A Tribute To Henrik Ibsen

[shibli]

A Tribute To Henrik Ibsen


Henrik Ibsen represents a new era in drama abandoning the romantic style and unmasking the romantic hero and bringing issues of the day into the stage. Considered ‘one of the four great ones’ of the nineteenth century Norwegian literature he is also generally accepted as the pioneer of modern prose drama. He portrayed social problems that have a psychological intensity which compelled the European bourgeoisie to face themselves and their defective value system.

Ibsen was born on March 20,1828 into a well off merchant family, in Skien, a small coastal town in Norway. But his father’s financial failure changed the family’s social position. Ibsen left school at the age of fifteen to work as a pharmacist’s assistant in the nearby town of Grimstad. Norway had just recently gained its independence from Denmark. Young Ibsen developed a patriotic zeal mixed with revolutionary political ideas that spread about in Europe since the French Revolution. His first play Catiline was written in 1848, but he failed to get it produced. In 1850 he moved to present day Oslo where he fell in with a group of political radicals who shared his revolutionary views. He joined an underground group which was broken by the government. This experience disabused Ibsen from any involvement with political parties for the rest of his life. Though not successful in getting admitted to university to study medicine, he started to find success in theatre. The initial plays were The Burial Mound, Lady Inger of Ostrat, The Vikings of Helgoland, Love’s Comedy etc. However this plays earned him little success.

With The Pillars of Society Ibsen started writing straightforward ‘naturalistic’ plays in everyday language. It’s critical of certain aspects of Norwegian culture, shady business practices, and gender inequality. His most popular play is probably A Doll’s House which is social drama where a woman walks out from her apparently perfect marriage. He found that women can not be herself in the society which is exclusively masculine, with rules and conventions set by men. This play caused a commotion in Europe and ushered in the age of modern realism in theatre.

A Doll’s House provoked discussion throughout Europe. It was new not only in theme but in style. Ibsen abandoned his earlier style of saga plays, historical plays and allegorical verses. He deliberately chose everyday language to emphasize the theme of realism. Not only this, he challenged the technical tradition of the so-called well formed play with the first act offering an exposition, the second a situation, and the third an unraveling. Ibsen exchanged the last act’s unraveling for a discussion. This play has been popular throughout the world for its message of freedom and protest. Several group theatres in Bangladesh have staged Ibsen’s plays especially A Doll’s House.

In general, in Ibsen’s plays characters are more important than situations. His plays are realistic portrayal of psychological conflict. In the process of self-realization characters face the conventions and customs of middle class society. He professed a sort of anarchic individualism which had a great influence on the younger generation outside Norway. However, in his country he was seen as a moral preacher. He had immense influence on modern playwrights especially Bernard Shaw who called Ibsen ‘the greatest living dramatist’ on his 70th birthday. Following him Shaw dramatized generally accepted ideas into realistic plays.

Ibsen’s plays deal with injustice and falsity of middle class social conventions. Themes also include faith and authenticity versus self-seeking and self-indulgence, the rights of women and the corrosive effect of the secrets that often underlie a respectable middle class facade. As regards style, his early plays were characterized by symbolism, myth and religious concerns and these plays were intended to be read rather than performed. In his later plays he depicted reality using a more everyday language. A psychological portrait of the characters was blended with a rising dramatic tension.

Ibsen died on May 23,1906 in Oslo. Though he enjoyed name and fame, in his later years he became increasingly aloof and isolated hardly attending any social functions or cultivating friendship. His ideas and styles influenced modern dramatists enormously. He is remembered all over the world as the founder of modern era in European drama.   
       

[Shamim Ansary]

Plot Overview of the masterpiece of A Doll's House:

A Doll’s House opens on Christmas Eve. Nora Helmer enters her well-furnished living room—the setting of the entire play—carrying several packages. Torvald Helmer, Nora’s husband, comes out of his study when he hears her arrive. He greets her playfully and affectionately, but then chides her for spending so much money on Christmas gifts. Their conversation reveals that the Helmers have had to be careful with money for many years, but that Torvald has recently obtained a new position at the bank where he works that will afford them a more comfortable lifestyle.

Helene, the maid, announces that the Helmers’ dear friend Dr. Rank has come to visit. At the same time, another visitor has arrived, this one unknown. To Nora’s great surprise, Kristine Linde, a former school friend, comes into the room. The two have not seen each other for years, but Nora mentions having read that Mrs. Linde’s husband passed away a few years earlier. Mrs. Linde tells Nora that when her husband died, she was left with no money and no children. Nora tells Mrs. Linde about her first year of marriage to Torvald. She explains that they were very poor and both had to work long hours. Torvald became sick, she adds, and the couple had to travel to Italy so that Torvald could recover.

Nora inquires further about Mrs. Linde’s life, and Mrs. Linde explains that for years she had to care for her sick mother and her two younger brothers. She states that her mother has passed away, though, and that the brothers are too old to need her. Instead of feeling relief, Mrs. Linde says she feels empty because she has no occupation; she hopes that Torvald may be able to help her obtain employment. Nora promises to speak to Torvald and then reveals a great secret to Mrs. Linde—without Torvald’s knowledge, Nora illegally borrowed money for the trip that she and Torvald took to Italy; she told Torvald that the money had come from her father. For years, Nora reveals, she has worked and saved in secret, slowly repaying the debt, and soon it will be fully repaid.

