This is my complete set of notes for Henrik Ibsen's 'A Doll's House' based on my own reading of the play and analysis. It includes some brief context notes and quite a few critic quoes as well that are very useful for essays. I divided my quotes into themes to best help with essay writing too.
A* Literature Essay Plan - Hidden Truths in 'Paradise Lost' and 'A Doll's House'
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Drama and poetry pre-1900 (H47401)
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A Doll’s House
Thematic Quote Analysis
Finance and Money
Quotes
● “Heaps and heaps of money”- Nora
○ Awareness of the amount of money that she, in her upper class position, is
privileged to.
● “I can’t say exactly. It’s awfully difficult to keep an exact check on these kinds of
transactions.” - Nora
○ Naivety
● “To sit there working and earning money. It was like being a man.”- Nora
○ Challenging the expectations of women to have nothing to do with finance.
● “Expensive pet for a man to keep.”- Torvald
○ Torvald is the supreme provider of the household, meaning that Nora is in his
grasp. She cannot escape.
● “You give me money, Torvald.” - Nora
○ Notes Nora’s financial dependency upon Torvald, very regular of the time for
women within marriage.
● “I am a shipwrecked man clinging to a spar.”- Krogstad
Characters/ Character Dynamics
Torvald
● Torvald keeps a tight concern for any kind of debts that others might have over him,
especially Krogstad and that debt that he has to him because of Nora. He reprimands
Nora for her careless spending, calling her a “spendthrift” and an “expensive pet”, but
following this describes situations where he could have died and not been able to pay
back any money that she might have borrowed. This anxiety would have been common
for the time, in the rapid industrialisation, if money could come fast, then it could be
taken away quickly too.
● Torvald appears generous with money, giving Nora enough to buy pleasant things and
christmas presents and he creates a beautiful lifestyle around her that is comfortable.
The luxury that the Helmers live in reflects Torvald’s use of money as an expression of
status, but also as power, as Nora has to play the part that he wants her to play,
pretending to be a “squirrel” in order to coax more money out of him.
● Torvald sees money as a key symbol of masculinity but also of enforcing power over his
wife, who earns money for the household, and so he reinforces the patriarchal idealism
of the male provider and the “husband” once more.
Krogstad and Mrs Linde
, ● Krogstad and Mrs Linde are both figures that have suffered from not having money- both
in turn describe themselves as “shipwrecked” by various means, mostly the removal of
their ability to advance the way that they want within society.
● Krogstad describes himself to be thrown by Torvald into the “mud” and the “dirt” while he
is trying to financially advance and this presents the dynamic of the rich and poorer
classes in a vivid contrast. Krogstad has his own children to provide for and when Nora
demands for mercy because she has children, Krogstad demands to know whether
Torvald and Nora have thought of his own children.
● Mrs Linde suffered the sacrifice of her individual choice because she had to marry
someone richer than Krogstad in order to support her family. While she is pleased with
this choice in making the last of her mother’s days pleasant, she regrets the pain that
she caused Krogstad and describes the “mistake” of her “sacrifice” being that it was not
of her own free choice but rather by a forced hand.
● Both Mrs Linde and Krogstad suffer from money, both the choices of the people with it,
but also the impact of lacking such funds.
Nora and Mrs Linde
● Mrs Linde and Nora are vividly contrasted within the second scene of the first act when
they meet, Mrs Linde appearing older than Nora and living in much more drudgery than
the “heaps and heaps of money” that Nora possesses to spend as she pleases from
Torald. The difference in their lifestyle, in that Nora has never had to work, challenges
Nora’s impression of herself with the strong will of Mrs Linde enjoying work and wanting
something and someone to “work for” while she herself has everything provided for her.
● Mrs Linde is the first mirror that is held up to Nora’s character that makes her question
her current position. Later in the play, Nora confronts Torvald, realising that she
exchanged her individuality for her lifestyle, her own ability to be a human as she
“performed tricks for you, and you gave me food and drink.” This sacrifice no longer sits
well as she realises that money and class is perhaps not worth this sacrifice of her
independence, and is not worth putting on her performance of manipulation any longer.
Context
● Economic boom in Norway 1840s-1875, then Economic stagnation 1875-1890s;
○ Through the period of the industrialization, there was an economic boom of
growth within the economy, and then following this there was a stagnation. This
contributes to Torvald’s anxieties about money, as at the beginning of this
stagnation, he is aware of, since he made money so easily in the past, that he
can now lose it.
Critic Quotes
● Eric Bentley – “The borrowing of money – which lies at the heart of the action – is
mentioned soon and is opposed to the possibility of freedom and beauty. The
making of lots of money is seen by Torvald and Nora as a basis for security, a life free
, from care, yet when we meet someone who actually married for money we have a
sense of foreboding.”
Gender Dynamic/ Expectations
Quotes
● “Has my little squander bird been overspending again?” - Torvald // “Spendthrift”
“Squanderbird” “Songbird” “Squirrel” “Expensive pet”- Torvald // “Your delicate little
hands.” - Torvald // “My little songbird’s talking just like a real big human being.”-
Torvald
○ Dehumanising nicknames of Torvald- gender power dynamic, the pride of being a
man in power.
○ Nora appears passive in her relationship with Torvald. He tends to belittle her and
call her pet names. Many of his pet names are after various small animals that
are commonly prey for larger animals e.g Torvald (metaphor)
○ Infantilizing of Nora is insulting to her as a human being.
● “Plays with his coat buttons; not looking at him” - Nora // “I’ll get him in the right mood.”-
Nora
○ Nora’s exploitation of Torvald is the little power that she has over him, that
“influence” that women know they have is the only thing she has, and only by
playing a role.
● “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
○ Powerful societal expectations and impressions of masculinity in contrast to the
expected meekness and submissiveness of women.
● “To sit there working and earning money. It was like being a man.”- Nora
○ Challenging the expectations of women to have nothing to do with finance.
● “This is no place for anyone but a mother”- Torvald, when leaving Nora with the
children
○ Expectation of Nora’s duties towards the children, matches the expectations of
their roles within marriage and genders
● “So little Miss Independent’s in trouble and needs a man to rescue her, does she?” -
Torvald
○ Torvald reasserts his power over Nora as she claims to need his help, though he
has just fallen into her manipulation as she asks for help to dissuade his anger
over her asking about Krogstad.
○ Nora restoring Torvald’s “power” to him as the authority figure, as the idealised
image of her helplessness without him, shows that she knows how to play him
just right. Manipulation and lies rather than an open conversation.
● “If little squirrel asked you really prettily to grant her a wish-”- Nora
○ Nora has to conform to the idealised image that Torvald has of her in order to
persuade him of anything- everything is very much within his power, not hers,
despite the little influence she has. She sacrifices her own humanity. It seems to
be his pretty plaything to be able to get anything that she wants.
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