Symbolism, Realism, and a Nordic Playwright Grudge Match: Crash Course Theater #33

Summary

Crash Course Theater explores the intense rivalry between Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg, two pioneers of modern drama. Ibsen, known for plays like 'A Doll's House,' revolutionized realism by focusing on complex characters and societal issues, challenging traditional values. Strindberg, with works such as 'Miss Julie,' embraced naturalism and later symbolism, often reflecting his troubled psyche and controversial views. Despite their personal animosity, both contributed significantly to the evolution of drama, influencing later movements like expressionism and surrealism.

Takeaways

• 🎭 Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg were two prominent playwrights of the 19th century who had a bitter rivalry, with Ibsen even hanging a mocking portrait of Strindberg above his writing desk.
• 📚 Ibsen was a Norwegian playwright who started as a pharmacist's apprentice, while Strindberg was a Swedish playwright with a troubled personal life and a complex relationship with women.
• 🎨 Both Ibsen and Strindberg pioneered in creating realistic and naturalistic dramas, and later in their careers, they both turned towards symbolism, thereby inventing modern drama.
• 🏆 Ibsen's plays like 'A Doll’s House' and 'Ghosts' were groundbreaking and controversial, challenging societal norms and the concept of the bourgeois family.
• 👥 Strindberg's plays, such as 'Miss Julie' and 'The Father', also explored naturalism and delved into the psychological aspects of characters influenced by heredity and environment.
• 🔍 Ibsen focused on character development and made significant changes to traditional playwriting by removing artificial elements and emphasizing themes of heredity and environment.
• 💡 Strindberg's theories on naturalism were outlined in a preface to 'Miss Julie', where he aimed to write more truthfully about human nature and societal issues.
• 🌐 Ibsen's later works, like 'The Wild Duck' and 'When We Dead Awaken', incorporated mystical symbolism, influencing later writers and suggesting that realism might not fully capture life's experience.
• 👻 Strindberg's later plays, including 'To Damascus' and 'A Dream Play', moved towards a dream-like or nightmarish symbolism, foreshadowing expressionism and surrealism.
• 🤝 Despite their personal animosity, both Ibsen and Strindberg recognized each other's talent and contributions to the field of drama.
• 🌟 The impact of Ibsen and Strindberg's work is still felt today, as they established or anticipated most of the major forms of 19th-century drama.

Q & A

Who were the two playwrights featured in the 'Crash Course Theater' episode?

The two playwrights featured in the episode were Henrik Ibsen from Norway and August Strindberg from Sweden.

What was the nature of the rivalry between Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg?

The rivalry between Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg was quite bitter and personal, with Ibsen even buying a portrait of Strindberg and renaming it 'The Outbreak of Madness' to hang above his writing desk.

What significant change did Henrik Ibsen make in his writing after 'Emperor and Galilean'?

After 'Emperor and Galilean', Henrik Ibsen decided that prose should be used for reality and verse for visions, leading him to start writing plays about bourgeois people in trouble.

What are some of the plays that Ibsen wrote focusing on the bourgeois society?

Ibsen wrote plays such as 'The Pillars of Society', 'A Doll’s House', 'Ghosts', and 'An Enemy of the People' focusing on the bourgeois society.

How did Ibsen's plays differ from the well-made plays of his time?

Ibsen's plays differed from the well-made plays of his time by removing artificial elements like soliloquies, streamlining exposition, and shifting themes towards heredity and environment. He also prioritized complex, multi-layered characters over plot.

What was the controversy surrounding Ibsen's play 'A Doll’s House'?

The controversy surrounding 'A Doll’s House' was due to its shocking ending where the main character, Nora, leaves her husband and children to discover her identity, which was a radical act for the 19th century.

What is the significance of the ending of 'A Doll’s House' in the context of 19th-century theater?

The ending of 'A Doll’s House' was significant because it challenged the conservative values of the time, suggesting that the bourgeois family was a sham and that these values were hindering people from realizing their full humanity and potential.

