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Essay Subject: Compares two naturalistic approaches: Henrik Ibsen's social consciousness vs. August Strindberg's cynical pessimism.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Compares two naturalistic approaches: Henrik Ibsen's social consciousness vs. August Strindberg's cynical pessimism. Paper Introduction: Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg are both associated with modern naturalism in the theater. In their naturalistic plays, Ibsen and Strindberg were similar in that they both included psychological, symbolic, and subjective elements in their depictions of reality. However, Ibsen and Strindberg were very different in the way they went about expressing naturalism. Ibsen was concerned with ideas of social consciousness, whereas Strindberg expressed a cynical, fatalistic, and individualistic perspective on life. This paper will show how these differences influenced the dramatic elements in the plays of Ibsen and Strindberg. Naturalism in the theater, like realism, seeks to show life as it really is. This effort can be seen in the sets, dialogue, characterization, and plots of naturalistic plays. However, 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. It is interesting to note that although Ibsen'slater plays became increasingly mystical and symbolic, at the same timethey continued to be "securely rooted in reality" (Beyere 153). Einar Haugen and A. Just as her father treated her as a "doll-child" when she wasgrowing up, so does her husband Torvald continue to treat her as a "doll-wife" in her adult life (Ibsen, A Doll's House, 96). Thus, "in the scenes of married life which Strindberg put onstage, he offered with ever-varied piquancy a rich mixture of diabolicalmalice, mutual revulsion and distrust, inconstancy, envy, sadism, andbrutality" (Ollen 1 ). Inworks such as The Father and Miss Julie, the naturalism of human life isexpressed "in its extreme aspects of aggression, envy, fear, hatred, lustand so on" (363). Nevertheless, thereal world is brought into the play by way of its theme of guilt andredemption. Vol. By contrast, the naturalist plays of Strindberg expressed fatalisticand pessimistic vies on society and life. Thus, in this play, "Ibsenextends the form of the realistic plays but is freer to explore themetaphors of mental process without tying them to a plausible ornaturalistic base" (Lyons 136). 21. OnceNora's secret debt and forgery are revealed, she is able to free herselffrom the limitations of her married life and begin seeking greater self-awareness in the outside world. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Books,1966, 1-1 2.Ibsen, Henrik. According to the drama criticMartin Esslin, although Ibsen was essentially a realist, his "poetic geniusalso propelled him away from photographic realism" (Esslin 291). However, naturalism isdistinct from realism in that it tends to show the harsher sides ofreality. He sawlife as a struggle to survive, and he felt that it was important to have acynical outlook in order to avoid being taken advantage of. Lyons of the University ofCalifornia has stated: "the clear metaphoric uses of photography andretouching are obvious but not predominant, and they work with a wholeparadigm of realistic details to suggest concepts related to seeing,recording truth, creating artifice, and the reforming of images themselves"(Lyons 136). ADoll's House (1897) also used the technique of revelation and centeredaround an important social cause. In their later works, both Ibsen and Strindberg stopped writingstrictly naturalistic works and began exploring psychological states to agreater extent. For example, the artof photography is used as a metaphoric device in Ibsen's play The Wild Duck(1884). This idea becomes a symbol in the form of "ghosts"from the past. In their naturalistic plays, Ibsen andStrindberg were similar in that they both included psychological, symbolic,and subjective elements in their depictions of reality. Regarding this play, Charles R. Michael Meyer, trans. Ibsen read acopy of the book and was strongly influenced by the Brandes' ideas. In this play, the hypocrisy of society's leaders are revealed.Thus, the appearance of authority in society is revealed to be false. He often dealt with the theme of a personseeking self-realization and freedom within the confines of a repressivesociety. As such, Strindberg's laterplays depict the horror and misery of life. At the end, the judge finally learns to understand his sins andthus feels guilty about them. As in his earlier works, this play builds strongly upon theuse of metaphors. Catiline's Dream: An Essay on Ibsen's Plays. Thus, the strangeoccurrences in The Dream Play can be seen as being rooted in Strindberg'sown thoughts and feelings at the time. Ibsenjustified the use of metaphor in naturalism by pointing out that "lifeitself is full of symbols" (Beyer 153). Strindberg: The Origin of Psychology in Modern Drama.New York: The Citadel Press, 1963.Koht, Halvdan. In exploring subjective statesof mind, Strindberg does not focus on dreams so much as he does onnightmares (354). 