Animal Imagery In Henrick Ibsen — страница 2

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nymph is a beautiful hummingbird that is graceful in flight, much like Nora wants to be for Torvald when she dances. She wants Torvald to be happy with her, because she knows he is going to find out about the note. In Act II, Nora is begging Torvald to let Krogstad keep his job at the bank-which Torvald is the manger for-so Krogstad won’t ask for the money back the she owes him. Nora gets quite worked up about all of this. Torvald finally calms her down, and notices her “frightened dove’s eyes.” A dove has always been a symbol of peace-keeping, and Ibsen uses it effectively to show her efforts to maintain peace and order. Torvald notices that she is just trying keep things right, and refers to her as a dove. The animal imagery is consistent throughout the play, usually

with references to happy, cheerful animals. In Act III the note is discovered, but also dismissed because of another letter from Krogstad. Nora is trying to calm down after Torvald gets angry at her for the his betrayal. He comforts her, saying he was “wide wings to shelter [her] with” and that he will keep her, despite the incident, “like a hunted dove [he has] rescued out of a hawk’s claws.” Torvald is saying that he will protect her like something that was a gift from God, and he will use everything in his power to watch over her. I personally think he is a selfish man who wouldn’t give a rip if anything happened to her, as long as nothing happened to him-but that’s another paper, another time. He treats her like she is a baby. Even though in some senses of the

word she is, but not to the point where she can’t take care of herself. Torvald thinks that he needs to be there to watch out for her, and that she would be nothing without him. That’s why Nora decides to leave him. She doesn’t need his “wide wings” to shelter her. She doesn’t need to be rescued. She needs to leave this man, and even when she does he is still worried about what people will say. I hate people like that, and that’s why I am not very fond of Torvald. Animal Imagery in this play is used to show the kind of person Torvald is, and the kind of person he would like Nora to be (or at least how he sees her). In this play, it is critical in the character development for both characters, showing really how both sides perceive the other.