Krogstad, a low-level employee at the bank where Torvald works, arrives and proceeds into Torvald’s study. Nora reacts uneasily to Krogstad’s presence, and Dr. Rank, coming out of the study, says Krogstad is “morally sick.” Once he has finished meeting with Krogstad, Torvald comes into the living room and says that he can probably hire Mrs. Linde at the bank. Dr. Rank, Torvald, and Mrs. Linde then depart, leaving Nora by herself. Nora’s children return with their nanny, Anne-Marie, and Nora plays with them until she notices Krogstad’s presence in the room. The two converse, and Krogstad is revealed to be the source of Nora’s secret loan.

Krogstad states that Torvald wants to fire him from his position at the bank and alludes to his own poor reputation. He asks Nora to use her influence to ensure that his position remains secure. When she refuses, Krogstad points out that he has in his possession a contract that contains Nora’s forgery of her father’s signature. Krogstad blackmails Nora, threatening to reveal her crime and to bring shame and disgrace on both Nora and her husband if she does not prevent Torvald from firing him. Krogstad leaves, and when Torvald returns, Nora tries to convince him not to fire Krogstad, but Torvald will hear nothing of it. He declares Krogstad an immoral man and states that he feels physically ill in the presence of such people.

Act Two opens on the following day, Christmas. Alone, Nora paces her living room, filled with anxiety. Mrs. Linde arrives and helps sew Nora’s costume for the ball that Nora will be attending at her neighbors’ home the following evening. Nora tells Mrs. Linde that Dr. Rank has a mortal illness that he inherited from his father. Nora’s suspicious behavior leads Mrs. Linde to guess that Dr. Rank is the source of Nora’s loan. Nora denies Mrs. Linde’s charge but refuses to reveal the source of her distress. Torvald arrives, and Nora again begs him to keep Krogstad employed at the bank, but again Torvald refuses. When Nora presses him, he admits that Krogstad’s moral behavior isn’t all that bothers him—he dislikes Krogstad’s overly familiar attitude. Torvald and Nora argue until Torvald sends the maid to deliver Krogstad’s letter of dismissal.

Torvald leaves. Dr. Rank arrives and tells Nora that he knows he is close to death. She attempts to cheer him up and begins to flirt with him. She seems to be preparing to ask him to intervene on her behalf in her struggle with Torvald. Suddenly, Dr. Rank reveals to Nora that he is in love with her. In light of this revelation, Nora refuses to ask Dr. Rank for anything.

Once Dr. Rank leaves, Krogstad arrives and demands an explanation for his dismissal. He wants respectability and has changed the terms of the blackmail: he now insists to Nora that not only that he be rehired at the bank but that he be rehired in a higher position. He then puts a letter detailing Nora’s debt and forgery in the -Helmers’ letterbox. In a panic, Nora tells Mrs. Linde everything, and Mrs. Linde instructs Nora to delay Torvald from opening the letter as long as possible while she goes to speak with Krogstad. In order to distract Torvald from the letterbox, Nora begins to practice the tarantella she will perform at that evening’s costume party. In her agitated emotional state, she dances wildly and violently, displeasing Torvald. Nora manages to make Torvald promise not to open his mail until after she performs at the party. Mrs. Linde soon returns and says that she has left Krogstad a note but that he will be gone until the following evening.

The next night, as the costume party takes place upstairs, Krogstad meets Mrs. Linde in the Helmers’ living room. Their conversation reveals that the two had once deeply in love, but Mrs. Linde left Krogstad for a wealthier man who would enable her to support her family. She tells Krogstad that now that she is free of her own familial obligations and wishes to be with Krogstad and care for his children. Krogstad is overjoyed and says he will demand his letter back before Torvald can read it and learn Nora’s secret. Mrs. Linde, however, insists he leave the letter, because she believes both Torvald and Nora will be better off once the truth has been revealed.

Soon after Krogstad’s departure, Nora and Torvald enter, back from the costume ball. After saying goodnight to Mrs. Linde, Torvald tells Nora how desirable she looked as she danced. Dr. Rank, who was also at the party and has come to say goodnight, promptly interrupts Torvald’s advances on Nora. After Dr. Rank leaves, Torvald finds in his letterbox two of Dr. Rank’s visiting cards, each with a black cross above the name. Nora knows Dr. Rank’s cards constitute his announcement that he will soon die, and she informs Torvald of this fact. She then insists that Torvald read Krogstad’s letter.

Torvald reads the letter and is outraged. He calls Nora a hypocrite and a liar and complains that she has ruined his happiness. He declares that she will not be allowed to raise their children. Helene then brings in a letter. Torvald opens it and discovers that Krogstad has returned Nora’s contract (which contains the forged signature). Overjoyed, Torvald attempts to dismiss his past insults, but his harsh words have triggered something in Nora. She declares that despite their eight years of marriage, they do not understand one another. Torvald, Nora asserts, has treated her like a “doll” to be played with and admired. She decides to leave Torvald, declaring that she must “make sense of [her]self and everything around her.” She walks out, slamming the door behind her.


*from Spark Notes