How does Ibsen use motifs throughout the play to emphasise change in Noras character?

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How does Ibsen use motifs throughout the play to emphasise change in Nora’s character?

Henrik Ibsen in ‘A Doll’s House’ written in 1879 uses the repetition of motifs throughout the course of the play to emphasise how the characters go through a series of changes in their characteristics and relationships. Ibsen makes use of motifs such as a Christmas tree, fancy dress, macaroons and doors to highlight changes throughout the play. We see how many of the motifs stress how important Helmer sees appearance to be in order to have a good life; we see Nora complying with his rules. However, by the end of the play the reader can see the changes in Nora and Helmer that have taken place as the way that Ibsen use of the motifs has changed.

In the exposition of the play we see Henrik us the motif of the Christmas tree to represent the Helmers family household. At the beginning of the play the Christmas helps represent the family unity and celebration within the household. When the Christmas tree is first brought into the house Nora make a big deal about its appearance:

“The children mustn’t see it before I’ve decorated it this evening”

By using the motif of the Christmas tree, Ibsen is showing how important appearance, celebration and family life are to Nora and Helmer. The children seeing the Christmas tree before it is decorated would mean that they would be exposed to an undressed, plain tree which is synonymous to the ugly, bare truth which is what Nora is hiding from throughout the play. Throughout the course of the play Nora allows herself to be sculpted by Torvald into the beautiful wife that he wants her to be, Ibsen uses the motif of the Christmas tree to symbolise Nora, how she is an object of Torvald’s and how she changes throughout the play. Torvald often even refers to her as his “Squirrel”, “Skylark” and “Songbird”. At the exposition of the play stage directions tell us that Nora says

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I’ll wrap up the notes in pretty gold paper and hang them on the Christmas tree”

 This quote is fairly ironic as Nora is dressing the tree that Ibsen uses to represent her being dressed up by Helmer throughout the play. The stage directions show how Nora at the start of the play is still willing to be dressed up by Torvald in order to make him happy however this changes at the start of Act 2, when we start to see the decline in Nora’s psychological, Ibsen uses the motif of the Christmas tree the symbolise this ...

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