Symbolism In A Doll’s House By Henrik Ibsen

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Symbolism in A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen During the early nineteenth century, women were viewed as delicate, innocent, and uneducated in the ways of the world, as prizes for a man’s fiscal success. The law treated women only slightly better than it did children. Women could not vote, and they were not considered capable of handling their own financial affairs. It was out of the question for a woman to consider borrowing money in her own name, and when she married, her finances were immediately placed under the control of her husband. It was also considered highly unacceptable for a middle-class woman to work outside of the confines of her own home, therefore, if a woman were to leave her husband, it was exceptionally unlikely that she would find any way to support herself and would consequently lose custody of her children. Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House is written in reaction to this very idea of the societal entrapment of women, and his hope was to force people to take a better look at the oppressive social structure they supported. Because A Doll’s House was written during a time when Ibsen would have been considered an anarchist for suggesting that a woman could leave her family in search of herself, Ibsen used strong dramatic symbolism throughout his play to show, without fully explaining, the dogmatic nature of the time period. Dramatic symbols in literature are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. Though there are several symbols scattered throughout Ibsen’s play, one of the most pertinent and representative symbols is the oppressed wife’s, Nora’s, Christmas tree. The Christmas tree is not only a symbol representing Nora as a pretty decoration that brightens the Helmer home, but also of Nora as a plaything, an ornament, and of the temporary nature of her position as these things. The Christmas tree, a
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