"GHOSTS" & "THE WILD DUCK"   Term Paper ID:19075 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: (Henrik Ibsen). Major themes & characters illustrating realism of playwright's work.... More...

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Paper Abstract: (Henrik Ibsen). Major themes & characters illustrating realism of playwright's work. Paper Introduction: Ibsen introduced realism to the modern stage and established its conventions so powerfully that his is still the dominant stage technique. He substituted middle-class protagonists for kings and queens and wrote prose dialogue rather than poetry. He said, "My plays . . . are not tragedies in the old meaning of the word; what I have wanted to portray is human beings and that is just why I did not want them to speak the language of the gods." Two such plays during his realism period are Ghosts and The Wild Duck. Ghosts, written in 1881, and The Wild Duck, written in 1884, represent the breadth of Ibsen's realism. The Wild Duck and Ghosts are typical of Ibsen's dominant themes: the presentness of the past; people's search for their place in life; the effects of idealism as a social force; and the problem of people's ultimate freedom. The presentness of the Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. [21]Northam, 22 .----------------------- 1 The past andGreger's ideals stood in the way. London: Faber and Faber, 1953.Shaw, George Bernard. Another theme is people's search for their place in life. Although both plays have similar themes, their structures differ. Byworking on an invention, he believes he can redeem the name and honor ofhis father. The method of The Wild Duck isanalytic; it reveals the past of the Werle and Eindal families piecemeal.Most of the exposition is scattered through the last acts.[7] What actionthere is in the play turns on the bringing to light of the hidden past.Ghosts, however, presents a long-harbored germ of conflict, and the actionbegins at the point where matters are heading toward a crisis. The remaining characters in Ghosts fit into two groups. In Wild Duck, the characters' searches aremore obvious. . His greatness lies in the face that, denied the elevating themes of theomachies and dynastic struggles, the stature of heroes and princes, and the language of poets, he yet contrives by means minute yet evocative to suggest in drama, beneath the familiar pervasiveness of modern life, the perpetual mystery of human personality in its struggle with necessity.[21] BibliographyHaakonsen, Daniel, ed. The family wonders how theduck can adapt; they decide that as long as it cannot see the sky, it cansurvive unconscious of its trapped condition. By doing this, she thinks she would be putting torest the past and their deceitful marriage. New York: E.P. Old Werlecould easily have served as the villain of the melodrama; Ibsen insteadpresents him in all his human complexity. She isfrank and courageous enough to state her own views in a straightforwardway. The presentness of the past is apparent in both plays. Gregers, the son, sees the elderWerle as an unredeemable villain who has ruined old Eindal, made hishousemaid pregnant, and then foisted her off on the unsuspecting son ofEindal. [16]Ibid., 94. [14]Northam, 11 . [18]Ibid., 1 9. As a result, Mrs. Ilving is forced to take partin the death of her own son. [9]Ibid. One expert says of Ibsen: He is one of the few men in the history of the drama who have had a clear vision not only of the human predicament. In Ghosts, the dramatic spectacle occurs as a causal sequence,[8]presenting the circumstances that have made the characters what they are.In The Wild Duck, on the other hand, a spatial tableau, rather than acausal chain, is laid out.[9] Two whole acts are filled with a detailedpresentation of the daily life of the Eindals: their daily occupations,their manner of talking and the make-believe world they have built uparound them to make existence interesting. If love depended on rational factors, it would be difficult tounderstand why a woman with Mrs. Ilving's personality could ever have feltherself drawn to so weak and colorless a man as Manders.[16] He is lackingin intellectual honesty, in sympathetic insight, and in real leadership.He caters to the opinion of the wealthy and influential, the "reallyresponsible people," according to Manders' definition. Gregers lacks the moral strength to stop his fatherfrom trapping Eindal. Hedvig identifies with the duck, wounded and unable to fly yethappy to stay at home in a created world. PastorManders and Oswald are of secondary importance compared to Mrs. Ilving, andEngstrand and Regina are less prominent than the former pair. [1 ]George Bernard Shaw, The Quintessence of Ibsenism (New York:Brentano's, 19 4), 88. No matter how happy Gina is and how hard she tries to pleaseher husband, Greger's presence reminds her of her past. [13]Ibid. [11]Weigand, 76. Ibsen introduced realism to the modern stage and established itsconventions so powerfully that his is still the dominant stage technique.He substituted middle-class protagonists for kings and queens and wroteprose dialogue rather than poetry. Oslo, Norway: MariendalsBoktryhkeri, 1966.Lebowitz, Naomi. Contemporary Approaches to Ibsen: Proceedings ofthe First International Ibsen Seminar. At the same time, she recognizes the futility of argument in the faceof such set habits of thinking as the Pastor's. The other characters in The Wild Duck are also complex. Like the ducks, all the characters aretrapped in an unnatural world. OldEindal serves as a reminder of what happened in his business dealings withOld Werle. Her spiritual superiority is apparent from themoment of her first appearance.