What was August Strindberg's view on Henrik Ibsen's portrayal of independent women?

August Strindberg disliked Henrik Ibsen's focus on independent women, calling him 'an ignorant women’s writer', reflecting Strindberg's own issues with women.

What are some of the naturalistic plays written by August Strindberg?

Some of the naturalistic plays written by August Strindberg include 'The Father', 'Miss Julie', and 'The Creditors'.

How did Strindberg's personal life and beliefs influence his work?

Strindberg's personal life and beliefs greatly influenced his work, as seen in his exploration of psychological aspects of characters related to heredity and environment, as well as his issues with women reflected in plays like 'Miss Julie'.

What shift did Strindberg make in his later career similar to Ibsen?

Like Ibsen, Strindberg made a late turn toward symbolism in his later career, writing plays that had the feel of dreams or nightmares, such as 'To Damascus', 'A Dream Play', and 'The Ghost Sonata'.

Outlines

00:00

🎭 Introduction to Ibsen and Strindberg's Rivalry

The video script introduces the viewer to the intense rivalry between Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen and Swedish playwright August Strindberg, highlighting Ibsen's act of purchasing a portrait of Strindberg and renaming it to mock him. The script outlines the duo's significant contributions to modern drama through their development of realistic and naturalistic plays, and their eventual shift towards symbolism. It also briefly mentions Ibsen's early life, his unconventional plays 'Brand' and 'Peer Gynt,' and his transition to writing about the middle class in distress.

05:05

🚀 Ibsen's Realism and Impact on Drama

This section delves into Ibsen's revolutionary approach to drama, emphasizing his focus on character over plot and his exploration of themes such as heredity and environment. Ibsen's plays, including 'The Pillars of Society,' 'A Doll’s House,' 'Ghosts,' and 'An Enemy of the People,' are noted for their shocking impact on 19th-century European theater. The script contrasts Ibsen's work with that of Scribe, highlighting the radical nature of Ibsen's realistic portrayal of the bourgeoisie and the problems within their societal norms. The infamous ending of 'A Doll’s House' and the controversy it sparked is also discussed, along with an overview of the play's plot.

10:05

🌐 Strindberg's Life, Views, and Naturalistic Plays

The final paragraph shifts focus to August Strindberg, providing a brief biography that includes his early life, marriages, and bouts with paranoia. It discusses Strindberg's animosity towards Ibsen, his belief in the influence of heredity and environment on character, and his issues with women, which are reflected in his plays. Strindberg's naturalistic plays, 'The Father,' 'Miss Julie,' and 'The Creditors,' are summarized, with particular attention given to 'Miss Julie' and its exploration of power dynamics and suicide. The script also notes Strindberg's late turn towards symbolism and his influence on later dramatic movements such as expressionism and surrealism.

Keywords

💡Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen was a Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as 'the father of modern drama' and is one of the most significant figures in 19th-century theatre. In the script, Ibsen's work is highlighted for its transformation of realism in theatre, with plays like 'A Doll’s House' challenging societal norms and portraying the complexities of bourgeois life.

💡August Strindberg

August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, essayist, and author, known for his contributions to the naturalist and symbolist movements in theatre. The script describes Strindberg's rivalry with Ibsen and his own evolution as a playwright, from naturalism to symbolism, with plays like 'Miss Julie' reflecting his exploration of character and psychology.

💡Realism

Realism in literature and theatre refers to the depiction of life and society in a manner that accurately reflects everyday experiences without resorting to idealization or exaggeration. The script discusses how both Ibsen and Strindberg created realistic and naturalistic dramas that were a departure from the romantic and idealized portrayals of their time.

💡Naturalism

Naturalism is a movement in literature and theatre that emphasizes the deterministic role of heredity and environment on human behavior. In the script, Strindberg's work is noted for its naturalistic elements, where characters are deeply influenced by their circumstances, leading to tragic outcomes.

