A Dolls House, a Play by Henrik Ibsen Quotations

A Dolls House is a famous and controversial play by Henrik Ibsen. Here are a few key quotes from A Dolls House. Is that my little lark, twittering out there?...When did my squirrel come home?(Helmer, Act 1) There can be no freedom or beauty about a home life that depends on borrowing and debt.(Helmer, Act 1) Its a sweet little bird, but it gets through a terrible amount of money. You wouldnt believe how much it costs a man when hes got a little song-bird like you!(Helmer, Act 1) Yes—some day, perhaps, after many years, when I am no longer as pretty as I am now. Dont laugh at me! I mean, of course, when Torvald is no longer as devoted to me as he is now; when my dancing and dressing-up and reciting have palled on him then it may be a good thing to have something in reserve.(Nora, Act 1) Still it was really tremendous fun sitting there working and earning money. It was almost like being a man.(Nora, Act 1) I should just love to say—Well, Im damned!(Nora, Act 1) Hasnt a daughter the right to protect her dying father from worry and anxiety? Hasnt a wife the right to save her husbands life? I dont know much about the law, but Im quite certain that it must say somewhere that things like that are allowed.(Nora, Act 1) Many a man can save himself if he admits hes done wrong and takes his punishment.(Helmer, Act 1) An atmosphere of lies like that infects and poisons the whole life of a home. In a house like that, every breath that the children take is filled with the germs of evil.(Helmer, Act 1) Almost everyone who has gone to the bad early in life has had a deceitful mother.(Helmer, Act 1) To be able to be free from care, quite free from care; to be able to play and romp with the children; to be able to keep the house beautifully and have everything just as Torvald likes it!(Nora, Act 1) Your squirrel would run about and do all her tricks if you would be nice, and do as she wants...Your skylark would chirp about in every room, with her song rising and falling.(Nora, Act 2) It is no use lying to ones self.(Rank, Act 2) A wonderful thing is going to happen!(Nora, Act 2) Nora, darling, youre dancing as if your life depended on it!(Helmer, Act 2) When I lost you, it was as if all the solid ground went from under my feet. Look at me now—I am a shipwrecked man clinging to a bit of wreckage.(Krogstad, Act 3) When youve sold yourself once for the sake of others, you dont do it a second time.(Mrs. Linde, Act 3) Someone to work for and live for—a home to bring comfort into. That I will do, indeed.(Mrs. Linde, Act 3) Why shouldnt I look at my dearest treasure?—at all the beauty that is mine, all my very own.(Helmer, Act 3) One cant have anything in this life without paying for it.(Rank, Act 3) At the next fancy-dress ball I shall be invisible...There is a big black hat—have you never heard of hats that make you invisible? If you put one on, no one can see you.(Rank, Act 3) Do you know, Nora, I have often wished that you might be threatened by some great danger, so that I might risk my lifes blood, and everything, for your sake.(Helmer, Act 3) The black, cold, icy water. Down and down, without end—if it would only end.(Nora, Act 3) From this moment happiness is not the question; all that concerns us is to save the remains, the fragments, the appearance.(Helmer, Act 3) I have existed merely to perform tricks for you, Torvald. But you would have it so. You and papa have committed a great sin against me. It is your fault that I have made nothing of my life...Our home has been nothing but a playroom. I have been your doll-wife, just as at home I was papas doll-child; and here the children have been my dolls. I thought it great fun when you played with me, just as they thought it great fun when I played with them. That is what our marriage has been, Torvald.(Nora, Act 3) If Im ever to reach any understanding of myself and the things around me, I must learn to stand alone. Thats why I cant stay here with you any longer.(Nora, Act 3) I have another duty equally sacred...My duty to myself.(Nora, Act 3) That I dont believe any more. I believe that first and foremost I am an individual, just as you are.(Nora, Act 3) You dont talk or think like the man I could bind myself to. When your first panic was over—not about what threatened me, but about what might happen to you—and when there was no more danger, then, as far as you were concerned, it was just as if nothing had happened at all. I was simply your little songbird, your doll, and from now on you would handle it more gently than ever because it was so delicate and fragile. At that moment, Torvald, I realized that for eight years Id been living her with a strange man and that Id borne him three children. Oh, I cant bear to think of it—I could tear myself to little pieces!(Nora, Act 3)