Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906)

Ibsen was born in Skien, Norway in 1828. He is recognized as the father of Modern Drama. He is recognized as the father of Modern Drama. He published his first play at the age of 22 and the name of the play was ‘Tragedy Catalina. It was published under the Pseudonym of Brynjolf Byrne. This play could not stage. His second play came as ‘The Burial Mound’ in 1850. This play was performed on stage. This play brought him little attention but Ibsen was committed to being a great writer. In the following years, he wrote a number of plays and most of them went unsuccessful.
In 1879, he published ‘A Doll’s House, and this play brought him international fame and acclaim. He published Ghosts in 1881. It was another successful play.
In the later part of their career, he came out of controversial plays and wrote dramas dealing with psychological conflicts. He rejected the modern conventions of society. He then came up with ‘Hedda and Gabbler ‘in 1890 respectively.
Henrik Ibsen is commonly referred to as the ‘Father of Realism’ and is regarded as Europe’s finest ever playwright, second only to Shakespeare, owing to the fact that his plays are produced more frequently across the globe after Shakespeare’s.
Ibsen was Norwegian, and while his plays were set in Norway, he wrote them in Danish and spent most of his work career in Italy and Germany. Since he broke down all previous traditions and explored issues, and developed classifications that revealed hard truths, his influence on the theatre is still visible today and shapes the distinction between plays being art as opposed to entertainment.
A Doll’s House (1879)
 The play “A Doll’s House is categorized into three acts. The play was written by Henrik Ibsen. It takes place in Helmer’s House. Torvald Helmer is a lawyer who secures a promotion in his job, a bank. He is married to Nora and has three children. Nora is ecstatic about this promotion since she feels it would alleviate her previous financial troubles.
As, a result, a doll’s house story will lead us through her process of figuring out solutions to her troubles. Nora prefers serving on occasion, but her husband does not approve of her working.
Mrs. Linde has a secret that no one knows about.
The writing style of Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, demonstrates his simple and compelling approach as a writer who has entirely redefined the conventions of theatre. He deviates from the established melodramatic pattern. Instead, he has shown real people in realistic situations to which we, the reader, can identify. He has also attempted to fictionalize the anticipated position of women in society, such as how they address numerous societal problems, face various hardships, and tolerate self- and family- disgrace. It was also far too forward-thinking for a time when women had very little influence in society. The speeches are direct and based on real-life circumstances. Henry has also effectively used a variety of literary techniques to discuss societal standards and the institutions that govern them.
Hedda Gabbler (1890)
‘Hedda Gabbler’, which was performed in 1891, is among Henrik Ibsen’s most famous plays. It depicts the narrative of Hedda, a self-centered and manipulative woman who has grown tired of her new marriage to the kind and trustworthy George. Hedda was born into a life of wealth and fortune, and she marries a person she doesn’t love in order to escape becoming a widow. After returning from her honeymoon, Hedda realizes that her marriage would not provide her with the money and pleasure she expected and that George would never be the passionate and successful person she desires.
The Hedda Gabbler dilemma reveals the universal difficulty of women in a male-dominated society. Hedda, like Mrs. Alving, must make her own life decisions. Women, on the other hand, are prevented from participating in the world beyond their houses in all but the most progressive nations and are not relay for independence outside of their families. Thus, despite, a strong desire for independence, Hedda Gabbler lacks the personal means to achieve self-sufficiency.
Hedda becomes a modern Medea, expressing her dissatisfaction with destructive efforts at self-realization since she has the ambition but not the ability to make a productive effort at self-determination. Hedda Gabbler, who has no effect on the world; can only characterize herself unfavorably: she smashes what she cannot tolerate. All of her wicked attempts to fulfill her “craving for life” include undermining her spouse with her coldness, rejecting her pregnancy, ruining Thea’s life-work, burning Lomborg’s artistic abilities, and eventually committing suicide. In Hedda Gabler, Ibsen expresses his most dramatic protest against society’s false standards by exposing the pathology of an unhappy woman.