💡Symbolism

Symbolism in literature and theatre is the use of symbols to express ideas and qualities that are not explicitly described. The script mentions Ibsen and Strindberg's late-career turns toward symbolism, where they used abstract and dreamlike elements to convey deeper meanings and explore the human condition.

💡Bourgeois

The term 'bourgeois' refers to the middle class, particularly those who are conventional and materialistic. In the script, Ibsen's plays are highlighted for revealing the bourgeois family as a sham and challenging the comfortable ideas about marriage and family that were prevalent in the 19th-century European society.

💡The Pillars of Society

'The Pillars of Society' is one of Ibsen's plays mentioned in the script. It critiques the hypocrisy of the middle class and reflects Ibsen's shift towards writing about the lives of ordinary people dealing with societal issues, which was a significant departure from the romantic and heroic themes of his earlier work.

💡A Doll’s House

'A Doll’s House' is a groundbreaking play by Ibsen that the script describes as shocking and controversial for its time. The play's ending, where the protagonist Nora leaves her husband and children to discover her identity, was seen as a radical act that challenged the status quo of gender roles and family values.

💡The Father

'The Father' is one of Strindberg's naturalistic plays mentioned in the script. It explores themes of power, identity, and the dynamics within relationships, particularly focusing on the psychological aspects of its characters and their interactions.

💡Expressionism

Expressionism is an artistic and literary movement characterized by the use of distorted imagery to express emotional experience. The script notes that Strindberg's late plays, with their dreamlike and surreal elements, anticipate the expressionist and surrealist styles that would become prominent in the 20th century.

💡Rivalry

The rivalry between Ibsen and Strindberg is a central theme of the script. It highlights the personal animosity and professional competition between the two playwrights, which was fueled by their differing views on theatre, gender, and each other's work. This rivalry is used to frame their contributions to the evolution of modern drama.

Highlights

Introduction to the rivalry between Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg, two pioneers of modern drama.

Ibsen's personal animosity towards Strindberg, symbolized by a mocking portrait titled 'The Outbreak of Madness'.

Henrik Ibsen's early life, including his unconventional start as a playwright and personal scandals.

Ibsen's influential verse plays 'Brand' and 'Peer Gynt', which challenged traditional drama.

Ibsen's shift to prose and his focus on creating realistic dramas about troubled bourgeois characters.

The radical and shocking impact of Ibsen's plays on 19th-century European theater.

Ibsen's emphasis on character development over plot, and his methodical approach to writing.

Criticism Ibsen faced for challenging societal norms and the controversy surrounding his plays.

Analysis of 'A Doll’s House', Ibsen's groundbreaking play that questioned the institution of marriage.

The 'Doorslam heard 'round the world', symbolizing Nora's rejection of societal expectations in 'A Doll’s House'.

Ibsen's transition to symbolism in his later plays, influencing later writers and theater.

August Strindberg's complex personal life and his intense dislike for Ibsen.

Strindberg's naturalistic plays and his theories on theater as a public school for the masses.

Strindberg's exploration of psychological aspects in his characters, particularly in 'Miss Julie'.

Strindberg's late turn toward symbolism, creating plays with a dream-like or nightmarish quality.

The mutual, albeit begrudging, respect between Ibsen and Strindberg despite their personal rivalry.

Crash Course Theater's upcoming episode on Anton Chekhov, another influential modernist playwright.

Transcripts

Hey there, I’m Mike Rugnetta, this is Crash Course Theater,

and today we’ll be visiting one of the great  grudge matches of nineteenth-century drama,

the bitter Scandinavian rivalry between Norway’s  Henrik Ibsen and Sweden’s August Strindberg.

How ugly was this rivalry?

Ibsen bought a portrait of Strindberg, retitled it “The Outbreak of Madness,”

and hung it above his writing desk.

“He is my mortal enemy,” Ibsen told a friend, “and shall hang there and watch while I write.

