Christmas-Tree as the Key Symbol to Unlock A Dolls House - Literature Essay Sample

In 1879, when Henrik Ibsens three-act play premiered, contemporary Europe was nothing like the Middle Ages. And yet, Ibsens poignant and blunt portrayal of an independent and decisive woman could not but shock the audience. Nowadays, thanks to the four powerful waves of feminism the social stereotypes of what a woman must and must not do have changed significantly. Nevertheless, the play remains as controversial as ever, its provocative nature being an essential part of its appeal. The productive tension between the modern gender politics and the gender discrimination described in the play invites the readers to contrast and compare, and as a result delve deeper into the intricacies of the conflict, its social and psychological nuances. While some reactions of the characters may seem to the modern recipient to be strange, the gap between the epochs is easily covered with the help of the symbol of the Christmas-tree, which is as important in the modern culture as it was in the 19th century Denmark. In the play, this symbol serves as an effective thought-provoking mechanism that prompts the readers to give consideration to such aspects of the problematics as the role of a woman in the family and the society, sacrifice of a woman and her spiritual and intellectual rebirth.

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The symbol of the Christmas-tree is introduced at the very beginning of the play where the author offers the readers a description of the setting rather rich in symbolic meaning. Ibsen outlines the setting as a very comfortable, homely and attractive middle-class dwelling with a pianoforte, a porcelain stove, a rocking-chair, engravings on the walls and a whatnot with china and bric-a-brac (Ibsen). There is also a small bookcase filled with handsomely bound books (Ibsen). The pianoforte and books indicate the level of the sophistication of the family, though the way the author highlights the books being handsomely bound hints at their rather decorative function. Such details as a carpet and a fire in the stove add coziness to the picture which openly represents stereotypical domestic bliss. When the door opens and Nora enters the reader might imagine a gust of fresh wintry air rushing into the warm inner space this is the first waftage of the wind of change that is going to destroy the little family paradise. But the reader does not know it yet: the reader is expectantly waiting for the porter to bring in the Christmas-tree. This element ideally fits into the picture of perfect marital happiness, shaping the horizon of the readers expectations, which are consequently overthrown as the family idyl turns out to be nothing more than an illusion.

As the action progresses the reader starts to perceive the Christmas-tree as a symbolic representation of Noras life and her role in the family and the society. When Nora says: Hide the Christmas-tree carefully, Ellen; the children must on no account see it before this evening, when it's lighted up (Ibsen), this line evokes in the reader happy memories of the distant childhood thus creating gleeful anticipation. The joyful Christmas atmosphere serves as an effective contrasting backdrop for the further development of the conflict when the reader begins to see that, just like the Christmas-tree, Nora has a merely decorative function in her household. She is supposed to be a lark twittering or a squirrel frisking around (Ibsen) delighting the eye and the ear, but any decisive action on her part is out of the question. Her husband never viewes her as an equal human being, he says, I should be no true man if this very womanly helplessness did not make you doubly dear in my eyes (Ibsen). Nora is also fully aware of her Christmas-tree role. In the final dialogue, she tells Helmer: During eight whole years, and more ever since the day we first met we have never exchanged one serious word about serious things (Ibsen). Nora is not to expose her true feelings, like a Christmas-tree, she must always be bright and cheerful lighted up. This vision of a womans role in the family of Ibsens Denmark seems to the modern reader outdated but in fact in the present-day world similar gender stereotypes are still thriving in the form of glossy ideals of doll-like female beauty actively replicated by the mass-media.

