Date of Award
1974
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
English
Abstract
Having read Henrik Ibsen's major plays, I became interested in his treatment of truth. Brand, Doctor Stockman, and Gregers Werle all represented varied degrees of the truth, each embodying Ibsen's own ideas. It is specifically Gregers Werle' s treatment of the truth that resulted in the conclusions found in this paper.
As Ibsen explored his personal convictions about the truth, a new type of rebel hero began to emerge, a destructive savior. Through this messiah, a Christ-like figure, Ibsen allows the truth to be exploited, which brings about complete destruction to communities,families, and friends.
Biographical material has been deleted. By focusing only on those necessary ideas that help to clarify a destructive messiah, I did not feel justified in presenting Ibsen's plays as autobiographical analyses. This is not intended. I only hope that the concepts presented here have been presented clearly and fairly.
Recommended Citation
Soyars, Susan Taylor, "The destructive Messiah : a study of Henrik Ibsen's search for truth as portrayed by rebel heroes in Brand, An enemy of the people, and The wild duck" (1974). Master's Theses. 1011.
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/masters-theses/1011