What effects do deceptive appearances have in people's lives and relationships? Appearances are often adopted to please other people and to be able to manipulate them easily. These unreliable appearances prove to be the misleading veneers that mask the reality of people and situations. Many of the adopted deceptive appearances are the result of a response to a challenge, but the falsehood of them leads to negative results in relationships. In "A Doll's House", Henrik Ibsen intends for the reader to learn that deceptive appearances end in misunderstandings and cause negative reactions to those involved in romantic relationships.

People often adopt delusive appearances in order to please other people and to be able to manipulate them easily. At the beginning of the play, Nora plays with the buttons in Torvald's coat, seductively, while asking him for money, she acts foolishly and dependant upon him, knowing that's the way she likes her. She states at one point, when she is accused of eating macaroons behind Torvald's back, that she "would never do anything against [Torvald's] wishes". Nora creates this image of herself because that's what it is expected from her: she is to beautify the home, not only through proper management of domestic life but also through proper behavior and appearance. Nora's character is used as the ideal woman that society would place on a pedestal, gaining high status and great reputation as an obedient wife. Wanting or needing to adopt them to please and manipulate other people is one of the effects deceptive appearances have in people's lives and the relationships in which they are involved, and so is the wish to mask the reality of people and situations.

Unreliable appearances are misleading veneers that mask the reality of people and surroundings. Talking to Mrs. Linde, Nora states that "[Mrs. Linde] is...