Father. Then for any sake go to the ball! You are a couple of noodles. Come along, now.
Axel. The ball? It is not the ball. I don't care a bit about the ball.
Laura. No, that is just it, mother. When he gets what he wants, it turns out that it wasn't what he wanted at all, but something quite different. I don't understand what it is.
Axel. No, because it is not a question of any one thing, but of our whole relations to one another. Love is what I miss; she does not know what it means, and never will know—as long as she remains at home here. (A pause.)
Mother (slowly). As long as she remains at home?
Father (coming nearer to him, and trembling slightly). What do you mean by that?
Axel. It will be only when Laura finds she can no longer lean upon her parents, that she may possibly come to lean upon me.
Mother. What does he mean?
Father. I don't understand—
Axel. If she is to be something more than a good daughter—if she is to be a good wife—Laura must go away from here.