NORA

A wife names, for the first time, the lifetime of being handled like a doll — by her father, then her husband — and the life she never got to make.

1:02Dramatic20s–30sAdvanced

The speech150 words · 3 beats

0:00 / 1:02

Off-book

I mean that I was simply transferred from papa's hands into yours. You arranged everything according to your own taste, and so I got the same tastes as you—or else I pretended to, I am really not quite sure which—I think sometimes the one and sometimes the other.

When I look back on it, it seems to me as if I had been living here like a poor woman—just from hand to mouth. 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.turn

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Speaking to: Torvald, her husband, on the night she leaves.
What just happened: Her forgery has been exposed and forgiven; Torvald expects gratitude and a return to normal. Instead Nora sits him down to explain why she must go.
Objective: To make Torvald — and herself — finally see the truth of who she has been, so she can leave without pretending.
The turn: Grief hardens into clarity: what began as explanation becomes an indictment — "you and papa have committed a great sin against me."
Watch out for: Stillness and control; the danger is playing anger. Nora is calm, almost gentle — which is what devastates.

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More from A Doll's House1

NORA1:04A wife of eight years who has just watched her husband fail a test she didn't know she was giving him.

NORA

A Doll's House · Henrik Ibsen · 1:02 · 150 words

It is perfectly true, Torvald. When I was at home with papa, he told me his opinion about everything, and so I had the same opinions; and if I differed from him I concealed the fact, because he would not have liked it. He called me his doll-child, and he played with me just as I used to play with my dolls. And when I came to live with you— I mean that I was simply transferred from papa's hands into yours. You arranged everything according to your own taste, and so I got the same tastes as you—or else I pretended to, I am really not quite sure which—I think sometimes the one and sometimes the other. When I look back on it, it seems to me as if I had been living here like a poor woman—just from hand to mouth. 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.

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