“It’s extraordinary how you people can consume all this food and live.”

To Peter, his brother’s exuberant lifestyle is “extraordinary.” He’s taken aback by the party-like atmosphere of Dr. Stockmann’s household, and it seems to him to be an ultimately unhealthy way of life. His miserly living creates a contrast with his brother’s generosity, which fuels their rivalry throughout the play, with the idea of illness and health becoming a key motif.

“No, it’s just that Peter is a lonely man. Poor fellow, all he knows is official business and duties, and then all that damn weak tea that he pours into himself.”

In private, Dr. Stockmann speaks frankly about the differences between himself and his brother. He pities his brother’s inability to live life, a pity that contrasts with the harsh way Peter treats his brother in the ensuing scenes. Dr. Stockmann shows a capacity for empathy that’s lacking from the other characters, particularly Peter, foreshadowing Family Loyalty Strained by Power and Status.

“That may be all right on shore, but on board a ship it doesn’t work out so well.”

Billing tries to use the analogy of a ship to explain politics to the veteran seaman Captain Horster. The failure of the analogy turns the conversation into a broader critique of the preachiness of radicalism, in which men like Captain Horster are told why they should care about certain issues in a patronizing manner. Billing arrogantly tries (and fails) to engage with Horster and, in doing so, vindicates Horster’s views.

“To have earned the respect of one’s neighbors is—is—Catherine, I’m going to dance!”

Dr. Stockmann presumes that his discovery will win him the respect of his neighbors. The rest of the play will show this to have been naïve, yet the strength of Dr. Stockmann’s conviction is reflected in his inability to even finish his sentence. Instead, he can only dance, expressing himself through physical action at a time when his joy is so intense that he can’t even articulate his emotions.

“Only you can see them, heh? That’s the best idea I’ve ever—damn it, you shouldn’t do this for nothing!”

Kiil is so cynical that he can more easily believe that bacteria are invented as part of a scam than that bacteria actually exist. While this cynicism initially differentiates him from his son-in-law, it will have a greater consequence later in the play when Kiil tries to force Dr. Stockmann into withdrawing his claim with the threat of financial ruin. Kiil delights in his own cynicism, foreshadowing what’s to come in terms of strained family loyalty.

“They’re all rich, all with old reputable names, and they’ve got everything in the palm of their hands.”

Hovstad is critical of the supposed cabal of people who he believes really run the town. He believes that these people are exploiting the community for their own ends. His criticism here will become important as a contrast to his later self-serving behavior later in the play, invoking The Moral Limits of Compromise.

“Under all their liberal talk they still idolize authority, and that’s got to be rooted out of this town.”

Hovstad’s complaint that the town “idolize[s] authority” introduces the idea of The Dangers of the Uninformed Masses. His observation foreshadows how, when faced with the unpopular truths contained in Dr. Stockmann’s report, the town will indeed choose to side with “authority” instead of truth and liberal values.

“You always use such strong expressions, Thomas. Among other things, in your report you say that we guarantee our guests and visitors a permanent case of poisoning.”

Peter initially tries to convince his brother to soften the report by altering the language used, with his argument reflecting the moral limits of compromise. Rather the critiquing the objective facts, Peter complains about the “strong expressions” used to convey these facts. If these statements were to be softened, Peter implies, then the report would be much better received. He seeks to deal with his brother’s report by changing the way it’s presented to the world, managing the crisis through public relations.

“The public doesn’t need new ideas—the public is much better off with old ideas.”

Peter flails around in desperation, trying to justify his desire for his brother’s report to be suppressed. He shows his contempt for the public—the same public that he’s supposed to represent—by denying them access to new ideas. He believes that the public should passively accept whichever ideas he dictates to them.

“I mean it, we’re on the edge of a real revolution!”

Billing believes that Dr. Stockmann’s report has revolutionary potential. He is correct, but not in the way he believes. Rather than revealing the corruption and self-interest at work in the town and instigating a radical uprising, the report will actually prompt the community to side with the self-interested forces of capital, exposing the dangers of the uninformed masses.

“It’s clean! I always imagined this place would look dirty. But it’s clean.”

Peter has never visited the newspaper offices, but he has held assumptions about how the workers would exist. He looks down on men like Hovstad and Billing as troublemakers of little value. He’s surprised that they should live so “cleanly,” revealing the extent to which he judges others as well as the extent to which these judgments are misinformed and based on his subjective worldview.

“Suddenly I was—well, touched, you know? By their innocence, I mean. What I’m driving at is, when this exposé breaks they’re liable to start making a saint out of me or something, and I—Aslaksen, I want you to promise me that you’re not going to try to get up any dinner for me or—”

In Act II, Dr. Stockmann fails to recognize the changing mood in the community. He still believes that his report will be celebrated, to the extent that he shows off his humility by declining to attend dinners that he presumes will be held in his honor. Instead, Hovstad and those around Dr. Stockmann have already turned against him. As Dr. Stockmann continues to labor under his misconception, his position becomes increasingly precarious.

