The Life and Works of Henrik Ibsen Introduction

The Life and Works of Henrik Ibsen

Introduction Henrik Ibsen was born on March 20 th, 1828 in Skien, Norway and died at the age of 78 on the 23 rd of May, 1906 in Christiania (Oslo), Norway. His Major works include Brand, Peer Gynt, An Enemy of the People, A Doll's House, The Wild Duck, Hedda Gabler and The Master Builder. He is the most frequently preformed dramatist in the world after Shakespeare.

Early Life Ibsen was born to an upper middle class merchant family, and was closely related to many of the patrician (ruling class) families in the area. Henrik's parents were Marichen Altenburg and Knud Ibsen. Her mother, and his stepfather were brother and sister, making their relationship borderline incestuous. This subject was depicted in several of Ibsen's plays, such as Rosmersholm.

Early Life Cont. When Henrick was seven, Knud faced several financial difficulties and the family was forced to move to their summer home permanently. Bankruptcy turned Knud into an alcoholic and an abusive husband. Henrik based many of his suffering female characters off of his mother Marichen, showcasing the powerlessness of women he so often witnessed at home. His childhood generated another prominent theme in his plays, the danger of debt.

Adolescence At 15, Ibsen left school and moved to Grimstad. He became an apprentice pharmacist and began to write in his free time. At 18, he fathered an illegitimate child (male) with a servant, and payed for him into his teens, though he never saw the boy. Wrote Catilina and The Burial Mound when he was 22, under the pseudonym Byrnjolf Bjarme, both generated little attention or revenue. First major success was Peer Gynt which was based off of a Norwegian folk tale.

Later Life Married Suzannah Thoresen at 30 (1858), she gave birth to their only child Sigurd in 1859. They were very poor, and Ibsen became “disenchanted” with life in Norway. In 1864, they moved to Sorrento, Italy, and traveled Europe for the next 27 years before returning back to Norway. Despite its representation in his plays, Ibsen revered marriage, believing that it was possible to live as “. . . [two] perfect, happy equals. ”

Later Life Cont. Ibsen achieved notoriety with his plays Brand, Emperor and Galilean, A Doll's House, Ghosts, An Enemy of the People, Hedda Gabler and Wild Duck. His plays were scathing commentaries on society, and were borderline scandalous, with mentions of STDs, radical gender roles and the portrayal of the masses as ignorant sheep.

Death After Ibsen suffered a series of strokes in 1906, a nurse assured a visitor that he was recovering. Ibsen sat up and sputtered his last words, “On the Contrary!” (“Tvertimod!”), he died less than 24 hours later on May 23 1906.

Real Life Actual Nora was based off of Ibsen's good friend Laura Kieler, and Torvald, her husband Victor. Most of the plot really happened, minus the forged signature. When Victor discovered the loan, he divorced Laura and had her committed to an asylum, two years later she was released and returned to his household at his urging. Laura had asked Ibsen to intervene prior to her incarceration, which he felt he could not do, leaving him feeling guilty, which is why he had Nora leave with her head held high.

Connections to the Text (Themes) Poverty: “You know what I think? No debts, no borrowing-never. A home that depends on loans and debt is not beautiful because it is not free. ” (pg 3). Women: “I was handed from Papa to you. . . It's because of you I've made nothing of my life. ” (pg 99). “What duties? ” “My duties to myself. ” “You are a wife and a mother before everything else. ” (pg 101).

Connections to the Text (Themes) Cont. Broken family unit: “. . . we must look as if nothing has changed. But only in public. From now on you will stay in the house. . . Now it's just about saving the remains, the wreckage, the appearance. ” (Pg 94).

Modernism and Realism Henrik Ibsen is often referred to as the father of realism and is often associated with the modernism movement in art Modernist art is that which deals with the social structures of modern societies and growing industrialization of the world Realism is just as it sounds, art that attempts to depict the world truthfully without the intervention of supernatural elements

Modernism and Realism (cont. ) While some of Ibsen's plays, such as Peer Gynt, deal with more fantastical story lines, the majority of his work is grounded in the real world, in microsocieties, with imperfections acting as plot points and criticisms of the world at large Ibsen was very mindful of the world around him, and was not afraid to express his observations, and thus the content in his works was often controversial

Influences on Henrik Ibsen's focus on Modernism and Realism stemmed from his interests in literature and philosophy The two largest influences on Ibsen's work were Henrik Wergeland, and Søren Kierkegaard though some of Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, and Peter Christen Asbjørnsen influence can be seen in Ibsen's work

Henrik Wergeland (17 June 1808 – 12 July 1845) was a Norweigan writer, most know for his poetry and plays Wrote poems criticizing the abuse of power and the manipulation of common “people” Much like Ibsen, his attacks against society and content were highly controversial for his time

Søren Kierkegaard Was a Danish philosopher, and poet (5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) who was considered to be one of the first existentialist philosophers Wrote about the importance of “self” the involvement of an individual within a society Heavily criticized the institution of the church

Jørgen Engebretsen Moe and Peter Christen Asbjørnsen Commonly referred to as Asbjørnsen and Moe, these two Norweigan writers collected a series of Norweigan of folk and fairy tales Aside from shaping Ibsen's views in his adolescence with basic moral principles, the collection of works also featured Per Gynt, something that Ibsen would later loosely rewrite as his play Peer Gynt

Ibsen's Influence on Theatre Ibsen's influence on theatre was widespread, having even created a community of modernist writers that consider themselves “Ibsenites” More directly, Ibsen's Peer Gynt inspired the Norweigan composer Edvard Grieg to compose In the Hall of the Mountain King Inspired much of the work of Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, among others, including Arthur Miller

Interactive Components Was Henrick's beard big because it was full of secrets? Torvald-emort and his Nor-crux? Doll's House and Lord of the Rings, a comparison. Did Nora go on to be the United States Minister of Finance?

Actual Interactive Component Would you rather be Nora or Laura? Was Ibsen's ending unfairly optimistic?

Conclusion