Eiffel Tower by Roland Barthes

Three ideas that Barthes talks about in the essay
Roland Barthes (1915 –1980) was a French literary theorist, philosopher, and he studied the relation between signs and the things they refer to. He influenced schools of theory like structuralism, semiotics, existentialism, social theory, Marxism and post-structuralism.
The author defines the Eiffel Tower as something mythical with a function; the tower is something you can see and at the same time you can see from or through it. For this function of seeing and being seen attracts meaning. The tower permits you to see things from it as well as to see it; it is now a symbol, full of meaning.
The author discusses the uselessness of the tower since its creation, and he compares this with a close space in which you can see something inside. He defines the tower like a dream – it is a result of men’s imagination.
The author also defines the tower as an original monument from which the visitor can see the city, and this creates a harmony of space between the tower and the city. The Tower has been a source of creation. The importance of the tower lies first of all in its origin as a dream, as a way to transcend reality.