




March 20, 1828 - 23 May 1906
The oldest of five children
Born to Marichen Altenburg and Knud Ibsen
Wealthy family
Bankrupt




Family life influences work
At fifteen, Ibsen forced to leave school
Child at 18
Norway to Italy to Germany





Grimstad at age 15
Central theme “unremitting portrayals of
suffering women”
Catilina
Brand
Ole Schulerud
By Josh Walsh












1850 - Catiline (Catilina)
1850 - The Burial Mound also known as
The Warrior's Barrow (Kjæmpehøjen)
1851 - Norma (Norma)
1852 - St. John's Eve (Sancthansnatten)
1854 - Lady Inger of Oestraat (Fru Inger
til Østeraad)
1855 - The Feast at Solhaug (Gildet paa
Solhoug)
1856 - Olaf Liljekrans (Olaf Liljekrans)
1857 - The Vikings at Helgeland
(Hærmændene paa Helgeland)
1862 - Digte - only released collection of
poetry
1862 - Love's Comedy (Kjærlighedens
Komedie)
1863 - The Pretenders (Kongs-Emnerne)
1866 - Brand (Brand)













1867 - Peer Gynt (Peer Gynt)
1869 - The League of Youth (De unges
Forbund)
1873 - Emperor and Galilean (Kejser og
Galilæer)
1877 - Pillars of Society (Samfundets
Støtter)
1879 - A Doll's House (Et Dukkehjem)
1881 - Ghosts (Gengangere)
1882 - An Enemy of the People (En
Folkefiende)
1884 - The Wild Duck (Vildanden)
1886 - Rosmersholm (Rosmersholm)
1888 - The Lady from the Sea (Fruen fra
Havet)
1890 - Hedda Gabler (Hedda Gabler)
1892 - The Master Builder (Bygmester
Solness)
1896 - John Gabriel Borkman (John
Gabriel Borkm


First Play
University


Marrying and troubles
Other Talents




Darkness
Popularity
Inspiration and Reason
Father of Realism
By Josh Walsh




Psychological conflicts
Encouragment
Why are plays Art?
Father of Realism


Change
Inspiration


Basic
Fun Fact


Asteroid
Two honorific accomplishment



International Ibsen Award
Norwegian Ibsen Award
Ibsen Centennial Commemoration Award
Final Years
• Returned to Norway in 1891
• Became less reclusive in response to
•
•
renown
Late work was psychologically reflective
in quality
Suffered multiple strokes in 1900
o
Left unable to write
• Scarcely present from time of strokes to
•
death on May 23, 1906
Last words: "To the contrary!"
GEOGRAPHY OF
NORWAY
NORWAY
 Mountainous
 Large coastline
 Temperate along the coast
 Fertile land for agriculture
Region
Eastern Valleys
Western Fjords
Trondelag (Central
Norway)
Northern Norway
The South Coast
Features
Valleys, lakes, pine
forests.
Fjords, islands, deep
valleys
Lowland valleys, large
lakes/rivers,
Varied area. Extremely
rugged, fjords
Small fjords, small
islands, rivers.
REVOLUTIONS OF 1848
By: Joel Johnston
WHAT WERE THE
REVOLUTIONS OF 1848?
 A series of political upheavals that occurred in Europe in
1848
 Caused the temporary collapse of traditional authority
 Wave began in France
 Affected over 50 countries
WHAT SPARKED THESE
REVOLUTIONS?
Dissatisfaction with political leadership
Demand for a more democratic political system
Needs of the working class
Rise of nationalist movements
Regrouping of reactionary forces
ORIGINS
Originated in France
College students were first to start the
revolution
Peasants and workers soon joined them
Variety of demands
OUTCOMES
 Largely considered a failure due to its lack of structural changes
 Tens of thousands of people killed
 Only significant lasting reform was the abolition of serfdom in
Austria and Hungary, the end of absolute monarchy in Denmark and
the end of the Capetian dynasty in France.
 Reactionary forces won out and the revolutions collapse
ROMANTICISM
 1770, 1800-1848
 Focus on arts, esp. emotions of the artist and aimed to invoke emotion
 High emphasis on originality, sinful if artist is not original
 Often associated with nature, artists preferred nature to world of man
 Very idealistic, ‘pure’ view of nature
 Little or no satire, not worth serious attention
REALISM
 1848 Focuses on a third person objective reality
 Truth by perception undistorted by personal bias of emotions
 Accurate and truthful to how ‘reality’ really is
 Against romanticism
 Literature and theater aims to create an accurate picture of everyday
life, and the problems and drama associated with it.
WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN
EUROPE- 1828-1906
Katherine
 Received less: were not allowed to attend universities
 Could only work low paying jobs
 Had to begin working at around 8 to 12 years
 Had little choices but to get married
 She belonged to her husband
 She could not divorce her husband but he could divorce her until
1857 when a law was instated that allowed divorce in situations of
physical mistreatment
 Women’s suffrage in Norway happened in stages




1833 Oberlin College becomes first coeducational university in the USA
1837 First Anti-Slavery Society (women)
meets in New York
1839 Married Women’s Property Act,
women can own property in name only.
(Mississippi)
1844 Lowell Female Labour Reform
Association (LFLRA) demand 10 hour work
days, one of first women’s labour unions.




1848 First Women’s Right convention held in
Seneca Falls, New York.
1849 First Woman to have a medical degree
in the USA (First female medical doctor)
1861-5 Women support war movement, but
disrupt women’s rights movement.
1872 Mothers without husbands can
maintain a homestead (Canada)




1870 The American Women’s Suffrage
Association (AWSA) publishes Women’s Journal
1896 Lawyers can be either male or female,
even though the first female lawyer was hired
in 1869
1912 Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive Party
adopts a woman's suffrage plank.
1917 Women won a petition to allow for
women to also cast a vote.
Important Figures
Feminism
●
●
●
●
Feminism is defined as “the
doctrine advocating social, political,
and all other rights of women equal
to those of men.”
In the 1800s, and even into
the1900s, women were not treated
equally to men.
Although one might think that only
women support feminism, men also
supported this, though to a lesser
extent.
Before the 1840s, even women
graduating was unheard of. The
first woman recorded graduating
from college was in 1840.
Humanism
Defined as “a body of philosophies and ethical perspectives that
emphasize the value of human beings, individually and collectively,
and generally place more importance on rational thought than on
strict faith or adherence to principle.”
The Humanism movement is attributed with moving scientists as well, as
many began to call themselves Humanists in the 19th century. It also
likely had a part in developing more atheist movements, as it had a
part in the questioning of faiths.
Ibsen's View
●
●
●
"I am not even quite sure what women's rights really are. To me it
has been a question of human rights"
Ibsen likely used Nora as an “everyman,” not just as a female
example.
Since women were oppressed at the time and not given equal rights,
they could be seen reasonably as a good example of the humanist
view.
Popularity of Feminism was fueled greatly by the growth
in literacy, which allowed the middle class to have more
opportunities for careers and thus for their lives. Feminism
was also backed up by the enlightenment, which itself was
driven by the growth of science which may have pushed,
and been pushed by, the Humanist movement.
However, feminism was not only fueled by the
Enlightenment. Many Christians believed in equality as
well. These feminists insisted that women’s rights were
God-given and should not be curtailed by human custom
or law.