Psychological Realist Plays Of Ibsen

Throughout the last century, Ibsen as an image has been closely connected with such concepts as social reform, feminist movement, etc., which was comprehensible when the political discourse dominated all over China. The overwhelming fame of Ibsen should be said to have been chance-given, due to China's particular epoch and political situations. During the early 80s,in order for us to see "another Ibsen", professor Xu Xiaozhong put Peer Gynt on stage, when we began to see the romantic side of Ibsen. There are still some other aspects of Ibsen that have remained untouched. As we all know that after The Wild Duck, Ibsen began to turn more and more inward and mysterious, and has been regarded as symbolistic. As to the issues such as the cause of Ibsen's change, and the relationship between this change and symbolism, etc., no in-depth studies or analysis have so far been attmpted.As "Father of the modern theater", Ibsen has been a treasure house, waiting for explorations and discoveries , in the process of which a new Ibsen is expected to emerge. This is the aim and goal of this dissertation. The author of this dissertation believes that Ibsen's chang in his later career has been caused by the changes in his times, his society, and the concepts of the culture, psychology, morality and the aesthetics of the period. Based on the close study on the times and society in which Ibsen lived, focusing on the biographical studies on Ibsen, particularly the events and incidents in his life that were related to his psychological changes, with a close-up on his personal life and an in -depth analysis of the complicated interior changes of Ibsen, the author hopes to present a new image of Ibsen that is both accurate and multi-dimensional.Aided by some of the illuminating points in Freudianism, backed up by the achievements in the biographical studies in Ibsen, and based on the careful reading in Ibsen's later plays, the author attempts to sort out and theorize the historical circumstances and the psychological complications in Ibsen's late career, so as to provide some theoretical as well as historical platform on which we are better equipped to put on stage as well as to interpret Ibsen's "psycho-realism" plays that have long puzzled both readers and audiences.Apart from the Foreword and the Conclusion, this dissertation is divided into three major parts. The first part : Ibsen in His Time: Upheavals and Trauma, deals with thehistorical and political causes of European's deep engagement in memories and psychological explorations, and attempts to offer a hypothetical explanation for the cultural milieu in which the psychoanalysis originated and evolved, and its interactive relationship with drama, claiming that this inter-initiative and inter-supportive relationship is an inevitable historical outcome and a cultural affinity; the second part: A Portrait of an Artist: a Long Journey of the Interior Movement, gives an overall picture of how a poor but ambitious medical-shop apprentice, through endless ordeals, strives, and breakthroughs, has finally become a master-builder in dramatic art, particularly focusing on Ibsen's inner transformation and his spiritual sublimation along the journey; the third part: the Psyche-realistic Drama: Analysis and Case Studies, is the crucial part of this dissertation, referenced with Freud's psychoanalytical theory, a tentative definition of why Ibsen's later plays have been included under this category is attempted, thus providing the analytical methodology for Ibsen's Psycho-realistic plays. Upon the meticulous reading in his major later plays, several features are outlined of Ibsen's psycho-realism plays: A. all dramaturgical efforts have been orientated toward characters' inner lives; B. Later plays' complicatedness and mysteriousness, meaning their multiplicity in interpretation; C: the revealing- ness and delivering-ness of these plays; D: the personal colors in the plays, the implication of their individualistic passions and autobiographical backdrops.A conclusion has been naturally and convincingl...