In the plays Ghosts, An Enemy of the People, and Wild ducks by Henrik Ibsen there are many similar themes, which become evident to the reader. A theme, which is consistant though out these plays, is the opposing values of the Ideal and the Real. The views of the idealist versus the realists make for many duels between the two personalities.
The theme of idealism versus realism is also dealt with in the play The Wild Duck. Gregers Werle has avoided his father, whom he detests, by spending fifteen years in the family mining concern. Gregers is so unattractive in appearance that he has given up all hope of marrying and having a family. Instead he has become an idealist and goes about advocating and preaching a theme of truth and purity. He calls his mission the “claim of the ideal.” His father, Old Werle, has allegedly driven his sick wife to her death by carrying on love affairs in his own home. Once he had his serving girl, Gina, as his mistress. Arranging her marriage with Hialmar Ekdal, the son of his former partner, Werle also sets the couple up in the profession of photography. Hialmar is pleased with his marriage and believes that Gina’s child is his own daughter. Lieutenant Ekdal, Werle’s former partner, is now a broken old man. He does odd jobs for Werle. He is now living with Hialmar and Gina. Gregers Werle comes to Hialmar and explains the claim of the ideal and tries to make Hialmar see that his marriage is based on a lie. But rather than making Hialmar happy by understanding the true nature of his marriage, Gregers only succeeds in turning Halmar against his daughter, Hedvig. The daughter, in order to prove her love for her father who is rejecting her, takes a pistol and kills herself.
The Wild Duck is a play in which reality versus idealism becomes a structural feature. Each scene illustrates this dualism. First Gregers confronts his father, a realist, and accuses him of a life built on lies and deception. The conflict between Gregers and his father reveals a lot about the two. It shows that Gregers is obsessed with the truth and in changing the wrongs of the past. This is shown when he attacks his father’s ability to allow Ekdal to be found solely guilty for crimes in which both men were involved. He also attacks his father for his ulterior motives in having Hialmar and Gina married, for the death of his wife, and for his intended marriage to ...
... middle of paper ...
...appear. At the end of the play it is not clear what she will do.
The first Act of the play Ghosts had many functions. It introduces the characters, illustrates the central problem of the play, and gives the reader the essential story line. Through this Ibsen carefully forewarns his audience of the themes he will develop in later acts. The protagonist, Mrs. Alving is shown to have somewhat of a dual personality. Although she reads controversial literature she continues to conform to the wishes of the church and community. She also speaks about her husband and his reckless life and how she hid the truth from her son, Oswald. Despite her husbands acts she wishes to hide these truths by creating an orphanage in his name.
Manders, is one of the characters who can be considered somewhat of a idealist. His ideals are not so righteous as those of Dr. Stockmann or Gregers Werle, however. Unlike the previous two plays this play has the most concrete message in that it definitely shows that Manders’ idealism is wrong and can no truly be realized. Manders’ idealism results in the destruction of the four major characters in this play.
The character of Everyman, is the personification of the human race. The play relies heavily on that literary technique. Human traits and ideals are personified to more effectively convey the stern message of the play. Fellowship, knowledge, discretion, and other human concepts appear not as the intangibles we know them to be, but as actual characters conversing and i...
In the Wild Duck, Henrik Ibsen begins his play by emphasizing the value of color and light. He uses the theme of light to contrast Old Werle, a stingy rich man, with Old Ekdal, a poor helpless man. Ibsen connects the color green with the loss of eyesight of Old Werle. A possible affair between Old Werle and Gina, Hedvig's mother, may suggest the cause of Hedvig's loss of sight. By using sun and moon, Ibsen establishes the atmosphere of the scene. The story line deteriorates from peaceful to tragic. Similarly, does the setting in the last four acts. In the Wild Duck, Henrik Ibsen employs the image of light to portray certain characteristics in order to construct the plot and to adjust the mood of the scene. F.L. Lucas analyzes the opening arrangement and writes "In the outer room the lamps are dimmed, with green shades, in contrast to the brilliance of the room behind"(190). We understand that this meant that the outer room, lit with soft and shaded light, implies poverty, where as the inner room, illuminated with bright candles, expresses wealth. The darkened room, insinuating poverty, is the office in which the poor Old Ekdal 'does some extra copying,' and in return receives a small income. The inside room, representing wealth, is Old Werle's dining room where he was hosting a party. The distinctions of these two lit rooms contrast Old Ekdal and Old Werle. "In contrast to Werle's party, the lighting is of comparative poverty 'on the table a lighted lamp'"(190), explains critic, F.L. Lucas. Unlike Old Werle's expensive and exquisite illumination, a small inexpensive lamp lights the Ekdals home, displaying poverty. This dissimilarity shows another significant distinction between Old Werle and Old Ekdal. The distinctions of the light between Old Ekdal's and Old Werle's homes is illustrated in the following incident.It is brought to the reader's attention that in the following quotation Old Werle and Old Ekdal were partners in crime. "[Old Werle] escaped by the skin of his teeth," while they sentenced Old Ekdal to prison. This incident resulted in extreme hatred toward Old Werle for his poor aid to Old Ekdal. Being that Werle had a vast amount of money, Old Ekdal, Hjalmar, and Werle's son, Gregers felt tremendous feelings of animosity. Gregers recognized the miserable support his father has given to the Ekdals.
