How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Kramer vs. Kramer.
Quote #1
TED: You're terrific. Boy, you're… Thanks very much, really. (sighing) The sisterhood. I wanna thank you for coming up here and cheering me up, but you—
MARGARET: I didn't come up here to cheer you up. I came up because I'm concerned about Joanna.
The sisterhood Ted's trying to blame here? It has nothing to do with traveling pants. Ted's referring to the women's movement, which sought equal rights for American women. Ted's blaming it for blowing up his family.
Quote #2
TED: I got people to see, and Daddy's gotta bring home the bacon. Not only does he bring home the bacon, but he's gotta cook it, too, doesn't he?
This was kind of a radical idea, even in 1979, that a man would handle domestic responsibilities. Ted's doing his best to convince Billy that he can handle it, because he's not exactly confident himself.
Quote #3
TED: (reading Joanna's letter to Billy) "Mommy has gone away. Sometimes in the world, daddies go away and mommies bring up their little boys, but sometimes a mommy can go away, too, and you have your daddy to bring you up. I have gone away because I must find something interesting to do for myself in the world. Everybody has to, and so do I. Being your mommy was one thing, but there are other things, too, and this is what I have to do. I did not get a chance to tell you this, and that is why I'm writing you now. I will always be your mommy, and I will always love you; I just won't be your mommy in the house, but I'll be your mommy in the heart. And now I must go—"
Billy turns the TV back on.TED: "—and be the person I have to be." We're gonna read this another time.
BILLY: I don't care.
If you ask us, the key thing to zero in on here in Joanna's letter to Billy is this idea that everybody has to find something interesting to do for themselves in the world. This was a revelation to Joanna; before she realized that she could be more than just a wife and a mother, she felt that, because she was a woman, being a wife and a mom were the only options available to her. That's probably why she stuck around for so long, too.