“Anyone may wear his hat in a democracy, and that a free citizen is not afraid to touch it.”

Dr. Stockmann uses Peter’s hat as a way of making a point about democracy and free speech. As anyone should be able to wear a hat, he suggests, anyone should be able to say what they believe. The democracy that Dr. Stockmann inhabits doesn’t correlate with his optimistic view of society or human nature; his altruism contrasts with the dangers of the uninformed masses.

“Then I will take a drum and go from street to street, proclaiming that the springs are befouled and poison is rotting the body politic!”

In response to being denied the chance to reveal the contents of his report, Dr. Stockmann threatens direct action. He wants to tell everyone that the poisoned water of the springs is a threat not only to bathers but also to the community itself. As the water made the bathers ill, the suppression of the report is now turning the entire town sick. This passage ties into the motif of health and illness as representing corruption in the “body politic” as well as in physical bodies.

“I just wanted to say I don’t think this is going to be a place for ladies tonight.”

Billing’s warning to Catherine is ominous. What was once intended to be the triumphant reveal of a public health crisis has turned febrile, to the point where drunken men interrupt proceedings and women may be placed in danger. The events of the meeting, Billing correctly predicts, won’t make for pleasant viewing. Already, the mood in the town has begun to change.

“He is a man, always has been, who is never happy unless he is badgering authority, ridiculing authority, destroying authority.”

Peter frames his brother’s actions as a pathetic rebellion against any and every form of institution. He knows this to be untrue, but he wants it to be true so that he doesn’t need to reflect on his role in the potential health crisis at the baths. Peter’s denunciation of his own brother speaks to the intense fear that drives his actions. He reshapes reality for his own self-interest, revealing family loyalty strained by power and status.

“I predict that if we are not defamed and maliciously attacked we will someday be one of the richest and most beautiful resort towns in the world.”

Peter’s speech to the townspeople invites them to share in his false reality. He completely ignores any potential hazards, as uncovered by his brother, instead painting a picture of a successful future in which the whole town will benefit. If Dr. Stockmann’s report is true, then Peter’s vision of the future is impossible, yet it’s effective in persuading the townspeople because they want it to be true.

“And why? Not as my brother says, so that fine carriages could crowd our streets, but so that we might cure the sick, so that we might meet people from all over the world and learn from them, and become broader and more civilized.”

In a rhetorical sense, Dr. Stockmann returns to the same utopic imagery employed by his brother as a means of revealing the true morality at play. The benefit of the baths should be that they can cure the sick, he says, not enrich the people of the town. It’s a public good, not a personal enrichment program. This “civilized” view of the world is roundly rejected by the townspeople.

“You’re trying to build a town on a morality so rotten that it will infect the country and the world!”

If the report of the poisoned water is ignored, Dr. Stockmann implies, then the consequences will be far-reaching. He views the town’s decision as indicative of a broader social movement, one that could spread to the rest of the world. If people are so selfish and ignorant that they’re willing to overlook his report, then the poison will affect not just those who bath in the water but the morality of the world itself, exposing the dangers of the uninformed masses.

“I—I haven’t completely forgotten that you’re still my brother.”

When Dr. Stockmann notes that Peter seems scared, Peter is insistent that he hasn’t “completely forgotten” that they’re brothers. His stammering statement is seemingly made more for his own benefit than for his brother’s benefit, as he tries to reassure himself that he hasn’t made a mistake in turning the town against Dr. Stockmann. He clings to his statement of fraternal solidarity, even as his actions contradict his words.

“They’d love to murder you, but they believe you.”

The problem facing the townspeople is that they do not wish Dr. Stockmann to be right, but they fear that his report may be accurate. Like Peter, they strive to convince themselves of a more convenient reality rather than face the consequences of their behavior. They’re willing to murder Dr. Stockmann for articulating their own fears because they resent what his principled stand reveals about the moral limits of compromise.

“Everything can be killed. That’s science!”

Kiil is one of the few people who have no interest in fooling themselves about Dr. Stockmann’s findings. The water may be poisoned, but he doesn’t care enough to create an elaborate excuse. Instead, he wants his son- in-law to lie about the report. The casual appeal to science affirms his cynicism, as he presumes that the same science that led to the report can be used for his own interests.

“You’re going to go on crucifying the hero, are you not?”

Dr. Stockmann makes the comparison between himself and Jesus Christ even more explicit. Now, however, he considers it from a negative perspective, seeing himself as the tormented and executed figure who dared to speak the truth. The statement is a challenge to those around him, hoping that he will shock his neighbors into realizing what they’re doing. His attempt fails.