Symbols in 'A Doll's House' by Henrik Ibsen
In the work 'Symbols in 'A Doll's House'' we will research symbolism that highlights attitudes towards women in 19th century Norway. It is common for authors and playwrights to use their works as a commentary on the society in which they are created. In this case, Henrik Ibsen uses his play, A Doll’s House to comment on the unfair society.
In late 19th century Norway, married women were seen as socially less capable than their male counterparts. Although having near formal equality (Aastebøl explains that “unmarried women were not granted legal authority until 1863, and married women had to wait until 1888 for the same rights”), the general consensus on the position in society was that married women were possessions of their husbands; married women were bound to what their husbands allowed them to do.
Ibsen was famously quoted to have said “a woman cannot be herself in present-day society”, therefore showing his motivation to fight for the social equality of women in Norway. As an early example of a feminist in Norway, Ibsen wrote his play A Doll’s House in order to not only represent the social status of women but also show the contemporary audience a problem within their society.
Two married women who are represented in the play are the main character, Nora, and her old friend, Mrs. Linden. Both characters express difficulties in their lives, which seem to be based around being married women, and the restraints placed on them at the time. When the character of Nora is introduced, her husband, Torvald consistently refers to her using imagery of animals, particularly small, delicate animals such as “my lark”. By referring to her as such a weak and small bird as a lark, Torvald immediately created connotations in the audience’s mind between Nora and weakness. Furthermore, the possessive adjective “my” also insinuates that Nora is Torvald’s possession. Another way that Ibsen represents Nora’s limitations due to her husband’s rules is through the use of props. After secretly buying macaroons, she “hides them” because Torvald had banned them from the house, so as to not let him find out about her misbehaving. The implementation of rules by Torvald suggests that he is in control of Nora and her actions. However, as Nora “hides” the macaroons, Ibsen shows her to be in control of her own life, as she goes against his back to buy something which she knows she is not allowed to do. This leads the audience to perceive Nora as a woman who, although bound by the laws of her husband, still has her own wants and desires. Furthermore, the hiding of the macaroons is a small motif that represents how Nora will go against her husband in order to do what she wants.
Ibsen shows Nora’s individual mind and desires are shown throughout the play. In the final scene, where she decides to leave her husband, she states that “I am no wife to Torvald”. This act of strength showcases Nora’s ability to make her own decisions for her own life. Gold states that the contemporary audience “reviled her for abandoning her husband, Torvald, and their three children”, which shows how Ibsen’s portrayal of a married woman making her own decisions was extremely controversial at the time, suggesting how Ibsen aimed to create controversy through his portrayal of the married women being anything more than a doting wife. Another way in which Ibsen shows the repression of married women is through the character of Mrs. Linden. When questioned about her freedom after her husband’s death, Mrs. Linden replies that her life is in fact “inexpressibly empty”. Here, Ibsen shows how widows were left empty after their husbands died. This infers how once a woman is married, her life revolves around her husband until he passes. Although it can be argued that it is down to the loss of love, Mrs. Linden confesses that she “thought it her duty” to marry her husband. This shows that Mrs. Linden never loved her husband, but after his death, her reliance on him reduced her to emptiness.
Furthermore, it is revealed that Mrs. Linden’s husband left her with “nothing” after his death. This shows the reliance that Mrs. Linden has on her husband, because when he died, she had nothing, forcing her to find a job. Nora describes Mrs. Linden as “tremendously clever at office work”, therefore showing Mrs. Linden’s capabilities as a member of the workforce. This would have led the audience to ask the question “why is this capable woman left with nothing after the death of her husband”? This then emphasizes the restrictions placed on married women at that time, as the audience would have realized that due to her status as a married woman, Mrs. Linden would not have been allowed to have a job despite having “a good deal” (Ibsen 38) of work experience, presumably before her marriage.
In a similar way, Ibsen shows Nora as being extremely capable after she finds out a way to save her husband despite the law that “a wife can’t borrow without her husband’s consent”. Ibsen once again shows that a married woman is capable of doing great things without her husband, however, the laws of the society would have made it impossible for the woman to ever flourish individually.
In conclusion of this work “A Doll's House symbols”, Ibsen portrayed married women to be repressed in the society in which the play was set, despite the women being extremely capable and also having individual minds. This was done in order to show the audience the unjustness within their own society and to raise awareness for the issue of women’s repression. Overall, Ibsen was successful in doing so, as his portrayal of female characters forces the audience to feel empathy for what they would have been going through as a married woman during that time.
Works Cited
- Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House. Arcturus, 2016.
- Gold, Sylviane. “'A Doll's House,' Made Contemporary.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 14 May 2010, www.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/nyregion/16theaterct.html.
- Aastebøl, Ingun. “Women's MuseumNorway.” Translated by Maren Sofie Løfsgård, Women's Issues - Still an Issue?, June 2009, kvinnemuseet.no/en/issue.
