A Doll's House Torvald Quotes

I believe that before anything else I'm a human being -- just as much as you are... or at any rate I shall try to become one. I know quite well that most people would agree with you, Torvald, and that you have warrant for it in books; but I can't be satisfied any longer with what most people say, and with what's in books. I must think things out for myself and try to understand them.

I am afraid, Torvald, I do not exactly know what religion is. ... When I am away from all this, and am alone, I will look into that matter too. I will see if what the clergyman said is true, or at all events if it is true for me.

Nora: It's true Torvald. When I lived at home with Papa, he used to tell me his opinion about everything, and so I had the same opinion. If I thought differently, I had to hide it from him, or he wouldn't have liked it. He called me his little doll, and he used to play with me just as I played with my dolls. Then I came to live in your house - Helmer: That's no way to talk about our marriage! Nora [undisturbed]: I mean when I passed out of Papa's hands into yours. You arranged everything to suit your own tastes, and so I came to have the same tastes as yours.. or I pretended to. I'm not quite sure which.. perhaps it was a bit of both -- sometimes one and sometimes the other. Now that I come to look at it, I've lived here like a pauper -- simply from hand to mouth. I've lived by performing tricks for you, Torvald. That was how you wanted it. You and Papa have committed a grievous sin against me: it's your fault that I've made nothing of my life.

Nora: Torvald, don't look at me like that! Torvald: Can't I look at my richest treasure? At all that beauty that's mine, mine alone-completely and utterly.

Torvald: I would gladly work night and day for you, Nora--bear sorrow and want for your sake. But no man would sacrifice his honour for the one he loves. Nora: But hundreds of thousands of women have done!

I have existed merely to perform tricks for you, Torvald.

Nóra: ...Azt hiszem, hogy legelsősorban ember vagyok, éppen úgy, mint te - vagy mindenesetre meg kell kísérelnem, hogy az legyek. Jól tudom, hogy a legtöbben neked adnak igazat, Torvald; valami olyasmi van a könyvekben is. De én nem törődhetek vele tovább, hogy a többség mit mond, s mi van a könyvekben. Magamnak kell a dolgokat átgondolnom, s tisztába jönnöm velük.

NORA: No; only merry. And you were always so friendly and kind to me. But our house has been nothing but a nursery. Here I have been your doll-wife, just as at home I used to be papa's doll-child. And my children were, in their turn, my dolls. I was exceedingly delighted when you played with me, just as children were whenever I played with them. That has been our marriage, Torvald.

I believe that before all else I am a reasonable human being, just as you are--or, at all events, that I must try and become one. I know quite well, Torvald, that most people would think you right, and that views of that kind are to be found in books; but I can no longer content myself with what most people say, or with what is found in books. I must think over things for myself and get to understand them.

Helmer: To desert your home, your husband and your children! And you don‘t consider what people will say! Nora: I cannot consider that at all. I only know that it is necessary for me. Helmer: It‘s shocking. This is how you would neglect your most sacred duties. Nora: What do you consider my most sacred duties? Helmer: Do I need to tell you that? Are they not your duties to your husband and your children? Nora: I have other duties just as sacred. Helmer: That you have not. What duties could those be? Nora: Duties to myself. Helmer: Before all else, you are a wife and mother. Nora: I don‘t believe that any longer. I believe that before all else I am a reasonable human being, just as you are — or, at all events, that I must try and become one. I know quite well, Torvald, that most people would think you right, and that views of that kind are to be found in books; but I can no longer content myself with what most people say, or with what is found in books. I must think over things for myself and get to understand them.

It's not so late yet. Sit down here, Torvald; you and I have a lot to talk about.

Alas, Torvald, you are not the man to educate me into being a proper wife for you.

