Symbolism In Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck

Merriam Webster’s English Dictionary defines the term ‘symbolism’ as “the art or practice of using symbols specially by investing things with a symbolic meaning or expressing the invisible or intangible by means of visible or sensuous representation (Def 1).” Symbolism first emerged in France as a movement in art in the late nineteenth century. French symbolists Zola’s realism and desired to move beyond the real or material in an attempt to appeal to the senses .The goal was to suggest and evoke but never describe. (Suchanek, 1) Many Modern European and American dramatists were deeply influenced by this movement. Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chekhov and August Strindberg were some of the first playwrights to adopt symbolism in their works .However, there is a major difference between Symbolism in art or poetry and the kind of symbolism used by Modern playwrights. While the artists and poets completely rejected realism in favor of symbolism, the playwrights attempted a kind of marriage between realism and symbolism. For example in his play

The first chapter provides a brief background on Ibsen’s use of symbolism in his plays and how the symbols often reflect his own views and thoughts on various issues. In the next chapter the characters in the play are analyzed as symbolic of certain ideas and themes running throughout the play. In the third chapter the most important symbol in the play, the duck is analyzed in detail. The fourth chapter deals with the other major symbols used in the play namely, the attic which is a space symbol, the symbolic significance of photography along with a few often overlooked symbolic objects present in the play. All these symbols will be linked to the themes of conflict between illusions and reality, truth and lies, ideals and practicality. The conclusion sums up different sections of the paper provides scope for further research in the