[11] She displays tact and sensitivity whendiscussing with the Pastor the books that arouse his displeasure. Both are complex and see themselves as intellectually andmorally superior to all around them. They are unable to survive in the realworld of freedom. [3]Naomi Lebowitz, Ibsen and the Great World (Baton Rouge: LouisianaState University, 199 ), 22 . According to one expert, "The Wild Duck marked a turning away fromIbsen's realistic problem plays. [7]Ibid., 146. Oswald, who spent time in Parisas an artist, returns home to find himself bored, tired and, mostimportant, a victim of a lie. How they come to develop intothese people with these habits of living is irrelevant. Last, the problem of people's ultimate freedom is presented. Heaccordingly sets himself to work out the couple's salvation by establishingfrank relations between the pair. According to one expert, "The dependenceof family unity on a fiction of appearance, even if it is fostered by aconsenting inner circle, is precisely what makes it so vulnerable toGregers's attack."[3] Hjalmar figures it is his place to re-establish thename and fortunes of his father. Hjalar Eindal, however, describing what old Werle has done for himand his family, sees him as a fairy godfather. [17]Haakonsen, 68. It is her last effort to have a memorialfor her husband. InGhosts, a handsome home is made miserable by superstitious illusions. As forGregers, how intelligent is a man who sees Hjalmar as a misused genius andwho cannot analyze the possible effects of his acts even when they arepointed out to him? The sky, associated withlight and freedom and the natural state of bird and humans, is contrastedwith the darkness of Eindal's attic, the unnatural state that people havecreated for themselves.[2 ] The Eindal father and son are capable only ofhunting tamed or disabled animals in their artificial "forest" and are asunable as the duck to survive in the real world. [15]Weigand, 93. Hjalmar lacks the courage to commit suicide,although he claims to want to. Old Werle connects the duck withold Eindal, who is unable to live in reality. Weigand, The Modern Ibsen (New York: E.P. The effects of her idealismare widespread. The audience judges them as self-indulgent, egocentric men with no true sympathy or love for others, noteven their own family. In order to accomplish this, he works onan invention. However, his intelligence turns out to be only that of aphotographer and a speech writer, not of an artistic creator. She is firm in permittingno meddling with her private affairs, as shown by her refusal to considerthe idea of returning Regina to her foster father. To a lesser extent, Hjalmar is also an idealist. The verytitle, Ghosts, shows how the past comes back to haunt the characters. She, not Gregers andHjalmar, is the tragic sufferer. The Quintessence of Ibsenism. The major character in Ghosts is the mother. Dutton Co.,1953), 91. He said, "My plays . Hervision, her courage, her serenity, and her sweetness are impressive,especially because they have been fostered under adversities such as wouldhave consumed or crushed a woman of a less heroic cast.[13] The two major characters in The Wild Duck are Gregers Werle andHjalmar Eindal. Ibsen's Dramatic Method. are nottragedies in the old meaning of the word; what I have wanted to portray ishuman beings and that is just why I did not want them to speak the languageof the gods."[1] Two such plays during his realism period are Ghosts andThe Wild Duck. The duck's world represents the real forest in which itcould no longer live with its clipped wings. He shrinks incowardice from any assertion of personality that would provoke a conflictwhich might endanger his prestige with the group. Dutton Co., 1953.----------------------- [1]Daniel Haakonsen, Contemporary Approaches to Ibsen (Norway:Mariendals Boktryhkeri, 1966), 72. From that time on his plays would becomplex, enigmatic studies of the human condition employing expressionisticand symbolic techniques."[18] The wild duck, as a symbol and title of theplay, represents all the characters. Mrs. Ilving displays a rare combination of vigor, poise, andsweetness of character. As Mrs. Ilving says, "I amtimid and faint-hearted because of the ghosts that hang about me."[2] InThe Wild Duck, the past is shown through old relationships. The next theme is the effects of idealism as a social force.According to one expert, "You find idealism everywhere in Ibsen if it isdefined as such: an idealist is a man prepared to sacrifice all the normalexpectations of life and happiness in pursuit of some and which for himrepresents a higher value. Remarks abouttheir past seem obligatory incidentals rather than revelations of primaryimportance. Mander's search lies somewhere between his duties aspriest and his old love for Mrs. Ilving. Theeffects have more serious results: the husband goes on a rampage; the wifeis annoyed with the idealist; and the daughter takes the matter to heartand shoots herself. His own innocence and the naive ardorwith which he champions the morality of his fellow artists show veryclearly that he has been seeing the world with the trusting eyes of achild.