2. Thus, Ibsen turned more tosymbolism because he wanted to express archetypal lessons for humankind.By contrast, Strindberg turned more toward nightmare imagery because he hada fatalistic and pessimistic attitude regarding the future fate ofhumankind. In Ghosts (1881), it is revealed thatOswald has the same tragic disease that his father had. "Ibsen and Modern Drama." Reprinted in Drama Criticism.Vol. Nietzsche's writings led Strindberg toexperiment with naturalism in his works for the stage. In thatdrama, he established his style of gradually revealing an important truthduring the course of the play. For Ibsen, naturalism was a means of exposingthe problems of society. In those lectures, Brandes rejected "outdatedabstract idealism" and urged writers to pursue "the examination ofcontemporary problems in literature" (Hurt 1 -1 1). Strindberg began reading theworks of Nietzsche at about the same time that he composed his greatestnaturalistic plays, The Father (1887) and Miss Julie (1888). August Strindberg. Urbana:University of Illinois Press, 1972.Ibsen, Henrik. Just as Ibsenhad done with Georg Brandes, Strindberg maintained a correspondence withNietzsche for several years. Trudeau, ed. In 1871, Brandes gave aseries of lectures at the University of Copenhagen on the topic ofcontemporary literature. Althoughboth playwrights worked in the naturalistic style, and both alsoincorporated subjective elements into their plays, their approaches werequite distinct from one another. These views can be seen, forexample, in The Father (1887), which shows misogyny as well as cynicism.In that play, a dominating woman causes the mental breakdown of a strongman. Life of Ibsen. Thus, this preface shows that Strindberg's view onnaturalism was based on a strong sense of pessimism toward life. Therefore, likeIbsen, Strindberg began to seek ways to explore psychological states beyondthose associated with naturalistic drama. Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg are both associated with modernnaturalism in the theater. 21. Boston: John W. A year later, Brandes' University ofCopenhagen lectures were published in book form (Koht 28 ). Advent. James Hurt, an Englishprofessor at the University of Illinois, has pointed out that Ibsen'snaturalistic plays include scenes in which "the settings, the characters,and the action are often presented subjectively, as they appear to theprotagonists" (Hurt 1 1). These ghosts are the actions of the dead ancestors whichcontinue to haunt the children in the present day. Because of the marital problems that he experienced throughouthis life, Strindberg was particularly cynical in his depictions of marriedcouples. For example, in The Dream Play (19 2), Strindberg usesdreamlike shifts in logic and other "expressionistic" techniques; however,"as in a dream, the material from which the fantasies are composed is themost poignant experience of the dreamer" (Krutch 354). Reprinted in Ghosts and Three Other Playsby Henrik Ibsen. However, for the most part, Ibsen expressedsubconscious ideas by means of symbols and metaphors. They ofteninclude such psychoanalytical elements as "the dissolution of the ego,ambiguity, split personality, dream sequences and transitions, a certainopen-endedness, the steady focus on the demoniacal character of existence,violent dislocations of space and time" (Ollen 17). Ibsen's approach to naturalism can be seen in The Pillars of Society(1877), which is regarded as being his first "realist" work. When he started writing realistic prosedramas, Ibsen was already established in Norway for his verse dramas suchas Brand and Peer Gynt. Reprinted in August Strindberg Plays. AlthoughAdvent is for the most part visionary and nonrealistic, these symbols ofChristian redemption provide the work with an important message which isapplicable to life in the real world as well. In his laterworks, Ibsen turned increasingly to the use of symbolism in order toexpress inner states of mind. Strindberg'sbitter outlook on life is clearly evident in both the style and content ofhis plays. In that work, the doctor ominously refers to Oswald's disease withthe phrase: "The sins of the fathers shall be visited on the children"(Ibsen, Ghosts, 174). Reprinted in Ghosts and Three Other Plays byHenrik Ibsen. In that play, Nora comes to thesudden realization that she has been trapped in a "doll house" throughouther life. However, he also claimed that he saw thecontent of life as being "so brutal, so cynical, so heartless" (Klaf 85).Because of the cruelties of life, Strindberg also felt that the only way tounderstand life was through the "unreliable instruments of thought which wecall feelings" (85). The "wild duck" in the title of this play also serves as a symbol.Specifically, because it is trapped in the Ekdals' attic, it provides ametaphor for the hopelessness and futility that the characters experiencein the course of the play. This effort can be seen in the sets, dialogue,characterization, and plots of naturalistic plays. At the same time, however, Strindberg's later works are like those ofIbsen in that they are based on aspects of real life. Ibsen wasinterested in depicting the total truth of reality, not simply that of thematerial world. Carbondale:Southern Illinois University Press, 1972.Ollen, Gunnar. Thus, in Ibsen's later works, "there issufficient detail to give the illusion of the play as realistic, but thecharacters in these plays are consumed by their immediate acts and theplays concentrate