THTRFLM 1T03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Henrik Ibsen, Social Realism, Heredity
25 Jul 2016
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Realist plays considered to scandelous for public performance. Middle class women expected to stay at home (respectable) Women admired for their beauty and their natural" kindness. Women feared foe their moral weakness, especially for their susceptibility to seduction. Belief that natural, not supernatural, factors (environment, heredity, etc. ) determine human behaviour. Stems from charles darwin"s the origin of the species (1859) Evolution is dependent on environment and hereditary factors. Ibsen puts society"s social and moral ideals into conflict with the reality of how people actually live their lives. What ideological assumptions are challenged in the play: class superiority. The upper classes justified their power on the basis of moral superiority. Class and morality were considered to be innate (born with) Read the text carefully and identify the characters" cultural: essentialism assumptions about class. Notion that gender is innate and directly related to biological sex. A man will be strong and love sports/ a woman will love pink and be weak.
