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Henrik (Johan) Ibsen (188-106) was born at Skien, a small lumbering town of southern Norway. His father was a well-known general merchant in the community until 186, when he suffered the horrible disgrace of going bankrupt.(Ibsen, 8) As a result, he sank into more debt and the family suffered. There was no redeeming the family misfortunes; as soon as he could, aged just 15, Henrik moved to Grimstad. It was there that he began to write. He supported himself meagerly as an apothecarys apprentice while studying nights for admission to the university. As he waited patiently he began to write plays. It was from this first writing that he began a career that would carry him through the nineteenth century and into today.
Writers are often called names. Some of these names aren’t so nice. To be called “the father” of something can only mean that you must have what it takes in your writing to define the very term that you are being associated with. Joan Gassner has decided that Henrik Ibsen is “the father of modern drama”.(Gassner, 1) But is this title worthy? What is it about Ibsen’s work that seems to fit so well into this mold? Also, why is Ibsen so closely tied to realism? These are questions that I hope to answer in the following text. So to begin, we must first define what is realism?
From 185 to 100 most of the plays that were being produced were melodramas, spectacle plays, comic operas and vaudevilles. (Wilson, 7). The theatre was alive and well and was taking many different forms. And then something happened. Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species in 185 and began to stir up the scientific community. Darwin believed that people were controlled by heredity and environment and that most of human behavior was out of our control. For the first time people were beginning question the origins of man. There were more questions than answers. August Comte, a prominent sociologist developed a theory known as Positivism, which was based on cause and effect. This was another principle that had not really been looked upon at the time. This was beginning to influence those people in the philosophy community. Karl Marx was teaching a new brand of political philosophy that stressed equality in wealth. The atmosphere was just right for a new kind of theatre.
Realism, in its most basic form, attempts to create the illusion of everyday life onstage (Wilson, 7). Even thought the audience knows that they are watching a play, the actors onstage present a very pure form of theatre. There are actions and reactions that create a cause and effect relationship between the characters. It’s not abstract or absurd, but very linear and scientific. It may seem to some that all theatre is real, but this is was not the case at the time. Melodramas and spectacle plays were “bigger than life” and therefore were not very realistic. This was a new era for theatre and Henrik Ibsen used this principle in most of his work. There were other writers that used realism at the time.
Emile Augier(180-188) wrote plays about contemporary conditions and Alexandre Dumas fils was writing “thesis plays” about some of the social problems at the time. Ibsen is recognized as a pillar of the realism movement because every one of his plays is a model to some degree of realism.(Johnston, )
In 1881 he wrote Ghosts which deals with the sins of the father that are transferred to the son in the form of syphilis. This was the first time that such a secretive subject had been presented to the public. Pillars of Society deals with the concept of war and business, and A Doll’s House the main female character leaves her family at the end of the play to pursue a new life. All of these plays deal with human nature and contemporary theatre students often analyze their content. They offer us a glimpse of the very reality that became a halmark of Ibsens work.
One of the most important differences from Ibsens plays and the plays that proceeded him was the way that Ibsen treated the inner “secret lives” of some of the characters. (Ibsen, 11). The effects that Ibsen created were not based on most of the ordinary dramatic action. Ibsen wanted to expose the secret inner lives of the characters. He wanted the audience to see the very things that are often hidden by people in everyday life. One critic wrote that Ibsens work is a “drama of the mind”(Ibsen, 1) Much like an iceberg, the largest portion of the story remains unseen by the naked eye. You have to dig really deep to get all the meaning that is found in an Ibsen play. Everything has a story that needs to be told. Ibsen felt that the actors must sustain a consistent, unbroken line of thought. This makes some of his plays seem very intense. The characters are very focused. Stanislavski would of agreed to the acting style that Ibsen preferred for his actors. He felt they should mirror the actions of humans and should create the illusion of reality on the stage.
One of Ibsen’s best examples of realism is in the play A Doll’s House. Even the title of the play gives us an example of some of the symbolism that he used throughout his work. There weren’t many things that Ibsen found worthy of imitation.(Lebowitz, ) In A Doll’s House Ibsen shows the audience the spiritual awakening of Torvald, the husband and Nora his wife. Both of the characters live in a false reality. Everything in the first scene seems perfect. The way they talk to one another and there actions tell the story of the perfect couple. As the play moves forward we begin to see that although Nora seems to have it all, in reality she is not happy with her situation. She is a woman that is trapped in this doll’s house that her husband has created. There is a lot of shock value in the last scene. Nora says goodbye to her family and all she has known and leaves the “Doll’s House”. Audiences at the time were so shocked that they erupted at the end of the play (Goldman,15). It is not as shocking now, but at the time it was just unheard of for a woman to leave her family. This play represents many different facets of realism. It is a tribute to all that is wrong with some relationships. What makes the play work is the dialog. You learn a great deal about the two main characters from the things that they say. There is nothing new about the problems that are presented, but it was new to present them so openly. There is a definite cause and effect relationship in most of Ibsens work. A problem is presented and worked through.
Ghosts also caused quit a bit of furor. There was much criticism at the initial presentation in 181. On critic called the piece “an open drain; a loathsome sore unbandaged; a dirty act done publicly”. And more attacks came even years after the play was produced. Why did Ibsen’s plays create so much controversy? What about his work made people stand up and yell?