[15] After the veil has been lifted from the ghostly doom of whichOswald knows himself to be the innocent victim, his excessive indulgence indrink and the frank expression of his physical hunger for Regina make himall the more pathetic. InGhosts, no one really gains freedom. [8]Ibid., 147. Oswald isvery simple and unsophisticated. [6]Hermann J. The Wild Duck and Ghosts are typical of Ibsen's dominant themes: thepresentness of the past; people's search for their place in life; theeffects of idealism as a social force; and the problem of people's ultimatefreedom. The duck, wounded by old Werle, issaved and trapped. Therevolting martyrdom of her marriage creates a somber background. The truth in Ibsen, as inlife, lies somewhere in between - perhaps in old Werle's espousal of theattainable ideal.[17] Gina Eindal, too, moves far beyond the stereotype ofthe "fallen woman redeemed by marriage." It is Gina's work on thephotographs and her sewing, her concern for the practicalities and thewelfare of Hedvig and her husband, that keep the family going and enableHjalmar to indulge in his dreams. One expert says, "It is a tragedy offate, predetermined from the moment of Oswald's conception, completing itscycle in the space of twenty-seven years, testing the mother's limits ofendurance, as she is doomed to assist passively at the consummation of thecatastrophe."[6] Neither son nor mother, whose goal and place in life wereto get rid of the past, will be free. Childhoodfriends Gregers and Hjalmar finally see each other after many years. Oswald learns the truth about his father and is too weakto take all the deception. [12]Ibid., 77. Gregers is willing to sacrifice everything towake up his friend, Hjalmar, to the truth about his marriage. Gregers happens to know that Gina, before her marriage, wasthe cast-off mistress of his own father; because she has not told herhusband this, Gregers conceives their life as founded on a lie. Ibsen's themes--the presentness of the past, the effects of idealism,and people's freedom--are universal. Mrs.Ilving thinks that it is her duty to open the Orphanage in order to put anyrumors to rest about her husband. Baton Rouge: Louisiana StateUniversity Press, 199 .Northam, John. Ghosts and The Wild Duck are just twoof Ibsen's plays that demonstrate his skills. [2]John Northam, Ibsen's Dramatic Method (London: Faber and Faber,1953), 68. . Thisrepresents a higher value to him than anything he could be doing. This leads one expert to ask, "At the end ofGhosts, who can bear to gain what has been gained?"[5] In The Wild Duck,there are more idealists. Ibsen and the Great World. He does not realize that he is neglecting his own business -the effects of which are felt by his wife. Withthe presence of Regina, Mrs. Ilving is forever reminded of her husband'swildness. The Modern Ibsen. [2 ]Shaw, 41. It is, one writer says, "altogether immune to the smallworld that continually bothers her."[19] Relling sees it as a symbol ofall the world's people who are wounded while attempting to live in thisworld. Gregers at one time seeshimself as the dog who rescues the duck from drowning in the sea of liesand illusions. Thehousehold in The Wild Duck is not like Mrs. Ilving's, but it is a shabbyhome made happy by romantic illusions. [19]Lebowitz, 131. In The Wild Duck, Hjalmar and Ginawill never be free to live a happy life as they wished. [5]Lebowitz, 92. [4]Haakonsen, 11. As George Bernard Shaw said, "Forsuffering to affect us as tragic, there must be a personality fine and firmand great enough to support a degree of affliction altogether beyond therange of the average mental."[1 ] In other words, the greater thesufferer's capacity for enduring anguish, the more profound thepossibilities of tragedy. To other people in the play, the end which hepursues may seem incoherent or incomprehensible."[4] In Ghosts, Mrs.Ilving's idealism is evident in her desire to open the orphanage as amemorial to her husband. When her son enters,the sparkle in her eyes, as she lets them rest admiringly on his handsomefigure, and her proud boast that he has kept both his outer and his innerman unharmed, reveal a mother's love intense and charged with a highidealism.[12] However, her sensitivity implies a painful past. Both wish to attain Truth, but both live in worldsof illusion regarding the nobility and goodness of their actions.[14]Gregers admired Hjalmar as the most gifted and intelligent of hisschoolmates. Both men fail to face their responsibilityin the death of Hedvig. Ghosts, written in 1881, and The Wild Duck, written in1884, represent the breadth of Ibsen's realism. New York: Brentano's, 1957.Weigand, Hermann J. When Oswald makes advances toward Regina, Mrs. Ilving realizesthat the son has inherited the father's tastes. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.