As the play ends, the reader might mentally return to the image of the Christmas-tree and see new meanings associated with it. The action in the play takes place in the imaginary country Christiania. A Christmas-tree is commonly seen in the Christian world as a symbol of Christ and this brings the reader to the theme of sacrifice. Nora sacrifices her freedom, her true nature and her innermost wishes (represented by the macaroons she is secretly eating) in order to become an exemplary guardian of the hearth, wife and mother. In return, she expects her husband to make a reciprocal sacrifice: I firmly believed that you would come forward, take everything upon yourself, and say, "I am the guilty one" (Ibsen). But the miracle does not happen: Helmer does not take the guilt upon himself, because he does not see his wife as an equal human being, worth of such a selfless act: I would gladly work for you day and night, Nora bear sorrow and want for your sake. But no man sacrifices his honour, he says, even for one he loves (Ibsen). In this quote, Helmer openly declares that his social standing and his masculine self-respect are much more significant for him than his love for Nora. Thus, he automatically questions the feeling itself: love is not love if one is not ready to sacrifice anything for the beloved.

In the play, there is one more sacrifice on Noras part: she sacrifices her domestic comfort and her relationship with the children in order not to corrupt them. The new woman that Nora has become cannot stay in the dolls house any more. Though she loves her children, she leaves the little ones, because she honestly believes that they cannot be happy with a mother like her. She does not want them to take after her and look like perfect dolls: pretty, sweet and charming, but lacking life, living in the world of borrowed dreams. She hopes that one day they will have the courage to change their lives. Today, when the rights of women are fully recognized in most countries of the world, women still have to sacrifice many things in their lives. When they get married they have to sacrifice a part of their personality as they are the ones usually expected to be more flexible and to adapt quickly. When they have children, they are facing a serious danger of ruining their career as there is still no paid long-term maternity leave in the USA. If they decide to stay at home with the children, the society expects them to see the little ones as the only priority. These and many more other sacrifices constitute the daily life of a modern woman and this is what the readers keep pondering over after having read Ibsens play.

A Christmas-tree, which stays green throughout the winter as a reminder of the spring and the new life it brings, also symbolizes rebirth. At the very end of the play Helmer ironically accentuates this symbolic meaning in his monologue: There is something indescribably sweet and soothing to a man in having forgiven his wife . She becomes his property in a double sense. She is as though born again; she has become, so to speak, at once his wife and his child (Ibsen). The irony of the situation lies in the fact that the actual rebirth of Nora that happens in the play drives her in the absolutely opposite direction from the one foreseen by Helmer. When Helmer betrays her love, she feels as if she had been stabbed, but that knife has also cut the strings attached to her arms and legs. She is not a puppet any more. Her safe and cozy world is gone, and she finds herself in a chaos of thoughts and feelings. She has to find herself in it. To sleep in the same bed with a total stranger would be a much worse disgrace for her than leaving a husband she does not love anymore, a husband who has never loved her for what she really is: You have never loved me. You only thought it amusing to be in love with me (Ibsen), she says. As soon as the illusion of her marital happiness breaks, Nora accepts the new reality and refuses to close her eyes again, even though her husband asks her to. The motif of the choice of knowing the harsh truth over the comfortable inert slumber has been much discussed in the modern literature and culture, to a certain extent monumentalized in the iconic Matrix film. But Ibsen brings the readers back to the very intimate, domestic dimension of the conflict, reminding them that the social masks they are wearing do not fall down at home.

One more traditional symbolic meaning of the Christmas-tree is the stamina needed to live through the cold and harsh winter months. This quality is the one that keeps Nora from breaking down under the weight of the tragic revelations of the three days described in the play. It is also the one that gives the readers hope at the very end of the story, that the miracle of miracles will eventually happen and the communion between the two strangers shall be a marriage (Ibsen). When the author remarks, A hope springs up in him (Ibsen), the readers feel hopeful too, which returns them to the very beginning of the story to the image of the Christmas-tree waiting to be lighted up.

Looking at the modern society, the readers might see that the problems reflected in the many facets of the Christmas-tree symbol in Ibsens play are still relevant, but at the same time the ray of hope which falls on Helmers head at the very end of the play throws light on many positive changes. Women are empowered nowadays to find their place in the society and to chase their dreams. Men are becoming more active as parents. But all of these changes would have been impossible without such works of literature as A Dolls House which actively engage the reader into the discussion.

Works Cited

Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House. 1879, www.gutenberg.org/files/2542/2542-h/2542-h.htm. Accessed 28 Mar. 2017.