1.\u00a0The highlighting of the function of the hidden laws that apply to the social co-existence of the individuals, as well as the commitments concerning individual freedom posed by the bourgeois society, are some of the commonest topics in Ibsen\u2019s works that, every time, are approached from a different angle.<\/p>\n
Some indicative cases are those of the \u201cvital falsehood\u201d in \u201cThe Wild Duck\u201d, the social hypocrisy as well as the character\u2019s (Doctor Stockmann) equivalent vigorous reaction in\u00a0 \u201cAn Enemy of the People\u201d, the subject of women\u2019s emancipation in \u201cA Doll\u2019s House\u201d and \u201cHedda Gabler\u201d (with Nora and Hedda respectively) and so on. Apart from that, of equal importance is the playwright\u2019s interest as well as his engagement with issues concerning the human (especially women\u2019s) psychology and the interpretation of its scenic presence and action, based on motives of such nature that sometimes are latent and at other times are obviously recognized. (\u201cRosmersholm\u201d, \u201cWhen We Dead Awaken\u201d).<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Lady from the Sea\u201d is perhaps a synopsis of all the conditions and factors that define and orientate the action as well as the behavior of the central female character and regulate the course of the dramatic conditions and relations in the play. However, under no circumstances can one presume that it is a representative case of social confrontation and conflict of the acting subject with the existing structures of the system, without of course fully refuting the social background that causes the action and shapes the relationships between the characters. Nor is the issue of women\u2019s emancipation presented and commentated to such an extend and with such intensity, that the central heroine (Ellida Wangel) can stand next to Nora or Hedda and be compared with them. What finally remains to be seen (which might be closer to the creator\u2019s intentions, as well as the expectations of the modern audience), is the psychographic interpretation of the personality, as well as the quest for motives that are not based on social, objectively counted and interpreted causes, but mostly on disguised and at times undisguised powers that come from the Unconscious into the Conscious and therefore define the heroine\u2019s choices. The repressed Past that lives boxed into the Present and shapes the Future, clashes with the objective reality. The Utopian\/Imaginary element is juxtaposed with the Realistic\/Real one and whereas -for a moment- it seems that it can predominate over the idealistic overcompensation of the Present, eventually, its unfeasibly utopian content is proved. And this is exactly what drives Ellida to take her final decisions and freely chooses the Present instead of the Past.<\/p>\n
2. It is unquestionable that Ibsen belongs to the category of the Modern Drama founders. However, the question posed here is the following: up to what extend are the messages carried through his plays still timely in today\u2019s society of postmoderninty? Without us supporting their characterization as \u201cout of date\u201d, they highly demand a different, more contemporary interpretation, which will offer them the necessary timeliness and equivalence with the circumstances existing in today\u2019s world that will enable them to be transported into the present day. This may be achieved, not only by exploiting the immaculate architectural construction as well as the almost mathematic development of the plot and its dramatic action, but also by presenting the psychographic predisposition and outlining of the characters. In contrast with Strindberg, who proceeds to a full revelation of his characters\u2019 inner world by bringing hidden psychic passions and ulterior subconscious conditions to the surface, Ibsen\u2019s heroes and especially his heroines insinuate rather than reveal the oppressed feelings that torment them, along with the repressed circumstances that cause their specific choices. This is the reason why the director\u2019s intervention for an up-to-date interpretation of Ibsen\u2019s works should be considered almost obligatory- of course, under the condition that the dramatic structures and the internal speech that support the action, have been suitably preserved.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Lady from the Sea\u2019, is an excellent example of a characteristic case of a play, in which the symbolic content of the title (\u201cLady from the Sea\u201d) may function in a revealing sense for the full understanding of the play, in combination of course with the folktale element, as well as its psychoanalytic interpretation (not only the image and the parameters of the \u201cmermaid\u201d as a mythical creature, but also the allegory of the Subconscious). The sea with its rich symbolism and everything that derives from it (serenity, calmness, vastness, charm, challenge), surpasses the specification of the heroine\u2019s name and displaces any sociological specification, in favor of an interpretation of\u00a0 psychological nature, as the one that the meaning of the word \u201cSea\u201d may contain.<\/p>\n
Likewise, one might claim the same about the \u201cStranger\u201d, who is also not presented as an individual in his social reality, but mostly as an anonymous power that wields some magnetic attraction on Ellida deriving from the ideas of the Past and the Sea. Therefore, being unable to \u201cleave in the sea\u201d, or \u201cleave with the sea\u201d, Ellida prefers to stay at home with her husband gazing at the sea, thus remaining its \u201cloveless lover\u201d (\u201cA Virgin Pure\u201d) forever.<\/p>\n
