Cristy Mendez

Ms. Janson
English 10 Honors
Thursday, April 30, 2015
A Dolls House
When one thinks of a dolls house, he or she imagines a perfect house with perfect
people living perfect lives. However, as proven in A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen, that
is never the case, there is always more than meets the eye. The scene from the play that
my group and I chose to portray focuses on when Nora, the main character, and Torvald,
her husband are arguing. Dr. Rank, a friend of them, shows up at their door unannounced.
Nora and Torvald act as if there is nothing wrong, as if they had not just been fighting.
Dr. Rank speaks to Nora in front of Torvald, using code, about how he will die. Nora
understands, but hides the truth, or any form of reaction, from Torvald. In my groups
representation of this scene from A Dolls House, my character, Noras, vocal tone and
body language help demonstrate a clearer view of the theme of appearances in the play.
In our selected scene, Nora uses vocal tone to demonstrate the theme of
appearances. At the beginning of the scene, when Nora and Torvald are arguing, Nora
raises her voice, desperately telling Torvald to let her go (68). However, when a knock
is heard on the door, Nora is startled. When Dr. Rank enters, Nora changes her tone,
pretending that nothing is wrong and laughing about the party and how much her husband
had drunk. When Nora asks Dr. Rank about his scientific investigation (69), which is
code for his death, she keeps her tone cheerful and nonchalant, to give the impression to
her husband as if nothing was going on. When Dr. Rank leaves, she tells him to sleep

well and wish her the same (70). Although she tries to keep her tone easy, her voice
still sounds a bit desperate, as she is referring to him dying.
Nora also uses body language to show the theme of appearances in the scene.
When Nora and Torvald are alone, they argue, although she doesnt lose her temper very
easily. She is very frustrated, as shown by her unhappy facial expressions, but tries to
reason with her husband. When a knock is heard at the door, she looks up, worried,
before asking who is at the door. As soon as Dr. Rank comes, her body language changes
completely. She appears a bit awkward around Torvald, but smiles and tries to skip and
act completely care free and happy. When Nora secretly asks Dr. Rank about her death,
she keeps her body easy, but her face shows that she is interested and worried in what he
has to say. Even though her tone could easily hide how she was feeling, body language is
harder to hide, and if one looked closely, they could tell signs of nervousness in Nora.
Nora, the character I portray in our groups representation of a scene from A
Dolls House, uses vocal tone and body language to cause further understanding of the
theme of appearances in the play. It seemed as though everything that happened inside
that dollhouse was a lie, carefully crafted to make life seem perfect. Although Nora and
Torvald fought, they kept it hidden from the eyes of the world, always pretending
everything was fine when someone was around, and even occasionally pretending
everything was fine when they were alone with each other. At the same time, Nora kept
another secret with Dr. Rank from her husband, the fact that he was dying, in order to not
cause any worry. All in all, perfect houses with perfect people dont exist, and the ones
that do are handcrafted and made of porcelain or plastic.