Northam, John. 1965. "Ibsen's Search for the Hero." Ibsen. A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
...ther sins and results that happened after that would never have occurred. In short, do not let your pride blind you to the knowledge of those who are wiser than you. In Ghosts, Ibsen's message is that the Norwegian society was hypocritical and unmoral. This is shown through Oswald's suffering because he is simply a victim who is paying for what a hypocritical society permits - men's immorality. The overall idea behind this play is that hypocrites should not criticize others; as Manders criticizes Oswald the companions that he chose during his stay in Paris. However, they are both combined by the intricate link of sin and its effects on the whole.
In both Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard and Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House the subversion of perception and the insubordination of supposedly inferior characters has massive implications on the overall message of the play. These mechanisms bring to light a multitude of questions about the correctness of social norms and the future of both Russian and Norwegian society. They are powerful reminders of ever-changing society and the nature of human relationships, and they leave the reader at once confused and motivated for change.
The Wild Duck one of Ibsen’s later plays not only shows his great talent for mimesis writing with a social depth and distinguished realism, it offers a psychological framed exploration into human nature. The first scene focuses on social space both in terms of class and family. The Wild Duck offers an illusion or picture of reality. We can analyze and discuss many patterns of actions in the play as a whole. In Act II a pattern of actions that caught my attention was the constant effort on behalf of Greger, to free Hjalmar from the illusion that his family is perfect. Eventually Greger manages to shatter that by driving Hedvig to commit suicide. Greger finds out that there is a secret being held back from him in Act I, that his father Werle will not share, but soon he finds out from Hjamer when he announces that Gina, the old housekeeper to the Werle family is his wife now. Werle had an affair with Gina, and Hjalmar does not know that, Greger believes that it’s his duty to confront his childhood friend Hjalmar of the lies that he has been living with. Greger soon heads out to the Ekdal Family in conquest to reveal the horrible secret the family has been living. Greger’s involvement with the Edkals Family has a lot to do with his own family letting him down, and he realizes that he doesn’t want others close to him get hurt, such as Hjalmar. His approach to letting him know what really happened in the past is making sure that he is constantly in his life. When Greger found out about Ginas and Werles affair he quickly took action. He moved himself into the Ekdal’s Family to convince each of them that they are both living a lie. Greger focuses constantly on the past when he is surrounded by the family members; he quickly hints a probl...
Henrik Ibsen is the greatest artist who has handled the play form we call modern drama, in which the centre of dramatic interest has shifted from violent action to what is happening in people’s minds. It follows that the dramatist who would do for our times what the older dramatists did for theirs, must be a poet and explorer of the inner life, and such Ibsen was. One of the most significant themes in Ibsen is the woman’s question. The standards for a life superior to the `existing state` are set by women in Ibsen’s plays. Women fare badly in a society where economic and social functions are almost exclusively male prerogatives. They represent, in a sense incomplete men. Ibsen has condemned modern society saying that it is not a human society
In The Wild Duck, as Relling continues to discourage Greger from revealing damaging truths about family secrets, Relling insists, "If you take away make-believe from the average man, you take away happiness as well" (Ibsen, 294). Relling is referring to the ways the Ekdal family is structured on particular deceptions; however, these are designed to protect the innocent as well as the guilty. Hedvig, the fourteen year old daughter, represents one of the innocents, and Greger’s father, Old Werle, represents a part of the guilty side. The key to these dualisms of false and truth, innocent and guilty, illusion and reality, lies in...