3. Ibsen is a playwright that \u201cloves\u201d his characters and expresses understanding for their passions and weaknesses, by being limited to a detailed reference of their behavior as well as an indirect outlining of the reasons that cause it. There is always the Past that functions as \u201cthe power that instigates the action\u201d. This specific action intervenes dynamically in the Present, by \u201cramming\u201d the complacency of its heroes and therefore causing the conflicts that arise after the revelations brought to the Present- i.e the scenic time and space, in which the plot develops (such characteristic examples are those of \u201cGhosts\u201d and \u201cJohn Gabriel Borkman\u201d).<\/p>\n
In \u201cThe Lady from the Sea\u201d the sequence of all these parameters is indeed determinant, in the sense that the action cannot only be interpreted as boxing of the Past into the Present. A Past that has not been irreversibly lost but emerges from the mnemonic oblivion, thus substituting the Present. For a while, the Repressed from the Conscious (-and here the necessity for a psychoanalytic dimension of the scenic presentation of the play is obvious-), displaces the objectively real over an illusive, utopian reality, which is simply proved to be a kind of the heroine\u2019s misguided consciousness frolic.<\/p>\n
It is exactly this frolic spirit between the Present and the Past, the Conscious and the Unconscious, the Imaginary\/Utopian ant the Realistic\/Real, that constitutes the charm that Ibsen\u2019s works appeal to the 21st<\/sup> century spectator.<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 1.\u00a0The highlighting of the function of the hidden laws that apply to the social co-existence of the individuals, as well as the commitments concerning individual freedom posed by the bourgeois society, are some of the commonest topics in Ibsen\u2019s works that, every time, are approached from a different angle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1665,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[128,122],"tags":[614,612,616],"class_list":["post-1664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-theatre","category-theatre-history","tag-global-theatre","tag-ipsen","tag-the-lady-from-the-sea"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theodoregrammatas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/b_1440_or_img_4002.jpg?fit=980%2C639&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2390,"url":"https:\/\/theodoregrammatas.com\/?p=2390&lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":1664,"position":0},"title":"Museum Experience through Inquiry Drama","author":"Theodore Grammatas","date":"February 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"1.\u00a0\u00a0 Theoretical framework: Drama in the Museum Drama as a creative pedagogic process and the museum as a meaningful informal learning environment refer \u2013 in their own ways - to humanity and culture, aiming at spiritual, emotional, embodied experiences and experiential learning. Drama in formal education as a holistic approach\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Theatre and Education"","block_context":{"text":"Theatre and Education","link":"https:\/\/theodoregrammatas.com\/?cat=118&lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theodoregrammatas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/11ff609b56c83af6a56407e408ac89dd.jpg?fit=900%2C530&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theodoregrammatas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/11ff609b56c83af6a56407e408ac89dd.jpg?fit=900%2C530&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theodoregrammatas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/11ff609b56c83af6a56407e408ac89dd.jpg?fit=900%2C530&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theodoregrammatas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/11ff609b56c83af6a56407e408ac89dd.jpg?fit=900%2C530&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2344,"url":"https:\/\/theodoregrammatas.com\/?p=2344&lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":1664,"position":1},"title":"European Program Horizon 2020","author":"Theodore Grammatas","date":"December 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Socioeconomic and Cultural Transformations in the Context of The Fourth Industrial Revolution \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Proposal Title : Values Across Space and Time \u00a0Proposal acronym: VAST Consortium NO.Participant organization nameCountry1 (CO)NCSR-D \u2013 NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH \u201cDemokritos\u201dEL2UMIL \u2013UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI MILANOIT3UoA \u2013 National and Kapodistrian University of AthensEL4NOVA \u2013 UNIVERSIDADE\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ancient Drama"","block_context":{"text":"Ancient Drama","link":"https:\/\/theodoregrammatas.com\/?cat=124&lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theodoregrammatas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/740c891ae83c527e3f88e032abbd1bba-1.jpg?fit=708%2C549&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theodoregrammatas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/740c891ae83c527e3f88e032abbd1bba-1.jpg?fit=708%2C549&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theodoregrammatas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/740c891ae83c527e3f88e032abbd1bba-1.jpg?fit=708%2C549&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theodoregrammatas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/740c891ae83c527e3f88e032abbd1bba-1.jpg?fit=708%2C549&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2788,"url":"https:\/\/theodoregrammatas.com\/?p=2788&lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":1664,"position":2},"title":"Mnemonic