In literature, authors often use symbolism to establish a deeper meaning in the essential ideas presented in their works. Precisely, symbolism is a figure of speech where the author uses either a character, object, phrase, or situation to represent another meaning or thing with a deeper meaning. Metaphors are also commonly used in literary works as techniques in which different things are compared to each other indicating similar qualities. Specifically, metaphors play an essential role in bringing two unrelated items into comparison to add clarity and creativity of figures of speech to literary texts. Different metaphors and symbolism have been used in Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” to establish the clarity and meaning of the text to the audience. In particular, A Doll’s House was a play published during the late nineteenth century period, specifically in 1879 to tell the story of a family consisting of Torvald Helmer and his wife, Nora, along with their children (Ibsen 72). The play talks about the internal and external struggles that the family undergoes, including the threat of fraudulent acts that ultimately result in the family’s separation. This essay contends that in A Doll’s House, Ibsen uses significant symbolism in the play including the Christmas tree, Nora’s costume, the tarantella, and a range of metaphors to bring significant clarity to the internal and external struggles faced by Torvald Helmer’s family. In Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, the title constitutes a significant symbolic meaning of a patriarchal society, in which males were highly dominant over their female counterparts. In particular, the title revolves around the character, Nora, who after her marriage, struggles to her family and house with beauty, care, and love. However, amidst all her striving, her husband does not treat her with dignity. Instead, he tortures, humiliates, and insults her, which prevents her from realizing her dream of achieving the establishment of a loving, beautiful, and caring household. During the late eighteenth century period, society was largely characterized by patriarchal practices, in which men did not recognize the efforts of women as being important, and instead, they despised, tortured, and humiliated them considering them as objects. Similarly, in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, the author uses the metaphor of Nora to signify her as an innate object, in this case, a doll. An innate object refers to something that has no value or will of its own. Similarly, Nora is compared to a doll as someone who lacks personal will or a mind of her own.
Another essential symbol that is commonly used throughout Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” includes the Christmas tree. In particular, the Christmas tree is used to symbolize Nora’s excitement in her efforts to achieve unity and happiness in her household. Precisely Ibsen uses the Christmas tree as a symbolic representation of the joy, happiness, and excitement Nora embraces in creating an attractive and pleasant home for her family. Christmas trees are used in contemporary societies as attractive festive objects often used to establish attractive homes for family members to gather in unity and joy and celebrate the Christmas festive period. In the play however, especially during the beginning of the second Act, the Christmas tree ultimately gets “bedraggled” implying it is stripped (Ibsen). This description symbolizes that the joy and unity that Nora tries to achieve is stripped off and the family’s unity eventually disintegrates.
Another symbolism used in the play involves Nora’s costume along with the tarantella that she dances at the party which represents her willingness to pretend to be something she is not to make her husband feel the belief that he controls her fully. In this context, the tarantella is viewed as a romantic spark that Nora uses in the dance during their practice to take part in the upcoming ball. Consequently, Nora is dedicated to using the tarantella and the practice of dancing as her excuse for preventing her husband, Torvald from checking and finding out about the constituents of the mailbox. Therefore, Ibsen uses the tarantella in the play as a symbolic representation of Nora’s uncontrollable character, in which she plays dumb consistently to stoke her husband’s ego. For instance, during the play, Nora asks her husband to assist her pick up the costume and teach her to dance. This determination symbolizes Nora’s role as a helpless young girl who is unable to make any decision without her husband’s assistance, something characteristic of the period’s patriarchal society in which the women’s efforts were considered useless and invaluable.
Throughout Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, the author continues to use symbols to represent some hidden and deeper meaning of the play. One of the consistently used symbols includes the macaroons. In particular, the macaroons mainly represent Nora’s deceit and disobedience, especially in her marriage. In particular, Nora goes to eat the macaroons alone while she is in the living room even after her husband has banned her from consuming them during the opening of the play. In this context, Ibsen uses the macaroons to symbolically represent Nora’s disobedience to her husband’s rules. They also demonstrate her deceit because even after she is banned from consuming them, she goes ahead and betrays her husband and claims that she has never disobeyed Torvald.
Ibsen’s A Doll’s House generally constitutes the use of several symbols and metaphors to exalt the clarity and meaning of a society characterized by patriarchal practices and experiences of the time when the play was composed. Symbols like the Christmas tree, the tarantella, and the macaroons mainly represent the characteristic experiences and behaviors of women in a society characterized by patriarchy. They illustrate the struggles that women faced including their indignation, humiliation, and torture, and their subsequence pretense keeping up with them to stark the ego of their husbands. This play offers important insights into the struggles of families, especially families that still embrace the system of patriarchy, and the role of such a family setting in leading to separation and instability in today’s society.
Works Cited
Henrik, Ibsen. A doll’s house. Xist Publishing, 2015.
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