A DOLL HOUSE Henrik Ibsen. IBSEN-THE PLAYWRIGHT Norways prominent dramatist Generally acknowledged...
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Transcript of A DOLL HOUSE Henrik Ibsen. IBSEN-THE PLAYWRIGHT Norways prominent dramatist Generally acknowledged...
A DOLL HOUSE
Henrik Ibsen
IBSEN-THE PLAYWRIGHT
Norway’s prominent dramatist
Generally acknowledged as the founder of modern
prose drama. He moved away from the Romantic
style, and brought the problems and ideas of the day
onto the stage of his time. Ibsen's famous plays,
Brand (1866 ) and Peer Gynt (1867), were originally
not intended for the stage; they were "reading
dramas".
"... And what does it mean, then to be a poet? It was a long time
before I realized that to be a poet means essentially to see, but
mark well, to see in such a way that whatever is seen is
perceived by the audience just as the poet saw it. But only what
has been lived through can be seen in that way and accepted in
that way. And the secret of modern literature lies precisely in
this matter of experiences that are lived through. All that I have
written these last ten years, I have lived through spiritually."
('Speech to the Norwegian Students, September 10, 1874, from
Speeces and New Letters, 1910)
Henrik Ibsen was born in Skien, a tiny coastal town
in the south of Norway. His father, Knud Ibsen, was a
prosperous merchant, whose financial failure
changed the family's social position. Later Ibsen
bitterly recalled how his father's friends broke all
connections with him and the "Altenburg Manor",
earlier known for it dinners and festivities. In
disgrace the family moved to Venstøp farmhouse,
provided to them by the creditors.
EARLY LIFE
As a child Ibsen dreamed of becoming an artist. His mother, Marichen
Cornelia Martine Altenburg, was an avid painter, and she loved theatre.
Ibsen's education was interrupted by poverty and at the age of 15 he was
apprenticed to a pharmacist in Grimstad. In 1846 he was compelled to support
an illegitimate child born to a servant girl. Ibsen moved in 1850 to Christiania
(now Oslo), where he attended Heltberg's "student factory", an irregular
school for university candidates, and occasionally earned from his journalistic
writings. In the same year he wrote two plays, Catiline, a tragedy, which
reflected the atmosphere of the revolutionary year of 1848, and The Burial
Mound, written under the pseudonym of Brynjolf Bjarme. Ibsen hoped to
become a physician, but failed university entrance examinations.
ADULT LIFE
Cataline sold only a few copies but The Burial Mound was performed three
times in 1850. The first performance of Cataline did not take place until
1881. After successfully performing a poem glorifying Norway's past, Ibsen
was appointed in 1851 by Ole Bull as "stage poet" of Den Nationale Scene,
a small theater in Bergen. During this period Ibsen staged more than 150
plays, becoming thoroughly acquainted with the techniques of professional
theatrical performances. In addition to his managerial work he also wrote
four plays based on Norwegian folklore and history, notably Lady Inger of
Ostrat (1855), dealing with the liberation of medieval Norway. In 1852 his
theater sent him on a study tour to Denmark and Germany.
Ibsen returned in 1857 to Christiania to continue as artistic director
of the new Norwegian (Norske) Theatre. In 1858 he married Suzannah
Thoresen, the stepchild of the novelist Magdalene Thoresen. Their only
child, Sigurd, was born next year. After many productions, the theater
went bankrupt, and Ibsen was appointed to the Christiania Theatre. To
this period belong The Vikings of Helgoland (1858) and The Pretenders
(1864), both historical sagas, and Love's Comedy (1862), a satire.
Several of Ibsen's plays failed to attract audience. These drawbacks
contributed to his decision to move abroad.
He left Norway for Italy in April, and traveled abroad for the next 27
years, returning to Norway only for brief visits. During this time, when he
lived in Rome, Munich and Dresden, Ibsen wrote most of his best-known
works, among others Brand, inspired by Kierkegaard's idea of subjectivity
as truth. The symbolic tragedy tells about a priest, who follows his high
principles at the cost of the lives of his child and his wife. Its theme, an
individual with his God-given mission pitted against society, reflected
Ibsen's disappointment in weak and spineless politicians. Brand's firm
belief is "No compromise!". At the end Brand admits his own weakness
and is buried by an avalanche.
Peer Gynt (1867), written mostly in Southern Italy, in Ischia and in Sorrento,
was a satiric fantasy about a boastful egoist, irresponsible young man, an
Ulyssean figure from Norwegian folklore. In both of these works the romantic
hero is destroyed and their "ideal demands" are crushed. No doubt the themes
also rose from Ibsen's disillusionment with his countrymen. In 1865 he wrote
to Björnson: "If I were to tell at this moment what has been the chief result of
my stay abroad, I should say that it consisted in my having driven out of myself
the aestheticism which had a great power over me - an isolated aestheticism
with a claim to independent existence. Aestheticism of this kind seem to me
now as a great curse to poetry as theology is to religion."
A Doll´s House (1879) was a social drama, which caused a
sensation and toured Europe and America. In the play a woman
refuses to obey her husband and walks out from her apparently
perfect marriage, her life in the "doll's house". At the the turn-
of-the-century physicians used Nora, whose mood changes from
joy to depression in short cycles of time, as an example of
"female hysteria". Later Havelock Ellis, inspired by Nora's
character, saw in her "the promise of a new social order."
