Henrik Ibsen and Naturalistic Theater
A major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet, Henrik Ibsen is often referred to as "the godfather" of modern drama and is one of the founders of Modernism in theatre. His works are naturalistic.
Naturalism (1865-1900) attempts to go further from realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment affects human behavior. Plots often revolve around social problems, characters are often drawn from lower classes and the poor, perhaps in an attempt to explain their behavior.
Hedda Gabler
First published in 1890 and produced in 1891 to negative reviews, Hedda Gabler has become one of Henrik Ibsen's most remembered plays apart from A Doll's House, An Enemy of the People, The Wild Duck, Ghosts, and the Master Builder. This is primarily due to the rigor of the acting role of Hedda Gabler. As a character, Hedda is at once a romantic feminist but also a manipulative, conniving villain. Hedda is neurotic, a child with a stormy ego. Her superego (represented by society and her married life) clashes with her id (her impulses and desires) in Freud's psychology. She is a tempest of a character, full of contradictions and subtext that makes playing her onstage a joy for any serious actress. In the play Hedda is the wife of Jorgen Tesman, but has had an earlier love affair with her husband's rival, Lovborg. In a gentler, simpler age this sort of behavior was considered shocking and inappropriate.
Other characters in the play include:
There are four acts: each act has only one scene. The set does not change, so it's just lights up and down to indicate time passing.
A major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet, Henrik Ibsen is often referred to as "the godfather" of modern drama and is one of the founders of Modernism in theatre. His works are naturalistic.
Naturalism (1865-1900) attempts to go further from realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment affects human behavior. Plots often revolve around social problems, characters are often drawn from lower classes and the poor, perhaps in an attempt to explain their behavior.
Hedda Gabler
Other characters in the play include:
- Jørgen Tesman, the husband of Hedda; an academic
- Miss Juliane Tesman, Jørgen's aunt
- Mrs. Thea Elvsted, Jørgen's friend and Hedda's school rival
- Judge Brack, friend of the Tesmans; a judge
- Ejlert Løvborg, Jørgen's academic rival whom Hedda previously loved
- Berte, servant to the Tesmans and to Jørgen as a child
There are four acts: each act has only one scene. The set does not change, so it's just lights up and down to indicate time passing.
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