Ibsen was very open about how he wrote. He repeatedly spoke of his main purpose in writing dramatic dialog was to make it “completely faithful and realistic” (Ibsen, 0) This is what made Ibsen’s work seem so shocking. Ibsen tended to start with a theoretical problem or a theme. After this he would begin to shape the raw material into actions and visual symbolism. His characters are very gritty and I think that he showed us what was behind some of the masks that we wear in everyday life. Perhaps people at the time were just not ready to see what they already knew existed. Life is not one big happy play, and although we all may play a part, the story is often a tragedy.
Drama is “ a series of real events having dramatic unity and interest.” It also means to do or to act. In a dramatic piece the characters are interacting with each other as they work towards developing the plot. There are also many different types of dramas. Man versus nature. Man versus himself. Good versus evil. With a good drama the audience suspends their disbelief and the true magic of theatre happens. Henrik Ibsen was great in writing this kind of drama. His characters are full of life and vitality. The words seem to bring the characters to life and the problems seem very real.
Ibsen wrote An Enemy of the People as a direct response to some of the critisims that he had recieved from Ghosts. (Ibsen, ) In a letter to his publisher he wrote “I have enjoyed writing this play...” An Enemy of the People has always been one of his more popular plays and often finds it’s way into the readings in college theatre classes. It was immediately produced in Scandinavia and Germany. It has also remained very popular in England. It is another tale of lies and deceit and how they play a part in our everyday lives.
The Wild Duck was produced in 1884 and it illustrates many of the techniques used by Ibsen. It was a reproduction of the actions of middle and lower class people. Once again Ibsen turned for the common man for entertainment. Ibsen, in the dialog, abandoned some of his older asides and soliloquies. Instead the characters reveal themselves as they would in life with indirect statements (Brockett, 15). As Ibsen got older he used this technique more and more. He liked The Wild Duck and in a letter to his publisher Ibsen wrote “For the last four months I have worked at it every day and it is not without a certain feeling of regret that I part from it.” This has remained one of theatre student’s favorite plays.
In Rosmersholm, Ibsens next play, her created one of the most provocative and dramatic female characters-Rebekka West. The play is packed with hidden forces, statements and shadowy characters that seem to shift before our eyes (Ibsen, 0). It also has a lot of meaning in it. Like most of Ibsen’s plays there are undertones, lies, and exposure. Some critics have compared it to Macbeth because of its structure. It was also popular at the time of its release.
Ibsen went on to produce The Lady from the Sea, Hedda Gabler, and The Master Builder. Of these three plays many believe The Master Builder to be the most timeless. IT could have been produced 50 years ago or ten. When he was writing this play he was just getting over an Austrian girl that he had spent a year with. There is also a great deal of Ibsen himself in the character Solness,. This was his most autobiographical writings and you can learn a lot about Ibsen just by listening to the characters in this play.
Like all great artists, Ibsen was a man with a thousand faces. He was very complex and although a lot of people knew him, only his wife understood him fully. He had as many secrets as some of his finest characters. In a speech to students at Oslo in 1874 Ibsen made a very important and revealing statement “All I have written...I have mentally lived through. Partly I have written on that which only by glimpses, and at my best moments I have felt stirring vividly within me as something great and beautiful.” (Ibsen, 1)
Ibsen’s work is great and it is beautiful. He produced a total of 1 plays during his lifetime. He should be known as the “father of realism”. His work in this field and his approach to theatre mirror the very essence of this art form.
In realism, as discussed earlier, the artist attempts to create “the illusion of everyday life onstage”. Ibsen’s plays do this and they do it in a way that is natural. From A Doll’s House to An Enemy of the People Ibsen explores those inner secrets and the hidden desires of characters. The plays reveal the more secretive side to life. If Darwin stirred up the scientific community by asking them to change there perception of humanity then Ibsen did the same with the artistic community. Positivism was teaching a cause and effect relationship and Ibsen was showing it onstage. Marx was preaching about equality in wealth and Ibsen was showing us the lower and middle classes. I feel that Ibsen used realism to create the illusion of reality. Because reality is so harsh we have to understand that it is only a play, but we are left to ponder the difference between our own lives and the characters on stage. This is what realism is all about. It makes us ask ourselves what is the true drama in life. Why is fact stranger then fiction? Why do people enjoy watching other people so much?
Ibsen answered all of these questions at some time or another in his work and we have him to thank for his contribution. Although Henrik Ibsen was never fully appreciated during his lifetime, he has since come to be recognized as one of the great dramatists of all time and the Father of Modern Drama. His plays will continue to find their ways into the hands of young theatre students and teachers a like. His work will live on and continues to thrive in theatres across the country.
Works Cited
Ibsen, Henrik. Eight Plays by Henrik Ibsen. Trans. Eva Le Gallienne. New York Modern Library, 151.
Wilson, Edwin. Living Theater An Introduction to Theater History. New York McGraw-Hill, 18.
Brockett, Oscar G. Plays for the Theatre. Second Ed. New York Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 174
Lyons, Charles R. Critical Essays on Henrik Ibsen. Boston G. K. Hall, 187.
Lebowitz, Naomi. Ibsen and the Great World. London Louisiana State Press, 10.
Goldman, Michael. Ibsen The Dramaturgy of Fear. New York Columbia University Press, 1.
Johnston, Brian. Realism and A Doll’s House. Retreaved May 8th from http//ibsenvoyages.com.00
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