Born in the small town of Norway, called Skien in 1828,
Henrik Ibsen is known as one of the most influential pioneers of Realism. He is
said to have revolutionized European drama by bringing a radical shift in the thematic
form of drama and representation of the folks in society.
He rejected the traditional forms of European drama where
the narrative was mostly focused on the moral absolutes, often portraying
unrealistic emotions and plot resolutions. “Ibsen found himself placed in the family of a merchant Knud Ibsen and
Marchen Attenberg. His relationship with the social context of Norway and
Scandinavia cast a determining influence on his dramatic oeuvres.” (Nagpal, 17)
As Ibsen was part of a merchant household, he believed in the portrayal of life
as it is, with its realistic accuracy and ambiguity.
When Ibsen first started writing, the wave of nationalism in
Norway have had spread. Critics point out how Ibsen’s early plays were more focused
towards the Viking spirit. Groping the people of Norway during the phase of
nationalism as there was a “lack of an exclusive dramatic tradition in Norway
in the nineteenth century.” (Nagpal, 32)
But when the Modern Breakthrough Movement emerged, it
changed the face of Norwegian drama in such a way which affected all of Europe
and helped Ibsen reinvent his style. The impact of Brandes and the import of Democratic
and Scientific European Thought lent a hand to Ibsen in introducing
illusionistic drama, that presented events on the stage like they were
happening for real. His most significant contribution was transforming drama
into a vehicle of social criticism. Several of his plays exposed the hypocrisies
and the contradictions of the nineteenth century bourgeois class.
Plays like The Newly Married (1865), A Bankruptcy
(1875) and The Editor (1875) were set in “contemporary environments and
examine(d) modern problems in an essentially critical spirit” (Marker, 157).
These plays, and more, challenge(d) audiences to confront uncomfortable truths
about their own lives and social structures. In one of his plays, called Ghosts
(1881), Ibsen examines and unflinchingly addresses the social taboos of
sexually-transmitted disease, incest and disguised euthanasia. The story
revolves around Mrs. Helene Alving, and her struggle to protect her son Oswald
from the truth about his father, Captain Alving, who was a drunk and a
philanderer. She does this while also maintaining social appearances. The play
showcases how, sooner or later, the “ghosts” of our past will always catch up
to us no matter how hard and fast we try to run from it. It also reveals the
tragic consequences of adhering to “ghosts” which are the outdated ideas and
moral conventions that constrains human freedom.
When the play was first performed, its controversial content
provoked outrage among the masses but established Ibsen’s reputation as a
dramatist who was willing to unfold the society’s dark secrets. Another one of
his plays, called A Doll’s House (1879), too act as a catalyst in
putting profound emphasis on the idea of “keeping up with appearances”, in a
hypocritic society. The play, initially, gives the appearance of a typical
domestic drama but unfolds itself into a profound critique of marriage and
gender roles. The protagonist, Nora Helmer, walks on a journey from a
“sophisticated” wife to a liberalized, self-determining individual who realizes
her own power and leaves the house with the iconic exit scene, “The sound of a
door shutting a door heard from below.” (Ibsen, 68) This conclusion shocked the
audiences as the prevailing notion at the time was that a woman’s utmost duty
and primary obligation was to her family, regardless of her personal feelings
and goals.
Ideas surrounding his plays made Ibsen a “literary icon’ in
Norway. “He occupies the same place in Norway that Shakespeare occupies in
England and Balzac or Stendhal in France.” (Prakash, 01) Critics like Dr. Arne
Kruse, talk about how Ibsen revolutionized a structure of drama called
“retrospective technique.” Rather than presenting the unfolding of the action
in real-time, his plays often begin after critical events have already occurred
as a way to create psychological tension and suspense. In plays like Ghosts,
the past is gradually rewarded throughout the drama and slowly the complete
picture surfaces in the present.
Over the years, Ibsen’s realism elevated drama from “just
entertainment” to a serious art form which is capable of presenting complicated
life’s questions. He presented this idea of an individual’s internal struggle
which is a result of society’s unflinching constraints and demands, and these
struggles reveal the truths about human conditions and societies in general.
Works Cited
1.
Kruse, Arne. “The Past in the Present Tense –
Henrik Ibsen’s Retrospective Technique.” University of Edinburg, 2018.
2.
Nagpal, Payal, “Introduction”, Ibsen, Henrik, Ghosts,
Worldview Critical Edition, 2015.
3.
Marker, Lise-Lone, and Frederick J. Marker.
"Ibsen and the Scandinavian Theatre." Ibsen and the Theatre:
Essays in Celebration of the 150th Anniversary of Henrik Ibsen’s Birth.
London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 1980. 49-70.
4.
Prakash, Anand, “Ibsen’s GHOSTS: an Indian
Response”, Ghosts, Worldview Critical Edition. 2015.
