Henrik Ibsen - Context (AO3)

Henrik Ibsen - personal life

Lifespan?

Birthplace?

1828 - 1906

Skien, Norway

Henrik Ibsen - personal life

Father / financial ruin?

Was a prominent merchant

Went bankrupt when Ibsen was 8-years-old - early life was spent in poverty

Henrik Ibsen - personal life

Young adult life - jobs and early career?

Worked in theatres in Bergen and Oslo

Unsuccessful early years as playwright

Tried to create Norwegian national theatre

Theatre he was director of went bankrupt

Henrik Ibsen - personal life

Scandal?

Fathered a child with a servant who was older than him - supported financially but had minimal contact

Henrik Ibsen - personal life

Marriage?

1858

Married Suzannah Thoreson who had one son with her

Lived like equals - brought negative attention as critics attacked him for failing to respect institution of marriage

Henrik Ibsen - personal life

Move to Italy?

1864 - with support of grant from the Norwegian government

Spent next 27 years living abroad (mostly in Italy and Germany) in ‘self-imposed exile’

Henrik Ibsen - literary works

First major theatrical success?

Publication date?

Impact?

‘Brand’ (lyric drama)

1866

Helped to solidify reputation

Henrik Ibsen - literary works

Second major theatrical success?

Publication date?

Impact?

Peer Gynt (verse play)

1867

Helped to solidify reputation

Henrik Ibsen - A Doll’s House

Publication date?

Format?

Impact?

1879

Written in prose

Widely considered a landmark in the development of realism

Henrik Ibsen - A Doll’s House

First stage production?

Reception?

Copenhagen (1879)

Sparked controversy and debate - brought Ibsen international fame

Henrik Ibsen - A Doll’s House

First stage production in Britain?

Why delayed after first production in Copenhagen?

Reception?

1889 (ten years later) - Rossetti would have been 59-years-old

Partly due to translation, partly due to censorship and disapproval

Henrik Ibsen - A Doll’s House

Critical reception?

Reception by contemporary artists?

London press was predominantly hostile

All the rage amongst more avant-garde (new and experimental artist) theatre goers - publicly defended by Henry James, Thomas Hardy, Oscar Wilde, James Joyce and George Bernard Shaw

Henrik Ibsen - A Doll’s House

Audiences in the 19th century (1800s): primary theatre-goers?

Urban Middle-Class Theatregoers:

• Educated, literate and financially comfortable

• Often professionals (lawyers, bankers, merchants)

• Attended the theatre as a social and cultural event

Bourgeois Families:

• Married couples - generally invested in traditional family values and gender roles

• Women in the audience may have personally related to Nora’s struggles

Cultural Elites and Critics:

• Intellectuals, writers, journalists

• Shaped public debate around the play

Early audiences were mostly conservative in their outlook

Henrik Ibsen - A Doll’s House

Audiences in the 20th century (1900s): primary theatre-goers?

Broader Middle Class:

• Theatre became more accessible

• Urban working and lower-middle classes increasingly attended

Students and Academics:

• Play entered university curricula

• Studied in literature and drama courses

Feminist Audiences:

• Many saw Nora as a feminist icon

• Productions sometimes emphasised gender politics more strongly

International Audiences:

• Performed widely across Europe, North America and beyond

• Adapted to different cultural contexts

Henrik Ibsen - A Doll’s House

What does ‘A Doll’s House’ demonstrate?

Ibsen’s personal connection?

Expectations upon this demographic?

Why did play offend audiences?

Importance of social class in late 19th-century Norway

Born into the upper-middle class - understood expectations placed on its members

Financial success without any debt, the appearance of good morals and a stable, patriarchal family

Challenged this ideal bourgeois respectability

Henrik Ibsen - ‘well-made play’

Qualities of the well-made play?

Textual examples?

Follows rigid and efficient structure

Plot is usually built on a secret known by audience and perhaps one or two of the characters (Nora’s secret loan)

Begins in suspense - offers pattern of increasing tension produced through exposition and the timely arrival of new characters (like Krogstad)

Threatening news or props (like the I.O.U)

Henrik Ibsen - ‘well-made play’

Why did Ibsen deviate from the well-made play?

Textual examples of deviation from the well-made play?

Uses some of the conventions of a well-made play - also departs from pattern to suit his realistic purposes

Nora’s confrontation with Krogstad (apparent villain) - does not lead to satisfactory resolution but rather dramatic shocking confrontation with Torvald

Krogstad into a more well-rounded and compassionate character rather than one-dimensional melodramatic villain

Henrik Ibsen - dramatic power

Strengths of Ibsen’s text?

Focus on real-life issues has given plays a sense of timelessness and strength

A Doll’s House almost prophetic in its portrayal of the powerless position of married women in the 19th century

Striving for honesty in relationships and the individual’s rights will always be relevant

Tensions between freedom and duty

Money and the power it wields still resonates with 21st century audience

Henrik Ibsen - Norwegian context

When did Norway become an independent nation?

How did independence benefit Norway?

What did this result in?

1814

Became more industrialised - brought more money into the country as well as creating more jobs and opportunities

Upper-middle class became larger

Henrik Ibsen - Norwegian context

Beginning of growth and prosperity of upper-middle class?

Cause of economic boom?

Consequences of boom?

1843 - economic boom

Mainly attributed to success in foreign trade and mining

Brought about obsession with money

Henrik Ibsen - Norwegian context

Female suffrage on the same terms as men in Norway?

1913

Henrik Ibsen - nineteenth century

Changes in the late nineteenth century?

New ideas by…?

Differences in dramatic expression now. v then?

Industrialisation, urbanisation, shifting ideologies surrounding gender and ethnicity, talk of revolution

Darwinism and Freud

Dramatists have not always been free - Ibsen was at forefront of struggle for free dramatic expression

Henrik Ibsen - views on contemporary issues

Approach to feminism?

1898 - told Norwegian Association for Women’s Rights ‘I must decline the honour of being said to have worked for the women’s rights movement. I am not even sure what women’s rights really are’

(reminiscent of Rossetti’s ambivalence towards the suffragette movement)

Henrik Ibsen - literary works

Post ‘A Doll’s House’ major theatrical success?

Publication date?

Impact?

Ghosts (naturalistic style)

1881

Successful - viewed as partner play to ‘A Doll’s House’

Henrik Ibsen - professional career

Development of career?

Began to gain international recognition - his works were produced across Europe and translated into many different languages

Henrik Ibsen - professional career

Stylistic change?

Moved away from realistic drama to tackle questions of psychological and subconscious nature

Henrik Ibsen - literary works

Last play written abroad?

Publication date?

Hedda Gabler

1890 - last play written abroad

Henrik Ibsen - personal life

Return to Oslo?

1891

Henrik Ibsen - personal life

Death?

1906