upon a crucial event without attempting to suggest theprocesses of daily life in a distribution of detail to the degree of theearlier plays" (136). Detroit: GaleResearch, 1986, 361-365.Hurt, James. Ibsen was concerned with ideas of social consciousness,whereas Strindberg expressed a cynical, fatalistic, and individualisticperspective on life. However, in When We Dead Awaken, Ibsen carries the ideaof the metaphor to a higher level than before. A fewyears later, Ibsen began writing naturalistic plays based on themes ofsocial concern. Detroit: Gale Research, 1992, 287-291.Gilman, Richard. Ibsen was more oriented toward helping to improve society throughthe situations depicted in his plays, whereas Strindberg created workswhich expressed the darkness he felt in his personal outlook. Thispreface also shows that Strindberg was interested in expressing his cynicalviews by means of the personal emotions of his characters. A similar use of an important metaphor can also beseen in Ibsen's play A Doll's House. Thus, whereas Ibsen focused on the social interactionsof his characters and used symbols in order to express their inner thoughtsand feelings, Strindberg focused more on the direct expression ofpassionate feelings by the characters themselves. Above all, however, Ibsen used naturalism for the purpose ofexpressing social concerns. Regarding this point, Ibsen's biographer,Halvdan Koht, has described the playwright's naturalistic works as "social-morality plays." According to Koht, these plays "are not attacks onsociety or the social order; rather they intend to show how social moralityhas become perverted to such an extent that it now actually frustratesthose moral imperatives that independent, free men must assert" (3 2). However, in keeping with hispessimistic personality and philosophy of life, Strindberg focused more ontechniques of "expressionism" than symbolism. Therefore, whereas the influence of Georg Brandes caused Ibsen tocreate naturalist plays expressing social concerns, the influence ofNietzsche caused Strindberg to take a more individualistic as well aspessimistic approach. The metaphoric meaningof this is brought out in the scene in which Oswald refers to the outdated"truisms" that people hand down to their children. This fact canalso be seen in Strindberg's Miss Julie (1888), in which a young womankills herself for the shame of having had an affair with a butler.Strindberg's naturalistic account of this tragic event involves not onlythe facts of the outer world, but also those of the inner world as well.Thus, subjective emotions are displayed in Miss Julie in the form of an"observed and inhabited world of social and psychic pathology" (Gilman363). The play Advent (1898) is also extremely nonrealistic in itsdepiction of visions and psychological states of mind. Strindberg also decided to go beyond the limitations of naturalism inhis later works. Although many people have interpretedthis play as relating to feminism, Ibsen himself claimed that Nora'sliberation is symbolic of freedom for all people regardless of sex. Dennis Poupard, ed. This paper will show how these differences influencedthe dramatic elements in the plays of Ibsen and Strindberg. Vol. Works CitedBeyer, Edvard. Although based on a fairy tale,Strindberg's play Swanwhite (19 1) is also related to his personal life.Specifically, some of the elements in the play relate to the "stormy"relationship that Strindberg was then having with his wife Harriet Bosse(Ollen 8 ). In this way, he is forgiven and is blessedwith a sign in the form of a bright shining star (Strindberg 89). However, Ibsen andStrindberg were very different in the way they went about expressingnaturalism. Indepicting his characters, Ibsen was largely concerned with their socialinteractions with others. Ghosts" (192). Regarding this, he came to realize that a representationof the whole of reality "must include the internal world, the world of themind (both conscious and subconscious), as well as the external reality ofrooms, furniture, and cups of coffee" (291). The naturalist playwrights were interested in exposing the bittertruth of life in order that they might thereby show "what existence wasreally like" (Gilman 362). He felt thatliterature should focus on the problems and issues of society and therebykeep them open to public debate. Metaphors continue to represent innerstates of mind; however, the minds of the characters have now taken overthe entire plots of the plays. Nietzsche believed that the concerns of theindividual are more important than those of the society as a whole. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Books,1966, 1 3-197.Klaf, Franklin S. Dennis Poupard, ed. NewYork: Taplinger Publishing Company, 1978.Esslin, Martin. By contrast, Strindberg's naturalistic plays are extremely fatalisticand cynical. Strindberg could not confinehimself to only one level of existence, because his dramatic imagination,"like that of Ibsen, was too far-reaching and original" (Gilman 362).However, Strindberg relied less on the use of symbol and metaphor and moreon the stark expression of extreme psychological and emotional states. "Ibsen and Strindberg." Reprinted in Twentieth-CenturyLiterary Criticism. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing,1972.Strindberg, August. However, theimages of the sea relate to the real world of psychology because they serveas a symbol for the unconscious mind. Strindberg, like Ibsen, wrote naturalistic plays which went beyondthe mere depiction of material reality. Furthermore,like Georg Brandes, Nietzsche had his own theories regarding the need for a"naturalist drama" (Klaf 81). E. By contrast, Strindberg was influenced by the pessimistic views ofthe German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Mrs. Alving shivers andsays the word "Ghosts!" Oswald replies: "Yes, that's not a bad word forthem. Strindberg had a much darker view of reality than Ibsen, andfor him life was filled with misery, agony and struggle. However, as in their earlier works, essential differencescan still be seen in the approaches of these two playwrights. In the preface to his 1888 play Miss Julie, Strindberg claimed thathe was seeking to create a new form of drama which would be based on thenatural elements of real life. His shift to naturalism was strongly influenced bythe ideas of the Danish literary critic, Georg Brandes. However, Strindberg turned more toward"expressionism," which generally has a nightmare quality rather than being"dreamlike." It can be seen that these differing approaches to thedramatization of psychological states were influenced by the differentperspectives on life held by the two men. In Strindberg'scase, these real life elements generally stemmed from his own personal lifeexperiences. A Doll's House. Forexample, The Lady From the Sea (1888) contains such elements as "naturemysticism, folklore, myth and irrational forces" (153). In that way, he intended to make people thinkabout their social problems and thus start seeking solutions to them.Ibsen's particular style of naturalism involved a process of graduallyrevealing the secrets of the characters during the course of a play. When Ibsen wrotehis first naturalist play, Pillars of Society, in 1877, he had already beencorresponding with Brandes for eleven years. Inaddition, because it dealt with factors such as heredity and venerealdisease, Ghosts was concerned with some of the most important social issuesof the time. Edithand Warner Oland, trans. Psychological elements can be seen in the naturalistic plays of Ibsenas well; however, rather than showing these elements directly as Strindbergdoes, Ibsen shows them in the form of symbols and metaphors. In a review in The Nation, Joseph Wood Krutch claimedthat Strindberg, in 19 2, "had already, in a series of realistic plays,attempted to illustrate some of the major discords of life, but hisperceptions had continually outrun his pen" (Krutch 354). In addition, the characters in thisplay act and react realistically despite the powerful symbolism thatsurrounds them. In addition,Nietzsche's philosophy supported Strindberg's cynical views in both lifeand art. Advent is concerned with an unfair judge who is himself judgedin hell. The differences which are seen in the approaches of Ibsen andStrindberg to naturalism are due in large part to the different influencesthat each man had on his work. This paper has shown that while Ibsen expressed naturalism throughplays which dealt with social concerns, Strindberg, on the other hand,expressed naturalism through a pessimistic, fatalistic and individualisticoutlook. Henrik Ibsen: The Divided Consciousness. Withthis technique, Ibsen would reveal the "old sins" of the characters in amanner which seemed "perfectly natural, simply artless" (Koht 3 8). At the time that he wrotethe play, Strindberg was worried that his wife might be unfaithful to him.In addition, he was becoming suspicious as to whether his children were hisown or not. Lawrence J. These feelings were expressed in The Father, in which "theCaptain is driven insane by his wife, Laura, who makes him suspicious aboutthe paternity of his daughter" (Klaf 82). Thus, it is apparent that Strindberg's approach tonaturalism was more personal and emotional than Ibsen's. "Whips and Scorns." Reprinted in Twentieth-CenturyLiterary Criticism. Just as the Captain was driveninsane in The Father, Strindberg experienced a severe mental breakdown afew years later. Luce and Company, 1914.----------------------- 3 The social themein this play is that the past has an influence on people today. One of Ibsen's most important "nonrealistic" plays is When We DeadAwaken (1899). A key symbol is also exploited in the playGhosts. Ghosts. Detroit: GaleResearch, 1986, 354.Lyons, Charles R. In addition, The Pillars of Societyestablished Ibsen's style of using themes placing emphasis on socialissues. Michael Meyer, trans. Santaniello, trans.New York: Benjamin Blom, 1971.Krutch, Joseph Wood. Marie Wells, trans. Although Ibsenoften wrote about the psychological difficulties of his characters,Strindberg's work "plunged more deeply into psychic jungles than Ibsen's,was more 'unconscious' and more taken up with extreme emotional states"(362). It is interesting to note that some of the episodes in this play werebased on the actual life of Strindberg himself. Naturalism in the theater, like realism, seeks to show life as itreally is. Ibsen: The Man and his Work. Strindberg's works in this style are more extreme thanthose of Ibsen in terms of exploring the subconscious mind. 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