Act four: Scene two

Outside Dr. Rank’s house. The night sky hovers over the town with a stillness that is deeply calming. Details such as the leaves on a tree or the numbers on a mailbox are hidden in the darkness, but one can make out their silhouettes. The door to Dr. Rank’s house is a rich blue that looks purple in the night. To the right of it, is a little flower pot with a cactus inside.

Helmer appears from stage left in a drunken state of despair. In his right hand, he swings an empty bottle of champagne through the air as he hums the Tarantella music loudly and off-key.

Helmer:

Dr. Rank! Dr. Rank! Open your door. It tis I, your good friend Torvald. Come and welcome me in.

(Silence)

Helmer:

Oh come on now Dr. Rank. You can’t possibly be asleep when so much is happening this awful night. Here, I brought you a lovely bottle of champagne. The same one from the party. Most of it is gone, but you can still keep the bottle. Come on old friend, let me in.

(Silence)

Helmer:

Fine then. I shall just scream at the top of my lungs until you wake up and keep me from further disturbing your neighbors. She’s gone! She left me! Do you hear, Dr. Rank? Nora is gone for good and left me and the children. The little lark has spread her wings and flown away. Oh Icarus, watch out! Such beautiful wings cannot be so close to the sun. They will burn to a crisp and the little hummingbird will plummet to the ground.

(Silence)

 Helmer:

Open up you fool! Let me in. Do you know what it is like to have something so terrible happen to you? Something that shatters your whole world? Oh, of course you do. She told me about your little code. Dr. Rank do not let pride keep you from me in this time of need. Please! What am I to do? She took my heart and ripped it into a million pieces after I gave her nothing but love. Sure, I may have gotten angry when I first learned the news of– Oh, no I must not say that. But what was I supposed to do? I am a man, of course, and I do not care for such silly mistakes. She flew too close to the sun, but I got burned. Oh, my little lark! Where is your beautiful melody?

(Suddenly the door opens and Dr. Rank steps out exhausted.)

Dr. Rank:

What are you doing here in the middle of the night? Could this not have waited till morning?

 Helmer:

Weren’t you listening? She’s left me. Nora has left me for herself. Such a clueless little girl.

(Dr. Rank gets Helmer to sit on the porch steps. They are quiet.)

Helmer:

Did you not hear me? Why are you not speaking? Don’t I deserve something?

Dr. Rank:

You’ve really done it this time.

Helmer:

Me? She is the one who left! I am still right here about to raise three children on my own.

Dr. Rank:

Be quiet! I am sick of hearing you speak. You have just lost the most loving, beautiful, and kind women to walk the planet, and you want someone to console you. That is an impossible job. No person could ever fill such a space. And after years of watching you control her every move, her every meal, her every decision… well I don’t see how any person could want to console you.

Helmer:

How dare you say that. You are my friend–

Dr. Rank:

No. I only have a short time left on this Earth, so I must be straightforward with you. I was never there for you. You were obnoxious and difficult to work with in most situations. Nora, however, she was the reason I came. Her light was so powerful that it brightened up everyone’s day. One could not help smiling when around her. 

Helmer:

You traitor. You backstabbing snake.

Dr. Rank:

You didn’t love her. You loved controlling her. I would have given my life for her.

 Helmer:

Not after you hear what she did.

Dr. Rank: 

It does not matter what she did or didn’t do. (getting up from the steps and making his way to the door) I love her and there is nothing more to it. I would have helped her. I would have been her partner, not her father telling her to stop eating sweets.

 Helmer:

I could kill you.

 Dr. Rank:

No you won’t. You are too sensitive for such a task. And what would it matter? I shall soon die anyways.

 Helmer:

Where are you going?

 Dr. Rank:

To bed. I am tired now. You are welcome to continue sitting here, but do be quiet for the neighbor’s sake?

 Helmer:

What? You are going to bed right now.

 Dr. Rank:

Precisely. I see no reason to discuss your loss any further. She is gone now and that is that. What is next is up to you, but I cannot be part of that. I have no next. I hope, however, there is one for Nora and the women like her with husbands like you.

(Dr. Rank opens the door, steps in, and closes it shut. Helmer is left speechless on Dr. Rank’s porch steps. He takes the last sip from the champagne bottle and stares at the stars silently.)

End of play.