From the very first line of Albert Camus’ The Stranger, “Maman died today,” (Camus 3) the quirky character of Meursault is shown to be different. The same holds true with Henrik Ibsen’s classic play, A Doll’s House, concerning Nora, a mother who abandons her family in order to pursue her own happiness. Both characters, while set in opposing societies, exhibit similar characteristics: a courageous, if not reckless, pursuit of happiness, be it physical in the case of Meursault or mental for Nora, and the relentless disregard of social standards and norms in the chase for free will. Both Ibsen and Camus use the pervading theme of free will to evolve the characters of Nora and Meursault, specifically incorporating ideas such as existentialism and determinism.
He implies that there is a distinct difference in the morals and expectations of the different classes and then ironically proves this to be true by the end of the play.
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House. In Four Major Plays. Trans. James McFarlane and Jens Arup. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981.
Set in the late nineteenth century, Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband points out that the individuals are flawed as introduced by the irony of the play’s title. In this play, Sir Robert Chiltern is a man of wealth and power and is viewed as an ideal husband by his wife, Lady Chiltern. Though he appears to be faultless, he does in fact have an imperfection. The spurious origin of Sir Robert’s successful career and status can be traced to his prior indiscretion, but this secret must be kept confidential, if not, then this will ruin his marriage and career. Sir Robert fears that his past will ruin all that he has achieved. Forced to comply with Mrs. Cheveley’s blackmail, Sir Robert must support Mrs. Cheveley’s scheme to make a fortune. Throughout this play, Sir Robert seeks to accommodate the needs of each woman because his wife has strong idealistic views of him and Mrs. Cheveley, a morally imperfect woman, pulls Sir Robert toward committing additional immoral tasks. In An Ideal Husband, Oscar Wilde comments that every individual has a flaw, whether it is a simple obsession with idealistic views or moral imperfections, through his main characters, Sir Robert, Mrs. Cheveley and Lady Chiltern; however, ultimately despite their flaws. Wilde portrays through the development of his characters that love endures and triumphs all imperfections.
Although Ibsen portrays A Doll House as a Realistic play due to the societal problems, which include women, illnesses, and laws; he attempts to address society and cause change within the Norwegian society without openly talking about these issues. The actions of characters, such as Nora, represent the fact that an individual can make progress in societal reform. Therefore, Ibsen’s identification and attempt to change society symbolizes a Realistic desire of finding solutions to problems. The ultimate goal of Realism is to better everyday life for the majority of people, while trying to deepen the understanding of society’s problems.
“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 form a masculine point of view”. This is what Henrik Ibsen once said. In 1881, when Ibsen wrote one of his best works Ghost, the society was going through major change. It’s was a time were the society was questioning everything they were thought by the church. The mentality of people was being challenge and the influence the church had over the society was slowly losing its power. One of those who were questioning the method and the teacher of the church was Henrik Ibsen. In his play Ghost, Ibsen view of the methodology of the church was no longer beneficial for the society. In the play ghost, Ibsen demonstrates the consequences followed those who grasp the old practice in each character he had created. Ibsen used Mrs. Alving, to show how old attitude can strangle someone progressively, as she feel trap in a rigid society. Additionally, Ibsen explores how the past can come back in the form of “ghost” and how it haunts someone future. Osvald Alving through out the play is haunted by the sin of a father he did not know. Lastly, he show how living in patriarchal society can blind one’s own judgment as in Pastor Manders, who is looked at someone as holy and self-righteous but at the same time hypocritical. Consequently, those old tradition and belief endure someone life slowly but harshly and haunt them like ghost.
Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts is a play about the past coming back to affect the present and the future. The play follows the death of captain Alving; a man of high standing in his community. The Captain had a title from birth and was held in high esteem in the mall town. Following his demise, the widow Mrs. Alving, decides to build an orphanage with the assistance of Pastor Manders. Pastor Manders is in charge of the finances of the family and is a man keen on keeping up appearances. Even though none of the characters in Ghosts shows personal weakness or lives inside of fantasy world, each seems to prefer his/her own private, idealized view of life to a more realistic viewpoint with all the associated unpleasantness. The characters in Ghosts all have their ideal view point of life and how it should be lived.