Freudian Symbols in The Master Builder
The Master Builder, by Henrik Ibsen, is a play about individuality, morality, and
self. But beneath those very ambiguous descriptions lies a play with symbols that clearly
depict the collective unconscious. Through a careful psychoanalytical critique of the
text, the relationship between the symbolism and the psychological themes can be
discovered as they interact throughout the play.
Within a play, "symbolism has a broader role as a kind of natural metaphor, or
mode of comparison" (Neu 115). A psychoanalytic criticism will concentrate in the
symbols within the play and discover their "hidden meanings," because "elements of the
latent content are expressed not directly but symbolically in manifest content" (Erdelyi
Solness, the primary character, is a successful but aging architect who uses others
to fulfill his own selfish intentions. He demands respect and fear from all characters who
interact with him. Even his old carpentry teacher refers to him as "the chief" and refuses
to make decisions without Solness' consent (Ibsen 13). But, beneath the hard exterior, he
wrestles with instincts and dark forces. And yet, he can not surmount the sexual
obsession that drives him through life; Solness is a nymphomaniac and can not handle his
wife's infertility which results in the loss of their sexual relationship. In an effort to
obtain sexual freedom, Solness destroys himself.
Hilda is also a nymphomaniac. Because she went through adolescence without a
mother, she was unable to successfully resolve an identity conflict as a child. This results
in her inability to develop her own gender identity, and she can not, therefore, create a
relationship with Mrs. Solness, but turns to Halvard to fulfill her sexual needs instead.
While both of the previously mentioned characterizations may seem, at first
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