I think he looks so delightfully mad.”

[Mike turns to Yorick] What did I say about acting like a gentleman?

We’ll also be looking at how  both Ibsen and Strindberg 

created shattering realistic  and naturalistic dramas,

and then made late-career turns toward symbolism.

The two of them basically invented modern drama.

Lights up!

[INTRO MUSIC]

Meet Henrik Ibsen. And his mutton chops.

Ibsen was born in Norway  in the port town of Skien.

He left school at the age of 15 and  apprenticed himself to a pharmacist.

At 18, he got the pharmacist's  28-year-old maid pregnant, 

and she had a son that he never met.

He spent the next few years writing verse  dramas that no one paid much attention to  

and helping to head a theater.

Then he married and left Norway and wrote  a pair of hugely influential verse plays:

“Brand,” which is about a priest so stern  and unshakable that he lets everyone die,

and “Peer Gynt,” a parable about  identity derived from folk tales.

It has trolls, runaway brides, the sphinx,  and a fearsome monster called the Boyg.

And even though Ibsen thought it was  basically unstageable, directors like to try.

Now maybe you’re thinking, "Uhhh, this  is the guy who transforms realism?

The everyone-dies-in-an-avalanche,  party-down-with-the-troll-king dude?"

Yep!

Because after writing “Emperor and Galilean,”  

which Ibsen and only Ibsen considers  his best play, something wild happened.

Ibsen decided that prose is for reality,  

“verse for visions,” and he started writing  plays about bourgeois people in trouble -

which incidentally is also the rejected  first title for House Hunters International.

First, Ibsen wrote “The Pillars of Society,” and then “A Doll’s House,” “Ghosts,”

and “An Enemy of the People.”

“People demand reality,” Ibsen wrote.

“No more, no less.”

And Ibsen gave it to them.

It’s hard to describe how important and shocking  these plays were to 19th-century theater.

They seemed to shake the very  foundations of civil society in Europe.

One of the things that made them so  radical is that they don’t look radical.

If you squint, they look like  Scribe’s well-made plays,

with end-of-act cliffhangers,  plenty of plot twists, 

and a recognizable narrative arc.

But Ibsen made important changes.

He got rid of the really artificial stuff—like  the soliloquies—and streamlined the exposition,

shifting the themes towards  heredity and environment.

Scribe sacrificed characterization  to the demands of plot,

but Ibsen held character—complicated,  multi-layered character—paramount.

“Before I write down one word, I have to have  the character in my mind through and through.

I must penetrate into the last  wrinkle of his soul,” he wrote.

But here’s the real scandal.

Scribe’s plays end with discoveries that reaffirm  comfortable ideas about marriage and children.

Bourgeois people OUT of trouble.

Ibsen’s plays end by revealing  the bourgeois family as a sham.

These plays don’t complacently  transmit received ideas.

They argue that the ideas  themselves are the problem.

Unlike some realistic and naturalistic writers, Ibsen never enjoyed degradation for its own sake.

He wrote, a little prudishly, “Zola descends  into the sewer to bathe in it, I to cleanse it.”

But plenty of critics felt his  plays weren’t clean enough.

There’s a famous review of  “Ghosts” that compared the play to

“an open drain; a loathsome sore unbandaged; a dirty act done publicly;

a lazar-house with all its  doors and windows open.”

GO ON! Tell us what you really think!

For a closer look, let’s explore one of  Ibsen’s only slightly-less-controversial  

plays, his 1879 work, “A Doll’s House.”

The ending was such a shock that Ibsen wrote  an alternate ending for German audiences.

Help us out, Thought Bubble:

Nora Helmer is a nice middle-class wife preparing a nice middle-class Christmas

for Torvald, her bank manager husband, and their three children.

Nora receives a visit from  her school friend, Kristine, 

who hopes that Torvald will  give her a job at his bank.