Úgy értem, hogy papa kezéből a tiédbe kerültem. Itt te mindent a magad ízlése szerint rendeztél be, s így nekem ugyanaz lett az ízlésem, ami neked, vagy legalább úgy tettem, nem is tudom igazán… úgy gondolom, mindkettő igaz; hol az egyik, hol a másik. De ahogy most nézem, mintha úgy éltem volna itt, mint egy szegény ember, aki csak a betevő falatját keresi meg. Abból éltem, hogy mókáztam neked, Torvald. De hát te így akartad. Te és a papa nagy bűnt követtetek el ellenem. Ti vagytok a hibásak benne, hogy semmi sem lett belőlem.

Both you and I would have to be so changed that—. Oh, Torvald, I don't believe any longer in wonderful things happening. HELMER. But I will believe in it. Tell me? So changed that—? NORA. That our life together would be a real wedlock. Good-bye. (She goes out through the hall.)

But our home is nothing but a playroom. I have been your doll-wife, just as at home I was papa's 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.

But our home has never been anything but a playroom. I've been your doll-wife, just as I used to be papa's doll-child. And the children have been my dolls. I used to think it was fun when you came in and played with me, just as they think it's fun when I go in and play games with them. That's all our marriage has been, Torvald.

I believe that I am first and foremost a human being, like you – or anyway, that I must try to become one. I know most people think as you do, Torvald, and I know there’s something of the sort to be found in books. But I’m no longer prepared to accept what people say and what’s written in books. I must think things out for myself, and try to find my own answer.

Nora. I am afraid, Torvald, I do not exactly know what religion is. Helmer. What are you saying? Nora. I know nothing but what the clergyman said, when I went to be confirmed. He told us that religion was this, and that, and the other. When I am away from all this, and am alone, I will look into that matter too. I will see if what the clergyman said is true, or at all events if it is true for me.

NORA: Yes; it is just so, Torvald. While I was still at home with father, he used to tell me all his views, and so of course I held the same views; if at any time I had a different view I concealed it, because he would not have liked people with opinions of their own. He used to call me his little doll, and play with me, as I in my turn used to play with my dolls. Then I came to live in your house.

Nora. I assure you, Torvald, that is not an easy question to answer. I really don't know. The thing perplexes me altogether. I only know that you and I look at it in quite a different light. I am learning, too, that the law is quite another thing from what I supposed; but I find it impossible to convince myself that the law is right. According to it a woman has no right to spare her old dying father, or to save her husband's life. I can't believe that.

My goodness, it's delightful to think of, Christine! Free from care! 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! And, think of it, soon the spring will come and the big blue sky! Perhaps we shall be able to take a little trip--perhaps I shall see the sea again! Oh, it's a wonderful thing to be alive and be happy.

She thought about Hal, the man she'd lived with for almost twenty years, the man she'd slept beside almost every night. She remembered a famous optical illusion; a drawing that could be either a beautiful young woman or an ugly old hag, depending on how you saw it. For almost twenty years, she'd seen only the good- a loving, kind, generous husband; a beautiful house; a beloved, cherished daughter. But for the past weeks and months, things had been changing. It felt like she had finally seen the witch, after years of only seeing the young woman, and now she couldn't un-see. I lived by performing tricks for you, Torvald. But you would have it so.

NORA: And even though I was living by myself – for everything I did – every decision I made, from what I ate to when I went to bed – I could hear a voice in the back of my head that either sounded like you or my father or my pastor or any number of other people I knew – I’d always in my head somehow manage to check with that person to see what he thought, even though that person wasn’t a person but my thinking of that person. And so, as long as that continued, I’d decided that I’d live in silence, not speaking and avoiding the speaking of others – and I’d live like this until I couldn’t remember what other people sounded like – until I no longer heard a voice in my head other than my voice or what I was certain had to be my voice. That was almost two years, two yeas of silence. And once I could hear my voice, I could think of things that I wanted that had nothing to do with what anyone else wanted. It’s really hard to hear your own voice, and every lie you tell makes your voice harder to hear, and a lot of what we do is lying. Especially when what we want so badly from other people is for them to love us. So I find that I’m best – that I’m my best self if I’m by myself. TORVALD: … NORA: … but it’s nice to sit with you. TORVALD: Yes. It is.