Master Builder Freudian Symbols Essay Research Paper

Master Builder Freudian Symbols Essay, Research Paper

Freudian Symbols in The Master Builder

The Master Builder, by Henrik Ibsen, is a play about individuality, morality, and

self. But beneath those very ambiguous descriptions lies a play with symbols that clearly

depict the collective unconscious. Through a careful psychoanalytical critique of the

text, the relationship between the symbolism and the psychological themes can be

discovered as they interact throughout the play.

Within a play, .symbolism has a broader role as a kind of natural metaphor, or

mode of comparison. (Neu 115). A psychoanalytic criticism will concentrate in the

symbols within the play and discover their .hidden meanings,. because .elements of the

latent content are expressed not directly but symbolically in manifest content. (Erdelyi

152).

Solness, the primary character, is a successful but aging architect who uses others

to fulfill his own selfish intentions. He demands respect and fear from all characters who

interact with him. Even his old carpentry teacher refers to him as .the chief. and refuses

to make decisions without Solness. consent (Ibsen 13). But, beneath the hard exterior, he

wrestles with instincts and dark forces. And yet, he can not surmount the sexual

obsession that drives him through life; Solness is a nymphomaniac and can not handle his

wife.s infertility which results in the loss of their sexual relationship. In an effort to

obtain sexual freedom, Solness destroys himself.

Hilda is also a nymphomaniac. Because she went through adolescence without a

mother, she was unable to successfully resolve an identity conflict as a child. This results

in her inability to develop her own gender identity, and she can not, therefore, create a

relationship with Mrs. Solness, but turns to Halvard to fulfill her sexual needs instead.

While both of the previously mentioned characterizations may seem, at first

glance, to be quite unrealistic, the actuality of each of them is much more plausible after

a close analysis of the Freudian symbols in the play. Then, an accurate personality for

each character may be obtained.

The first obvious symbol in the play is the characters. perpetual references to

.rooms.. Solness fears that the youth will not .make room. for him, and the room

symbolizes the womb – a place where Solness can take refuge from his ever-present

desires and return to innocence (Ibsen 115). He emphatically shouts, .make room – make

room – make room! (Ibsen 540).

And, .make room. is precisely what Mrs. Solness does. Offering Hilda

hospitality, she immediately becomes concerned with preparing a room for the child.

Again, Mrs. Solness is presented as the mother and quickly welcomes Hilda into her

womb and intends to care for the child as a mother would. In contrast to Solness.

exclamation, .There.s not that much room here,. (Ibsen 157) Mrs. Solness states,

.There.s more than enough room. (Ibsen 632). In the same way, Hilda is given the

children.s room and this symbolizes her role as Mrs. Solness. lost child. Unfortunately,

Hilda.s identity issues prevent her from assuming the role Mrs. Solness needs and wishes

her to undertake.

While, the room serves as a symbol of the womb, the various entrances and exits

serve a similar function as they designate the entrance to the womb – the uterus. Solness

fears youth will destroy the womb he is trying to create and cries, .someday youth will

come here, knocking at the door. (Ibsen 542). Then as if on cue, Hilda arrives. Being

the symbol of youth, she implores that he (and his wife) .open your door to the young.

Let them come in with you. (Ibsen 980).

The symbol of a bird is used to portray the wild passion of Hilda. As the act of

flying symbolizes the capability to perform sexually, the bird epitomizes the sexual

being. And, in the play, Hilda is the character with the wild and untamed carnal appetite.

When Solness asks her if she will return home, she tells him, .Wild birds never like

cages. Birds of prey like hunting best. (Ibsen 2212).

But, the bird is not the only emblem used to depict the intense sensuality in Hilda.

When the reader gets the description of her, she is full of symbols the denote her

personality:

.She is of medium height, supple, and well-formed. Dressed in

a shortened shirt, sailor blouse open at the throat, and a little

sailor hat. She has a knapsack on the back and a long alpenstock.

(Ibsen 547).

While the initial description is rather self-explanatory, the most interesting section can be

detected through the symbols used in the description. She carries with her a lengthy stick

which is an obvious phallic symbol, and serves to represent her obsession with the male

genitalia. In addition, her clothing is that of a sailors. which can easily be paralleled to

water – the symbol for amniotic fluid. Indeed, this very deliberate dep

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