Symbolism in "A Dolls House" by Henrik Ibsen

The play A Dolls House is one of the best plays by Ibsen. Ibsen has refined
the taste of his plays with the use of many devices. Symbolism is one of the
main and common devices used in drama. The use of symbolism may
heighten up the emotional effect of a situation. The symbolism imparts
additional layer of meaning to the writing. While the apparent meaning lies
on the surface. The symbolic meaning is often hidden from views it lies
deeper than it seems. Ibsen makes use of symbolism in A Dolls House for
the purpose of character revelation. Ibsen always said that he aimed at
drawing living creatures and that any symbolism was purely development in
Noras character at the end is so great that some critics think this change to
be dramatically incredible.
The play A Dolls House revolves around two main characters Torvald
Helmer and his wife Nora Helmer. They live in a house which is symbolized as
a dolls house by Ibsen. The very title A Dolls House symbolizes that all
of the people that live in the Torvald residence are like dolls. Torvald plays
with them when he chooses and ignores them when he has something else
to do. Torvald maintains his office in his home and use to interact with his
wife and children whenever he chooses. Maintaining office in the same
premises where he lives, gives us the evidence that work is more important
for him and his family is less important. He does no bother his family and
indulge himself more in his office work.
Another aspect of the title A Dolls House is that Torvald treats Nora like a
doll. Nora tells Torvald that her father and Torvald both have treated her like
a baby-doll. Noras father used to call her doll-child. She says in the play
that
:
That is just it; you have never understood me, I have been greatly
wronged, Torvald first by papa and then by you.
And
I mean that I was simply transferred from papas hands into yours.
You arranged everything according to your own taste, and so I got
the same tastes as you or else I pretended to, I am really not quite
sure which I think sometimes the one and sometimes the other. . .
To her father, Nora was a sort of toy or doll that he could play with. Nora
feels her relation with her husband like the one with her father. She considers
her marriage a mere change of possession. Torvalds house is a doll house to
her. She was cuddled like a child and was never given an opportunity to take

a serious decision. She was never consulted for opinions. Instead, she was
often molded either by Torvald or her father in their own decisions. It also
symbolizes a male dominant society that a woman is a mere puppet in the
hands of the possessor. They use them as they find it fair. They seek their
own benefit neglecting their feelings, and desires.
Torvald uses to call Nora with different pet names that symbolizes that he
considers her a doll and not giving her an equal status of a wife. He
considers her role is to amuse and delight. Torvalds behavior with to Nora is
very childish. The pet names he uses for Nora are considered to be used for
children. For him she is no more than a doll.
The play begins with religious symbols that are Christmas
Evening and Christmas tree, which signifies the security and happiness of
the family. Nora orders Christmas tree and insists to hide it until it is
completely decorated. This symbolizes that Nora is the keep of appearances.
It shows there is a contrast in appearance and reality in Noras marital life.
Her act of hiding the true inculcates the doubt that there are secrets in her
life and she does not want to disclose them before she manages them. She
has borrowed money from Krogstad for the treatment of her ailing husband,
but she is unable to pay it off. So she is concealing this matter by trying to
convince Torvald to keep Krogstad in his job. Nora has carefully maintained
appearance of the happy marriage under the encroachment of truth.
Noras fancy costume which is bought by Torvald was found torn and Nora
tempted to tear it into pieces. This symbolizes the flaws and weaknesses of
her marriage and feelings about it. Nora thought to shred her marital relation
into pieces because in her opinion it was beyond repair. Mrs. Linde wanted
the couple to face the bitter reality and mend their minute
misunderstandings. In spite of all these feelings Nora wears the costume for
the sake of Torvald because by wearing that costume throws Torvald in a
state of erotic fascination. It was her transient qualities that Torvald must
appreciate. Nora makes herself in agreement with the likes and dislikes of
Torvald. She wants to please him at any cost.
New Years Day means a new beginning, because the first day of a new
year brings hopes and happiness for people. In the play it symbolizes a new
beginning for almost all the characters. The Major character, Torvald, is going
to start a new and better paid job at a bank. Nora is seeking to be free from
her debt, which was borrowed secretly for the treatment of her husband and
Nora starts a new life by leaving Torvald and Her children in the house.
Light in the play symbolizes Noras state of awareness. She is innocent and
immature in the beginning of the play and with the advent of incidence she
is getting mature. The light symbolizes enlightenment of her mental

consciousness. She realizes her status of being a female and makes her
voice loud for her rights. Light also appears to symbolize hope and spiritual
redemption when Dr. Rank is talking to Nora about his upcoming death. The
light begins to grow dark, symbolizes that Nora is using her sexual
attractiveness to manipulate the dying Dr. Rank into giving her money to pay
off her loan. The darkness is a sign of evil. Darkness tempts towards wrong
doings. Nora wants to create an atmosphere so that Dr. Rank agrees for
giving her money.
The Tarantella, an Italian dance, generally danced by a couple or line of
couples, which was named after the tarantula spider, whose poisonous bite
was mistakenly believed to cause tarantism, or an uncontrollable urge for
wild dance. The cure prescribed by the doctors was for the sufferer to
dance to exhaustion. Modern psychologists speculate that the true cause of
the disorder was not the spiders bite, but the repressed morals of that age.
The only outlet for passionate self-expression, they reason, was the
Tarantella. This symbolizes that Torvald wants to keep Nora in isolation within
her marriage. And she dances more wildly so that Torvald hears her and
unable to read the Krogstads letter. It also symbolizes that Nora is dancing
wildly to free herself from the poison which Krogstad brought in, in her life.
Finally, we can say the Ibsens use of symbolism in his play A Dolls House
shows originality in his respect. The manner in which Ibsen describes the
room in the stage directions at the opening of the play gives us an idea of
the effect he was aiming the realistic details of the opening stage directions
are used to lead the audience into a close identification with the characters
who live in this room which seems so familiar.