This piece of writing recalls two best-known literary figures from Scandinavia-Hans Christian Andersen and Henrik Ibsen. Hans Christian Andersen is esteemed as one of the greatest authors of Denmark while Henrik Ibsen is viewed as one of the finest playwrights born in Norway. Both these litterateurs flourished during the 19th century. To state allegorically, Hans Christian Andersen was the ugly duckling of his own story-"so gawky and peculiar". Andersen's career was a weird one. He longed more than anything to be accepted by the ruling classes and found it was only by becoming a famous writer that he could break through social barriers. From the humblest background, he rose to win universal fame and to find himself courted by the rulers and aristocrats of several European countries. By the end of his life, though often sad, and even lonely, he had virtually become an institution of Danish literature.
Everywhere he went he sought out the leading writers and artists: Victor Hugo, Henrik Ibsen, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Charles Dickens, Jenny Lind, all find a vivid place in his letters, diaries and memoirs. In London, he was a literary idol with hostesses vying for his company.
However, not everyone liked him, and to his great distress, as any form of criticism could upset him for days, he was often maliciously caricatured as a snob and a fawner. These attacks were really provoked by his oddly childish behavior, his naïve efforts to please people around him.
Some absurd paper clips aimed at poking fun at Hans Christian Andersen. According to Professor Dr. Elias Bredsdorff, a scholar from Cambridge University, UK, the blame lies at the feet of the Victorian lady translators whose versions have unfortunately become sacrosanct. These women bowdlerized, mistranslated and sentimentalized most of the original works of Hans Christian Andersen. In fact, they committed every kind of sin against the original appeal of Andersen's stories while converting his works into English from The Danish language.
Professor Dr. Elias Bredsdorff's book on Hans Christian Andersen includes some sketches by Hans Christian Andersen and surprisingly, there is an illustration of some dancing dervishes which reminds of a philosophical trajectory marked by the mystic thoughts of Jalal Uddin Rumi, the most famous Persian scholar of all times. Some self-portraits reflect the gladness and melancholy, blitheness and despair that flowed simultaneously through Andersen's lifespan. The portrayal of a funeral procession is also found in the book which hints at Andersen's musings over death during the last few years of his life.
It would be a myopic assessment to comment that the fables and myths found in stories by Hans Christian Andersen are all for kids. The people he characterized in his books, the birds and animals he personified in his fables have the tested and proven power to mesmerize readers of all ages. Themes of his literary creations exceed all frontiers of time and territories. This is the principal reason behind his eminence as a widely perused writer across the world and his global acceptability which have transformed his books into classics. The Steadfast Tin Soldier, The Wild Swans, The Little Mermaid, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Princess and the Pea are some of his most cited stories. He wrote a number of travelogues too like Shadow Pictures of a Journey to the Harz, Swiss Saxony, A Visit to Portugal etc. Soren Kierkegaard, a prominent Danish philosopher wrote a review of 70 pages on his novel Only a Fiddler. 2nd April, Andersen's date of birth, is celebrated globally as International Children's Books Day to pay tribute to this illuminated wordsmith. Robert Lytton, a frontline poet and statesman of 19th century England named Andersen "half child, half God" for his plain-hearted but benevolent nature.
On the other hand, Henrik Ibsen is often cited as the father of modern theater. His plays are the most performed works just next to William Shakespeare. A Doll's House, Hedda Gabler, Ghosts, The Wild Duck, An Enemy of the People are some of the plays that made Henrik Ibsen one of the finest dramatists of the world. Anti-foundational thoughts and a strong leaning towards nonconformity are two glaring aspects to be found in most of his plays. Henrik Ibsen's attachment with existential philosophy is another point to be noted about him which is deeply felt while reading the text of his tragic play Brand.
Henrik Ibsen was born on 20th March 1828 in a small town called Skien in Norway. He moved to Italy in 1862 where he wrote his most celebrated tragedy Brand. He migrated to Germany in 1868 where he produced another masterpiece A Doll's House. His fame and iconic image as an eminent playwright spread across Europe and when he returned to Norway in 1890, he was greeted by the Norwegians like a literary hero. He passed away on 23 May 1906.
Henrik Ibsen's anti-foundational standpoint sharply appears in this play An Enemy of the People. Dr. Stockmann, the protagonist of the play identifies harmful germs in some of the reservoirs of his hometown in southern Norway where lots of people take bath in the reservoirs' water. Moreover, huge numbers of tourists visit that town to see those reservoirs and to take a dip into the water and it's an enormous source of earning for the town's administrative authority. As Dr. Stockmann talked to the town's mayor about the germs, the mayor asked him to keep silent over the issue because people might stop coming to the town if anything about the doctor's apprehension gets disclosed. However, Dr. Stockmann remained firm on this point and he kept on requesting the mayor to shut down the reservoirs for a while for purifying the water of those pools.
The town's municipal authority turned against the doctor as the doctor's remarks on the pools posed a threat to their lavish income from tourists. They tried to intimidate Dr. Stockmann but the doctor is a hard nut to crack. He pointed at other forms of corrupt malpractices being done by the town's administrators and campaigned through newspapers and speeches to make people aware of the injurious organisms of those pools. His house was one day attacked by a group of hooligans but it could not silence the doctor's resentment. Dr. Stockmann's fight against corruption represents one man's irreversible willpower to combat the evil entities of society all alone. His lonesome struggle to liberate his town from social and administrative ailments puts forward Henrik Ibsen's anti-establishment approach to social reforms.
In Ghosts, Henrik Ibsen touched upon the moral degeneration that polluted the characters of people across Europe including Norway during 19th century. This play shows the immoral activities done by its leading characters and illegitimate relationships that jeopardized the sanctity of human bonds. This play sparked off much controversy for its content which includes disagreeable carnal appeals among humans, corrupt social aspects and infidelity. In A Doll's House, Henrik Ibsen piercingly presented his stance against the male-dominated European society of 19th century. Nora, a Norwegian woman and the protagonist of the play leaves behind her husband for the unprecedented purpose of self-exploration. Nora's drive to rediscover herself flouting the regimentation of patriarchy which was a very unconventional and valiant deed during 19th century is another evidence of Henrik Ibsen's nonconformist image as a playwright of his time.
A widely repeated proverb says, "No conflict, no play." Henrik Ibsen portrayed different dimensions of social and interpersonal conflicts in his plays. Those conflicts unmasked the true visage of people with vested interest, exposed the hollowness of humbugs and vigorously exhibited the spirit of human beings to fight against evil forces. Henrik Ibsen's plays are larger than life. His works comprehensively influenced the literary creations by great playwrights and novelists like Arthur Miller, Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw and James Joyce. It needs to be noted that, Henrik Ibsen's plays were initially translated into English by William Archer and James Walter. There might have been some more translations during recent years. His works have been translated into other major languages too and his plays are taught in academic institutions worldwide.
The writer is a literary analyst of The Asian Age.
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