recording of the theatre","author":"Theodore Grammatas","date":"July 3, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"If by performance we mean the \u201cpoetics of remembrance\u201d, since it is there that the playwright\u2019s and the actor\u2019s memory as well as the spectators memory and social memory\u00a0 creatively meet, then the theatre can be called the \u201cart of memory\u201d ( Samuel 1994), reflection and repetitive appearance of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Theatre for Young Audiences"","block_context":{"text":"Theatre for Young Audiences","link":"https:\/\/theodoregrammatas.com\/?cat=1&lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theodoregrammatas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/cc6619a6085de8ad68cdd421470287f3.jpg?fit=1200%2C575&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theodoregrammatas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/cc6619a6085de8ad68cdd421470287f3.jpg?fit=1200%2C575&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theodoregrammatas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/cc6619a6085de8ad68cdd421470287f3.jpg?fit=1200%2C575&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theodoregrammatas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/cc6619a6085de8ad68cdd421470287f3.jpg?fit=1200%2C575&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theodoregrammatas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/cc6619a6085de8ad68cdd421470287f3.jpg?fit=1200%2C575&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2506,"url":"https:\/\/theodoregrammatas.com\/?p=2506&lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":1664,"position":3},"title":"International Theatre Conference “Values of Ancient Greek Theatre Across Space & Time: Cultural Heritage and Memory”","author":"Theodore Grammatas","date":"October 11, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) will be hosting the International Conference named\u00a0Values of Ancient Greek Theatre Across Space & Time: Cultural Heritage and Memory. The conference will take place on 6 & 7 November 2021 and will focus on the lasting and, at the same time, ever\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/theodoregrammatas.com\/?cat=116&lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theodoregrammatas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/921f920b3e6dabfa229e7f83311770a8-1.png?fit=703%2C410&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theodoregrammatas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/921f920b3e6dabfa229e7f83311770a8-1.png?fit=703%2C410&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theodoregrammatas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/921f920b3e6dabfa229e7f83311770a8-1.png?fit=703%2C410&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theodoregrammatas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/921f920b3e6dabfa229e7f83311770a8-1.png?fit=703%2C410&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2336,"url":"https:\/\/theodoregrammatas.com\/?p=2336&lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":1664,"position":4},"title":"Absent Presence of Illusion and Present Absence of the Picture from the Pictorial Symbols of the Theatre to the Virtual Symbolisation of the Real","author":"Theodore Grammatas","date":"October 21, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"he problem of the existence or not of a reality, which outside the dimension of the intelligent subject, that is, the relationship of the subjectivity of conscience and the objectivity of the world, comprises an issue lending itself to a multiplicity of approaches and dimensions such as ontology, gnosology, psychology\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Theory of Theatre"","block_context":{"text":"Theory of Theatre","link":"https:\/\/theodoregrammatas.com\/?cat=120&lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theodoregrammatas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/virtual.jpg?fit=1170%2C585&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theodoregrammatas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/virtual.jpg?fit=1170%2C585&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theodoregrammatas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/virtual.jpg?fit=1170%2C585&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theodoregrammatas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/virtual.jpg?fit=1170%2C585&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theodoregrammatas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/virtual.jpg?fit=1170%2C585&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2459,"url":"https:\/\/theodoregrammatas.com\/?p=2459&lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":1664,"position":5},"title":"Cultural Consciousness and Theatrical Creation in Postwar Modern Greek Theatre: The “Hellenism Syndrom” phase","author":"Theodore Grammatas","date":"May 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The search for cultural identity is an ever-lasting demand for the Greek dramatology. 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