Symbol as a key to the door of life mystery: The symbolic technique in Ibsen's dramas

In Ibsen's dramas, private symbols are widely used to express some mental experience, to imply the subtle inner world and forebode characters's peculiar destiny. As "Father of modern drama" who owns enterprising spirit and opening up consciousness, Ibsen shows a special preference for symbolism. This technique is not only an effective way to express profound and undescriptive life experience, but a key to the door of life mystery as well. To explore the artistic beauty of Ibsen's dramas, we can not avoid the issue of symbolism. This paper takes Caitiline and Romsersholm as examples, and tries to reveal the unique use of symbolic technique which embodies Ibsen's deep thinking over the mysteries of life such as fate and death by analysing the concrete symbolic objects of "shrine of cooking stove" and "white horse".