Henrik Ibsen: Poet, Playwright and Psychologist by Mark H. Stone & Cheryl A. Wagner

Author:Mark H. Stone & Cheryl A. Wagner
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9781491718704
Publisher: iUniverse
Published: 2014-01-07T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

POET, PLAYWRIGHT, AND PSYCHOLOGIST

When Oedipus approached Thebes, the Sphinx blocked his way demanding an answer to a riddle. This story has many forms dating back at least to Apollodorus. Oedipus could pass with his life intact only if he answered the riddle correctly:

“What has one voice but walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three legs in the evening?”

“A human,” Oedipus correctly answered.

Peer Gynt (Ibsen 1868) likewise approached the Sphinx. The scene unfolds as a parody of the classic story. It also illustrates Ibsen’s grasp of stage humor, something not typically associated with him or with his dramas. The scene unfolds as Peer speaks:

Where did I meet this thing before, a nightmare from the past.

I know we have met. A person? Who? . . .

It is the Boyg [remembering the Troll King.]

Peer speaks again, Hi Boyg, who are you?

A voice replies, Ach, Sphinx, wer bist du?

Peer answers, What? An echo returns in German? Odd.

The voice again, Wer bist du?

The accent is very good’ and Peer writes in his notebook, Echo speaks German, Dialect—Berlin.

Dr. Begriffenfeldt, director of the Cairo mental institution, makes his appearance from behind the Sphinx. Peer proceeds to another adventure.

Interestingly, it is shortly after the publication of Peer Gynt in the fall of 1868 that Ibsen himself directly confronts the Sphinx. He was one of two Norwegian delegates to the ceremony commemorating the opening of the Suez Canal in October of 1869. He recorded these events, but although some are lost others remain. Ibsen encountered the Sphinx even as he had first created the scene with Peer. Perhaps Ibsen had always been confronting the Sphinx and pondering the riddle the Sphinx exclaims—Who are you!

Emerson (1965) in his poem The Sphinx written in 1841 alludes to this question also, and describes the situation:

Thou art the unanswered question;

Couldst see thy proper eye,

Always it asketh, asketh;

And each answer is a lie.

In a successive line, Emerson writes,

“So take thy quest through nature, Ask on…”

In one form or another, “Who are you!” is addressed over and over in play after play. It is foundational to every play by Ibsen, explicit or implicit to every character. While each play seemingly varies there is for every character this one familiar theme. Whether the character is leading the action or is less so in importance, each one addresses the question in some form or else ignores it. Peer ran from every confrontation with this question. Avoidance brought a new adventure, but it took him further afield. Only when he returned home did he find unconditional acceptance in Slovieg whose undying love for Peer prevailed over time.

However, Peer is not home free. Just before reaching Solveig, he encounters the Button-Molder, an ingenious literary device of Ibsen. The Button- Molder melts down the remnants of lives so as to make them finally serve some useful purpose. Peer meets the Button-Molder at a crossroads just shy of Solveig’s home, but he escapes this time with these words ringing in his ears—“Next time…”

When Ibsen returned to Norway in 1891 his long journey home was finished.

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