A Doll's House Quotes

Guide Note: A Doll's House is the story of a woman who realizes that all the faith and trust she put in her husband has been for naught. Realizing this, she is liberated from the restraints and roles of a strict, Victorian society.

Fast Facts:

  1. Author: Henrik Ibsen
  2. Original Translation: 1879
  3. Often credited as the first feminist play
  4. The ambiguous ending was considered scandalous
  5. A 19th Century German Actress refused to play Nora unless Ibsen changed the ending; he did, but regretted it later

A Doll's House Quotes

    • "What's to become of the morally sound? Left out in the cold, I suppose. We must heal the sick." -Dr. Rank, Act I
    • "Many a man can save himself if he admits he's done wrong and takes his punishment." -Torvald Helmer, Act I
    • "You don't get nothing for nothing in this life." -Dr. Rank, Act III
    • "I have another duty equally sacred...My duty to myself." -Nora Helmer, Act III


  • SparkNotes: A Doll's House Important Quotes Explained
    • "Free. To be free, absolutely free. To spend time playing with the children. To have a clean, beautiful house, the way Torvald likes it." -Nora, Act I
    • "From now on, forget happiness. Now it’s just about saving the remains, the wreckage, the appearance." -Torvald, Act III
    • "I have been performing tricks for you, Torvald. That’s how I’ve survived. You wanted it like that. You and Papa have done me a great wrong. It’s because of you I’ve made nothing of my life." -Nora, Act III


  • BookRags: A Doll's House Quotes  WARNING: Paid subscription after free preview period
    • "Nora, Nora! Just like a woman! But seriously, Nora, you know what I think about that sort of thing. No debts, no borrowing. There's something constrained, something ugly even, about a home that's founded on borrowing and debt." -Act 1, pg. 149
    • "Still it was tremendous fun sitting there working and earning money. It was almost like being a man." -Act 1, pg. 162
    • "Because 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." -Act 1, pg. 179
    • "Nora, darling, you're dancing as if your life depended on it!" -Act 2, pg. 204
    • "When I lost you, it was just as if the very ground had given way under my feet. Look at me now - a shipwrecked man clinging to a spar." -Act 3, pg. 208


  • NovelGuide: A Doll's House Top Ten Quotes  WARNING: Ad-heavy
    • "Yes - some day, perhaps, after many years, when I am no longer as pretty as I am now. Don't 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 One
    • "It is no use lying to one's self." -Dr. Rank, Act Two
    • "Do you know, Nora, I have often wished that you might be threatened by some great danger, so that I might risk my life's blood, and everything, for your sake." -Torvald, Act Three
    • "I have existed merely to perform tricks for you, Torvald. But you wanted it like that. You and father 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 father's doll-child; and here the children have been my dolls." Nora, Act Three