As they chat, Nora reveals that years ago, 

she borrowed money for a trip  to improve Torvald’s health,

forging her dad’s signature on the bank loan.

Torvald says that yes, he can give Kristine a job, because he’s about to fire creepy Krogstad.

But after Torvald leaves, Krogstad sneaks in and  tells Nora he now knows about her loan secret, 

and if he’s fired, he’ll expose her as a forger.

Nora’s friend, Dr. Rank, also pays a visit.

Torvald refuses to rehire Krogstad,  

so Krogstad shoves a letter detailing  Nora’s crimes into Torvald’s mailbox.

Dr. Rank returns and tells Nora that he’s dying of a venereal disease contracted by his father

—heredity and environment!—and that he loves her.

He says this using an elaborate  metaphor involving asparagus,  

and Nora’s all, "Haha, asparagus? Got to go!"

Nora confesses to Kristine,  and Kristine’s all, "Krogstad!? 

I used to date that dude,  let me see what I can do."

And then Torvald is all, "Hey,  why don’t you practice your sexy  

dance that you’re going to do  at tomorrow’s costume party,

because it’s important that we establish how I see  you as a sexual object rather than a human being."

But Nora dances badly on purpose so that Torvald will have to spend the evening coaching her

and won’t have time to check the mail. Then she thinks about killing herself.

Thanks, Thought Bubble.

In the final act, Kristine tells  Krogstad that she’s always loved him,

and Krogstad says, "Okay, I’m so  happy, I’ll take back the letter."

But Kristine is like, "No, it’s  time everyone knows the truth."

Nora and Torvald return from  the costume party with Dr. Rank,

who tells them he has to go off and die now.

And Torvald finally checks the mail.

He reads the letter, and instead of praising  Nora for her ingenuity and sacrifice,

he turns on her and tells her that she has  ruined them all and that she’s not a fit mother.

Then a letter arrives from Krogstad, returning the forged document.

Torvald’s all, "Haha, just  kidding! We’re saved. Yay!"

But Nora’s all, "But you’ve just shown me that our marriage was always a hollow fiction.

I’m leaving you and the children and going out into the world to discover who I really am.

Here’s your ring back. ’Kay, thanks. Byyeeeeee."

Doorslam heard ‘round the world.

Ibsen borrows from bourgeois drama and melodrama, but also inverts their conclusions.

Earlier dramas imply a return  to conservative values.

But Ibsen’s work suggests that  these values are all wrong, 

and that they keep people from realizing  their full humanity and potential.

In the late 19th-century, it’s hard to imagine  an act more brave and subversive than Nora’s.

Ibsen continued to write prose dramas,  but in his late plays, like “The Wild  

Duck” and especially “When We Dead Awaken,”

he returned to a kind of mystical symbolism.

Ducks aren’t just ducks, mountains aren’t just mountains.

These tragic, beautiful plays became a huge influence on later writers, who argued that

maybe realism actually isn’t the best way to capture the experience of life.

After his tryst with the pharmacist's maid,

Ibsen’s life, for the record, was impeccably  upright, moral, and bourgeois itself.

That was just one of the many  things Strindberg hated about him.

The Newman to Ibsen’s Seinfeld, Strindberg  was a playwright, historian, and alchemist—

and apparently, a really fun guy when he wasn’t  

having bouts of extreme paranoia or …  raging against the Jews. [Mike sighs]

Strindberg was born in 1849 to a mother who had been a servant.

After a brief stint as a pharmacist’s assistant —coincidence!?—

he studied modern languages and wrote a bunch  of history plays while working as a librarian.

He married Siri van Essen,  

an actress from an aristocratic  family, and together, they left Sweden.

In the 1880s, Strindberg  began to correspond with Zola 

and discovered naturalism before  eventually turning to symbolism.

He had two more marriages and periodic breakdowns,

including instances of paranoia where he thought  the world was full of Strindberg impersonators.

Why did he hate Ibsen so much?

