Is Ibonia a love story featuring the hero's search and struggle for a wife? Is it a wondertale emphasizing supernatural belief and prophecy? Is it a defense of monogamy or conjugal fidelity? Is it a congeries of psychoanalytic symbols? Is it a symbolic exposition of Merina political ideology? Ibonia has been interpreted as a fairy tale, a euhemerist myth, a historical record, and a psychological projection.

Psychoanalytical Interpretation
Fairy Tale
Psychological Interpretation
Cultural Historical Interpretation
Euhemerist Myth