Ibsen Henryk did the incredible - he created and discovered for the whole world the Norwegian drama and the Norwegian theater. His works were originally romantic, having as their subjects the ancient Scandinavian sagas (“Warriors Helgelade”, “Fight for the throne”). Then he turns to a philosophical and symbolic understanding of the world (Brand, Per Gynt). And finally, Ibsen Henryk comes to a sharp criticism of modern life ("Doll House", "Ghosts", "Enemy of the People").
Dynamically developing, G. Ibsen requires in later works the complete emancipation of man.
Playwright childhood
In the family of a wealthy Norwegian businessman Ibsen, who lives in the south of the country, in the town of Skien, in 1828 his son Henryk appears. But only eight years pass, and the family goes bankrupt. Life falls out of the usual circle of friends, they suffer deprivation in everything and ridicule of others. Little Ibsen Henryk painfully perceives the ongoing changes. However, already at school, he begins to amaze teachers with his writings. His childhood ended at age 16, when he moved to a neighboring town and became a student of a pharmacist. He has been working in a pharmacy for five years and all these years has been dreaming of moving to the capital.
In the city of Christiania
A young man, Ibsen Henryk, comes to the big city of Christiania and, financially poor, participates in political life. He manages to stage the short drama The Hero's Mound. But he still has the drama Katilina in store. He is noticed and invited to Bergen.
In the folk theater
In Bergen, Ibsen, Henryk becomes the director and director of the theater. Under him, the theater’s repertoire includes plays by classics - Shakespeare, Scribe, also Dumas son - and Scandinavian works. This period will last in the life of the playwright from 1851 to 1857. Then he returns to Christiania.
In the capital
This time the capital met him more affably. Ibsen Henryk received the post of director of the theater. A year later, in 1858, his marriage to Susanna Thoresen, which will be happy, will take place.
At this time, heading the Norwegian Theater, he was already recognized as a playwright in his homeland thanks to the historical play “Feast in Sulhaug”. His previously written plays are repeatedly staged. These are “Warriors Helgelade”, “Ulaf Liljekrans”. They are played not only in Christiania, but also in Germany, Sweden, Denmark. But when in 1862 he presented to the public a satirical play - “A Comedy about Love”, which ridiculed the idea of love and marriage, the society is so negatively attitude towards the author that two years later he is forced to leave his homeland. With the help of friends, he receives a scholarship and leaves for Rome.
Abroad
In Rome, he lives in solitude and in the years 1865-1866 wrote the poetic play "Brand". The hero of the play, Priest Brand, wants to achieve inner perfection, which, as it turns out, is completely impossible in the world. He abandons his son and wife. But nobody needs his ideal views: neither secular authorities, nor spiritual ones. As a result, without renouncing his views, the hero dies. This is logical, since his whole nature is alien to mercy.
Relocation to Germany
Having lived in Trieste, Dresden, G. Ibsen finally stops in Munich. In 1867, another poetic work was published - the exact opposite of the play about the crazy priest, Peer Gynt. This romantic poem takes place in Norway, in Morocco, in the Sahara, in Egypt and again in Norway.
In the small village where the young guy lives, he is considered a hollow brethren, a brawler who does not even think about helping his mother. The modest beautiful girl Solveig liked him, but she refuses him because his reputation is too bad. Per leaves in the woods and there he meets the daughter of the Forest King, whom he is ready to marry, but for this he needs to turn into an ugly troll. With difficulty escaping from the clutches of forest monsters, he meets his mother dying in his arms. After that, he travels the world for many years and finally, completely old and gray-haired, returns to his native village. No one will recognize him, except for the wizard Button, who is ready to melt his soul into a button. Per begs for a reprieve to prove to the sorcerer that he is a complete person, not a faceless person. And then he, the tumbleweed, meets the loyal old Solveig. It was then that he understood that the faith and love of the woman who had been waiting for him for so long saved him. This is an absolutely fantastic story created by Henrik Ibsen. The works as a whole are built on the basis that some whole person is fighting the lack of will and immorality of insignificant people.
World fame
By the end of the 70s G. Ibsen’s plays began to be staged around the world. Sharp criticism of modern life, dramas of ideas make up the work of Henrik Ibsen. He wrote such significant works: 1877 - “Pillars of society”, 1879 - “Dollhouse”, 1881 - “Ghosts”, 1882 - “Enemy of the people”, 1884 - “Wild duck”, 1886 - Rosmersholm, 1888 - A Woman from the Sea, 1890 - Gedda Gabler.
In all these plays, G. Ibsen asks the same question: is it possible in modern life to live truthfully, without lies, without destroying the ideals of honor? Or it is necessary to obey generally accepted standards and turn a blind eye to everything. Happiness, according to Ibsen, is impossible. Faddishly preaching the truth, the Wild Duck hero destroys his friend's happiness. Yes, it was based on a lie, but the person was happy. The vices and virtues of their ancestors stand behind the backs of the heroes of the Ghost, and they themselves are, as it were, tracing papers of their fathers, and not independent individuals who can achieve happiness. Nora from the “Dollhouse” is fighting for the right to feel like a person, not a beautiful doll.
And she leaves home forever. And for her there is no happiness. All these plays, with the possible exception of one, are subject to a rigid author’s scheme and idea - the heroes doom doom against the whole society. They become rejected, but not defeated. Gedda Gabler is fighting against herself, against the fact that she is a woman who, having married, is forced to give birth against her will. Having been born a woman, she wants to behave freely, like any man.
She is impressive and beautiful, but not free either in the choice of her life, or in the choice of her own destiny, which is not clear to her. She can't live like that.
Henrik Ibsen: quotes
They express only his worldview, but maybe they will touch the strings of someone’s soul:
- "The strongest one who fights alone."
- "What you sow in youth, you will reap in maturity."
- “Thousands of words will leave a lesser mark than the memory of one act.”
- "The soul of man is in his affairs."
At home
In 1891, G. Ibsen, after a 27-year absence, returned to Norway. He will write a number of plays, his anniversary will be celebrated. But in 1906, a stroke will forever interrupt the life of such an outstanding playwright as Henryk Ibsen. His biography is over.