Mythic Patterns in Ibsen's Last Plays

224 Pages·1970·10.73 MB·English

by  Orley I. Holtan

Mythic Patterns in Ibsen's Last Play*
THE PUBLICATION OF THIS BOOK WAS ASSISTED BY THE ATKINSON FUND
MYTHIC PATTERNS
in IBSEN'S LAST PLAYS
Orley I. Holtan
THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA PRESS Minneapolis
©Copyright 1970 by the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America at the Lund Press, Minneapolis.
Published in Great Britain and India by the Oxford University Press,
London and Bombay, and in Canada by the Copp Clark Publishing Co.
Limited, Toronto. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 74-139960.
ISBN 0-8166-0582-3
FOR JUDITH
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
C WHEN one prepares a book of this kind one incurs a debt of
gratitude to a great many people, far too many to specify. The
writing of the book was made much easier because of the previous
work of many scholars and critics and would, of course, have been
impossible without the work of Henrik Ibsen. Specifically, my
greatest thanks go to Professor Alrik Gustafson of the University
of Minnesota, who guided the study through its initial phases as a
dissertation, and to Professors David W. Thompson and Arthur
Ballet, from whom I have learned a great deal. I would like also to
thank Professors Daniel Haakonsen and Else Host of the Univer-
sity of Oslo for their encouragement to attempt publication, and
the University of Minnesota Press for valuable editorial sugges-
tions and assistance. Two others deserve my thanks as well; my
father, for inspiring in me a love of Norwegian language and cul-
ture, and my wife, Judith, for her inspiration and encouragement.
o.i. H.
March, 1970
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION • AN APPROACH TO IBSEN 3
MYTH AND LITERATURE • A DEFINITION AND A
RELATIONSHIP 6
IBSEN'S EARLIER CAREER • FROM MYTH TO SOCIAL
REALISM 15
The Wild Duck AND Rosmersholm • THE RE-ENTRY OF
THE MYTHIC 35
The Lady from the Sea AND Hedda Gabler • MYTH AND
PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY 64
The Master Builder • PROMETHEUS AND THE DYING
KING 97
Little Eyolf • THE MYTH OF SACRIFICE AND
REDEMPTION 115
John Gabriel Borkman AND When We Dead Awaken • MYTHS
OF DEATH AND RESURRECTION 134
CONCLUSION • IBSEN IN PERSPECTIVE 177
NOTES 187 BIBLIOGRAPHY 2OI INDEX 2OJ