Well, he thought that Ibsen had modeled a  couple of ineffectual characters after him.

“Do you know that my seed has fallen  into Ibsen’s brainpan—and fertilized!

Now he carries my seed and is  my uterus,” Strindberg wrote.

So first - for the record: Ugh.

Strindberg also hated Ibsen’s focus on independent women, calling him “an ignorant women’s writer.”

Not gonna lie, I’m pretty much rooting exclusively  for Ibsen all the way in this rivalry but

… we're gonna see what Strindberg got up  to when he wasn’t paranoid or whinging.

Strindberg’s first artistic successes  were a trio of naturalistic plays:

“The Father,” “Miss Julie,” and “The Creditors.”

In his most famous play,  “Miss Julie,” written in 1888, 

an aristocratic woman has sex  with her father’s manservant.

Realizing she is now in his  power, she commits suicide.

Strindberg published a preface to the  play, explaining his naturalistic theories.

In his preface, he wrote that  

“the theater has always been a public  school for the young, the half-educated,

and women, who still possess that  primitive capacity for deceiving  

themselves or letting themselves be deceived,”

and that he was going to work to  write something more truthful.

Yeah, if it isn’t entirely clear by now,  

Strindberg had huge, borderline  psychotic issues with women.

Like Ibsen and the French naturalists,  

Strindberg believed that character  was way more important than plot.

And he spent a lot of time  exploring the psychological 

aspects of his characters,

especially as they related to our  good friends heredity and environment.

Here’s his explanation for what  leads to Miss Julie’s tragic fate:

“Her mother's primary instincts, her father raising her incorrectly,

her own nature, and the influence of her fiancé on her weak and degenerate brain."

Also, more particularly: "the festive atmosphere  

of midsummer night; her father's absence;

her monthly indisposition; her preoccupation with animals; 

the provocative effect of the dancing; the midsummer twilight; 

the powerfully aphrodisiac influence of flowers, and, finally, the chance that drives  

the couple together into a room alone —plus the boldness of the aroused man.”

So, for the record again: UGH.

Yes, the guy doesn’t take  psychology lightly OR … actually.

After some periods of occultism and  insanity (don’t ask), Strindberg,  

like Ibsen, made a late turn toward symbolism.

He began to write plays that have  the feel of dreams or nightmares,  

including “To Damascus,” “A Dream  Play,” and “The Ghost Sonata.”

Like his earlier realist works, these  are about people seeking meaning  

in a seemingly meaningless universe  but in these symbolist works,  

Strindberg abandoned psychological realism  for something stranger and more fragmented.

“The Author,” he wrote,  

“has sought to imitate the disconnected  but apparently logical form of a dream…

Upon an insignificant background of real life events, the imagination spins and weaves new

patterns: a blend of memories, experiences, pure inventions, absurdities, and improvisations.”

Strindberg’s late plays anticipate expressionism 

and surrealism, styles we’ll  explore in upcoming episodes.

These two guys who hated each other  pretty much established or anticipated  

most of the major forms of 19th-century drama.

And it’s worth noting that, even though  they loathed each other personally,  

they did kind of sneakily  admire each other’s work.

Ibsen couldn’t deny that  Strindberg had real talent.

And Strindberg once wrote that since Ibsen  had written a play as good as “Ghosts,”  

it was impossible to hate on him completely.

Next time, we’re off to Russia to hang with that  bespectacled modernist colossus, Anton Chekhov.

But until then… curtain.

Crash Course Theater is produced in  association with PBS Digital Studios.

Head over to their channel to check out  some of their shows like The Art Assignment.

The Art Assignment is a biweekly series  hosted by curator Sarah Urist Green.

Sarah highlights works, artists, and  movements throughout art history,

and travels the world exploring  local galleries and installations.

Crash Course Theater is filmed  in Indianapolis, Indiana,

and is produced with the help of  all of these very nice people.

Our animation team is Thought Cafe.

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