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Quote 20- His suffering and his loneliness seemed almost to provide a background of dark cloud to the sunshine of our lives. Meaning. Having learned from Nora that Dr. Rank is about to die and thus that they will never see him again, Torvald does not feel pity for his friend, but only regretful that Dr. Rank will not be around to make his and Nora's life seem even happier. The fact that Torvald responds this way to the death of his best friend highlights his cold-heartedness, foreshadowing his cruel reaction to the revelation of Nora's secret. At this point the antagonist of the play is no longer Krogstad, who has been redeemed by the promise of his marriage to Mrs Linde, but rather Torvald. This quote also makes clear how much Torvald's idea of a happy and meaningful life is dependent on outside appearances. He appreciated Dr. Rank's presence because of how much happier he made Tora and Norvald seem, not because of the the actual pleasure of his company. Again, this prefigures his insistence upon learning Nora's secret that they stay married and keep up appearances for society's sake, even though they will be miserable.