Symbols and Motifs a Doll's House

Symbols:

Christmas tree is a symbol, since it represents a decorative object at home just like Nora. The Christmas tree represent Nora who's role at home is to only look pretty and amusing to look at. There is a parallel in the play between the Christmas tree and Nora , when she instructs the maid to not allow anyone to see the tree until it has been decorated , the same things goes when she says that no one can see her until she is fully dressed for the party.

Bird (songbirds) / squirrel / skylarks: Both represent the image that Nora portrays as a mindless woman who innocently depends on her husband and wastes time by frivolous things. It also emphasizes that Torvald does not see Nora as equal to him, but she is just a delight to him. However, brids ,squirrels,skylarks are wild animals that like Nora cannot be trapped in a doll's house for too long and so they finally escape from the intolerable atmosphere.

Tarantella: The dance symbolizes Nora's change from an innocent ( a bird) to a more daring and devious character. When she is dancing, she is thinking for herself, in order to conceal her secret from Torvald . Torvald doesn’t like the transformation, since he can't control it. The tarantella is also a wild dance , in which Nora hysterically dances to, inorder to get rid of the poison of Krojastad's threat or the deception which describes the couple's marriage.

Nora's fancy fisher-girl dress costume: Nora wears her costume dress that Torvald chose for her , inorder for him to appreciate her beauty more. It s also significant to notice that Nora wanted to " tear [the masquerade costume] into a hundred thousands pieces " when she saw it torn ,this symbolizes her flawed marriage.It represents her temptation to get rid of the lies and the mask she has worn all her life infront of Helmer.

Motifs :

The letter is a motif , it indicates Nora's vulnerability and it always succeeds in causing a panic to Nora. Specifically in act 2, the first letter...