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While Ibsen may be gone, his work continues to be performed around the world. Peer Gynt, A Dolls House and Hedda Gabler are the
most widely produced dramas today. Actresses, such as Gillian Anderson and Cate Blanchette, have taken on Ibsens Dora and Hedda Gabler
characters, which are considered to be two of the most demanding theatrical roles ever. In addition to his dramas, Ibsen also wrote around
300 poems.
Ibsens works have held up over the years because he tapped into universal themes and explored the human condition in a way unlike any of
those before him. Author James Joyce once wrote that Ibsen has provoked more discussion and criticism that of any other living man. To
this day, his dramas continue to challenge his audiences.
Unlike many other writers and poets, Ibsen had a long and seemingly happy marriage to Suzannah Daae Thoresen. The couple wed in
1858 and welcomed their only child, son Sigurd, the following year. Ibsen also had a son from an earlier relationship. He had fathered a child with a
maid in 1846 while working as an apprentice. While he provided some financial support, Ibsen never met the boy.
2.2 Henrik Ibsen’s Selected Works
Catiline Catilina published in 1850,
The Burial Mound also
known as The Warriors Barrow Kjæmpehøjen published in 1850, Norma
Norma published in 1851, St. Johns Eve
Sancthansnatten
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published in 1852, Lady Inger of Oestraat
Fru Inger til Østeraad published in 1854,
The Feast at Solhaug Gildet paa Solhaug published in
1855, Olaf Liljekrans
Olaf Liljekrans published in 1856, The Vikings at
Helgeland Hærmændene paa Helgeland published in 1857,
Digte - only
released collection of poetry, included Terje Vigen
. published in 1862, Loves Comedy
Kjærlighedens Komedie published in 1862, The
Pretenders Kongs-Emnerne published in 1863,
Brand Brand published
in 1866, Peer Gynt
Peer Gynt published in 1867, The League of Youth
De unges Forbund published in 1869, Emperor and Galilean
Kejser og Galilæer published in 1873,
Pillars of Society Samfundets Støtter
published in 1877, A Dolls House
Et Dukkehjem published in 1879, Ghosts
Gengangere published in 1881, An Enemy of the People
En Folkefiende published in 1882,
The Wild Duck Vildanden published in
1884, Rosmersholm
Rosmersholm published in 1886, The Lady from the
Sea Fruen fra Havet published in 1888,
Hedda Gabler Hedda Gabler
published in 1890, The Master Builder
Bygmester Solness published in 1892,
Little Eyolf Lille Eyolf published in 1894,
John Gabriel Borkman John Gabriel Borkman published in 1896 and
When We Dead Awaken
Når vi døde vaagner published in 1899.
2.3 Synopsis of Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler, daughter of an aristocratic general, has just returned to her villa in Kristiania now Oslo from her honeymoon. Her husband is
Jørgen Tesman, an aspiring, young, reliable academic who has combined
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research with their honeymoon. It becomes clear in the course of the drama that she has never loved him but has married him for reasons
pertaining to the boring nature of her life. It is also suggested that she may be pregnant.
The reappearance of Tesmans academic rival, Ejlert Løvborg, throws their lives into disarray. Løvborg, a writer, is also a recovered
alcoholic who has wasted his talent until now. Thanks to a relationship with Heddas old schoolmate Thea Elvsted who has left her husband for
him, Løvborg shows signs of rehabilitation and has just completed a bestseller in the same field as Tesman.
The critical success of his recently published work transforms Løvborg into a threat to Tesman, as Løvborg becomes a competitor for the
university professorship Tesman had been counting on. Tesman and Gabler are financially overstretched, and Tesman tells Hedda that he will
not be able to finance the regular entertaining or luxurious housekeeping that Gabler had been expecting. Upon meeting Løvborg, however, the
couple discover that he has no intention of competing for the professorship, but rather has spent the last few years labouring with Mrs.
Elvsted over what he considers to be his masterpiece, the sequel to his recently published work.
Apparently jealous of Mrs. Elvsteds influence over Løvborg, Gabler hopes to come between them. She provokes Løvborg to get drunk
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and go to a party. Tesman returns home from the party and reveals that he found the manuscript of Løvborgs great work, which the latter has lost
while drunk. When Gabler next sees Løvborg, he confesses to her, despairingly, that he has lost the manuscript. Instead of telling him that the
manuscript has been found, Gabler encourages him to commit suicide, giving him a pistol. She then burns the manuscript and tells Tesman she
has destroyed it to secure their future.
When the news comes that Løvborg has indeed killed himself, Tesman and Mrs. Elvsted are determined to try to reconstruct his book
from Løvborgs notes, which Mrs. Elvsted has kept. Gabler is shocked to discover from Judge Brack a friend of Tesmans, that Løvborgs death, in
a brothel, was messy and probably accidental this ridiculous and vile death contrasts with the beautiful and free one that Gabler had imagined
for him. Worse, Brack knows the origins of the pistol. He tells Gabler that if he reveals what he knows, a scandal will likely arise due to her role in
giving Løvborg the pistol. Gabler realizes that this places Brack in a position of power over her. Leaving the others, she goes into her smaller
room and shoots herself in the head. The others in the room assume that Gabler is simply firing shots, and they follow the sound to investigate. The
drama ends with Tesman, Brack, and Mrs. Elvsted discovering her body.
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CHAPTER III REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
3.1 Intrinsic Elements