LATER LIFE
Ibsen returned to Norway in 1891 and continued to write until a stroke in 1900. His marriage
was joyless, but he had a few episodes of friendship with young women. In 1898 Ibsen received
the world's homage on the occasion of his 70th birthday. George Bernard Shaw called him the
greatest living dramatist in a lecture entitled 'The Quintessence of Ibsenism'. Ibsen's son
married Bjørnson's daughter Bergliot. The marriage built a bridge of friendship between the
two writers. Their relationship had broken after Ibsen's play The League of Youth (1869), where
the central character resembled Bjørnson. Ibsen died in Christiania on May 23, 1906. The final
years of his life were clouded by mental illness. When We Dead Awaken (1899), Ibsen's last
dramatic effort, showed the influence of Strindberg.
"A woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day, which is an exclusively
masculine society, with laws framed by men and with judicial system that judges
feminine conduct from a masculine point of view." (from Ibsen's Workshop, 1912)
OTHER
Ibsen used A Doll’s House as one vehicle for
questioning the importance—and the tyranny—of
wealth. This play comes from Ibsen’s middle period,
when his most radical ideas were presented.
WORKS CITED
http://kirjasto.sci.fi/ibsen.htm
TERMS TO KNOW
External conflict – between Helmer and his wife Nora
Interior conflict – psychological conflict within a person
Exposition – some speeches, incidents, or scenes give an additional
dimension to explain background information that will have an effect
on character development. Ibsen weaves the exposition into the
drama itself (compared to the classics of Greek drama or
Shakespeare, where a chorus or character gives an initial speech that
is almost an orientation). Ibsen challenges his audience to understand
—almost participate in—the gradual rise of tension in the conflict
MORE TERMS
Round characters – fully formed characters with an interior life
Flat characters – have limited personalities and offer the audience little
real interest. The role of a flat character is to participate in incidents that
move the action forward or to behave in a predictable way that moves
another character to change.
Dynamic character – when a character does grow or change. It is more
likely that a round character will also be a dynamic character, but it is NOT
a requirement.
Static characters – characters who stay the same, developmentally; most
flat characters are static and are limited in the ability to change or grow.
EVEN MORE TERMS
Stock character – these are almost like mass-produced items that are
kept in stock in a store: you know exactly what you are buying. A stock
character is a stereotype, manifesting universal characteristics (ex: the
dumb blonde, a belligerent cop, the whining brat, the prejudiced
Southerner). In this play, it is the nursemaid who is the stock character
(loyal, patient, supportive).
Foil – the less developed character is used as a point of contrast in which
a dynamic character’s growth is made more noticeable by the sameness of
the foil. Often, a stock, flat, or static character is used as foil (this notion
is used to good effect in Act III).
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
Metaphor of the “little squirrel” – note the significance of
this in the play.
Little imagery is used because it is a realistic play.
Strong visual symbolism used to convey the play’s points.
Monologue – sustained speech by a single character who
reveals something of his or her inner workings. In Act III,
both Helmer and Nora have monologues that explain their
world views.
FREYTAG’S PYRAMID
Designed by a German critic, Gustav Freytag
Normally designed with the five-act play in mind
Ibsen experimented with form as well as subject with this
method.
A Doll’s House has several elements of the “well-made play”, but
it departs from this model in important respects. Chief among
these is the closing structure of the play. This play has a longer
denouement, with an ending that shocked audiences in Ibsen’s
day. It has a non-traditional resolution.
IRONY
Situational irony – occurs when the reality of the
situation is not what appears on the surface
Verbal irony – occurs when a character makes a
comment that is heard one way but meant in
another.
Irony used to foreshadow other events in the play.
SOCIAL CONTEXT
Published in 1879 while Ibsen lived in self-imposed exile, though
he was very closely attuned to social developments in his native
Norway as well as to the mores in the rest of the continent.
England had a large influence politically and militarily.
Queen Victoria set standards for middle class behavior; men
were to be held up as the superior being in the household. Art
and literature depicted the calm household under the quiet
authority of the male.
But challenges to this established concept were
being published and were considered shocking and
radical. Charles Dickens exposed the bare and
brutal underbelly of Victorian life (the disregard of
the poor, class inequities, exploitation of those in
domestic service/manual labor because of their lack
of educational access, and the effects of alcohol,
poverty, and abuse).
Women didn’t have the right to vote. In GB, the first resolution
proposing that women be empowered to vote was introduced into
Parliament in 1851. The effort failed. Social critics began to think
and write about he penalty society paid when only half of its
members participate as voting citizens.
Subjection of Women was published in 1869, ten years before A
Doll’s House. A second bill proposing women’s suffrage was
reintroduced in Parliament in 1870. Women sought newspaper
coverage as one way of achieving their aim. Political action took
place. Now it was in the mainstream, spreading to novels and plays.
Women gained the right to vote in Norway in 1913. Finland was
next.
Suffrage was extended to women over 30 after the
First World War in GB. In the United States, women
were granted the right to vote by the 19th
Amendment in 1920.
Other social reforms began to take place: property
rights, the role of women in the workplace, and
access to education.
LITERARY CRITICISM
Women had a very narrow role in society; in some
countries, they couldn’t even borrow money, nor
could they own property. Middle- and upper-class
women were generally educated at home if at all,
and they were not prepared for careers.
Literary critics tended to accept the status quo for
women. When this play was published, it was
regarded as quite a radical work because of the
inversion of social order that occurs in the play.
Feminist critics, beginning in the 1970s, have argued for a
reexamination of such works with the goal of gaining insights into
the evolving role of women and understanding how both women
and men have used women in literature to further certain points
of view.
Ibsen demands close study for his use of women as protagonists
and fully formed characters. Ibsen’s female characters were
intended to drive home the point that no society can flourish if
half its members are in bondage. Nora’s character is designed to
advance the argument that women be full participants in society.
A woman can be a better wife and mother if she is fully actualized
—meaning, if her own intellectual and emotional needs are met in
the process.