A Dolls House2
In many pieces of literary work, there are elements that are used to help develop the audiences understanding of characters and events. In the play A Doll's House * by Henrik Ibsen, animal imagery is used in the development of the main character, Nora. It is also later found that the animal imagery is a critical part in understanding who Nora is, and how other characters perceive her. Ibsen uses creative, but effective, animal imagery to develop Nora's character throughout the play. The animal imagery is carried out through the dialect between Nora and her husband Torvald. He uses a lot of bird imagery, seeming that Torvald thought of Nora as some kind of bird. It is also evident that the animal names he calls Nora, directly relates to how Nora is acting or how Torvald wants her to be portrayed.In Act I, Torvald asks, "Is that my skylark twittering out there?" referring to Nora. A lark is a happy and carefree songbird. A lark can also be used as a verb that means to engage in spirited fun or merry pranks. Right from the beginning of the play it is evident that Nora is a lively spirited and carefree woman, just as a lark might be. Torvald again referrers to Nora early in the play as
This is a big part of the reason why Nora left. She even goes as far as calling herself all the names that Torvald calls her and she says that, "I'd turn myself into a little fairy and dance for you in the moonlight Torvald. He also says that he is has, "broad wings to shield [Nora]," and that he "shall watch over [her] like a hunted dove which [he] snatched unharmed from the claws of the falcon. When Torvald calms her down, he notices her "frightened Dove's eyes. Through the animal imagery of the squirrel, Ibsen is also foreshadowing that Nora is hiding more than just macaroons form Torvald. But these birds do not show their struggles, and despite what they may be going through they are still a symbol of peace and perfect happiness. " A dove is the unmistakable symbol of peace, or peace keeping, which is in essence what Nora it trying to do. This is directly related to what Nora is doing, she is hiding or "squirreling" away the bag of macaroons. And just as the bird that Torvald always wanted Nora to act like, she flew away, just as a dove or a lark would do when they were afraid or no longer wanted to stay somewhere. He attempts to comfort her by saying that he will keep her despite the incident. References to the plays are to this edition. (New York: Longman, 1997), 1061-1112. On the inside birds may have many struggles, such as just finding food to survive.
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Acceptance Essays
