution:

  • He repeatedly refers to Nora’s duty to stay in the marriage, according to societal expectations

• His surprised tone as he lists the things Nora wants to leave suggests his confusion:

  • He cannot understand why she would want to disregard her status as a wife and mother

• Ibsen presents Nora as calm and prepared:

  • She suggests her role as wife and daughter is that of an object or plaything, based purely on her silent acquiescence

  • It is as if she already knows the answers to his questions, highlighting both her awakening and the repressed role she had adopted previously 

  • Her persuasive reply using the metaphor of a doll, shows her clarity:

Appearance and reality

Ibsen presents the way in which reputation and appearance can negatively impact individuals and repress their true nature. Ibsen suggests this can lead to falseness and hypocrisy, as well as inevitable decline. 

“Your squirrel would run about and do all her tricks if you would be nice and do as she wants.” – Nora Helmer, A Doll’s House, Act II

Meaning and context

• Nora distracts her husband and herself as she awaits the outcome of Krogstad’s letter

• She attempts to behave in the way she knows he will like:

  • In this scene she hides her despair at the impending revelation of her secret 

Analysis

• Nora’s hyperbolic and child-like language suggest a last attempt at playing her role as obedient wife 

• Here she uses Torvald’s pet names in the third-person voice to present her diminished identity as a result of her obedience 

• That Torvald wishes to see her do “tricks” alludes to the falseness in their marriage

• Nora also implies their marriage is based on trading favours

“It is no use lying to one’s self. I am the most wretched of all my patients, Mrs. Helmer. Lately, I have been taking stock of my internal economy. Bankrupt!” – Dr Rank, A Doll’s House, Act II

“Now Dr. Rank, cheer up. You’ll see tomorrow how nicely I can dance. And you can pretend I’m doing it just for you—and for Torvald as well, of course.” – Nora Helmer, A Doll’s House, Act II

Meaning and context

• Dr Rank tells Nora about his terminal illness

• He reveals his hidden love for her in this scene as he realises his life has been barren of anything substantial 

• Dr Rank’s desperation as he faces his death and finds himself alone alludes to his hidden love for Nora

• Later in the scene, Nora attempts to distract her husband while her friend negotiates with Krogstad

• She dances for Torvald and tells the doctor he can watch her too, to pretend they are in a relationship

Analysis

• Dr Rank’s cynical belief that everyone, including himself, is deceitful suggests he experiences a kind of awakening about the falseness of his life

• It is ironic that he uses the semantic field of business:

  • The metaphorical “economy” is used to audit his legacy

  • His exclamation suggests his life has been less than “lucrative”

• Nora’s strange comment, that Dr Rank can pretend she is flirting with him, implies he is right about the mixed messages he says she has given him, implying her insincerity

• Ibsen implies a level of deception based on appearance:

  • Nora says he should “cheer up” and appear happy despite his illness

  • She says her dance will appear like it is for whoever is watching

“Just think how a man with a thing like that on his conscience will always be having to lie and cheat and dissemble; he can never drop the mask, not even with his own wife and children.” – Torvald Helmer, A Doll’s House, Act I

Meaning and context

• Torvald lectures Nora on Krogstad’s corrupt moral character

• He says that lies are pervasive and can “infect the home”

Analysis

• Torvald’s moral superiority and reference to a “mask” is ironic as Ibsen later exposes his own marriage as a sham

• Torvald’s list of misdeeds emphasises his disgust:

  • Dramatic irony makes this a tense scene

  • Nora and the audience know that his words apply as much to her as to Krogstad

• This lecture signals the beginning of her mental decline