The Quintessence of Ibsenism


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(5 stars; 2 reviews)

George Bernard Shaw, a playwright with a few bones to pick of his own, undertakes a surgical analysis of the social philosophies underlying the work of Henrik Ibsen. Focusing his analysis on Ibsen's challenge to the conventional "ideals" which both Ibsen and Shaw consider the greatest evils in human society, Shaw summarizes and exposits sixteen of Ibsen's plays, seizing the opportunity to elucidate some of the principles dearest to himself. Some of the most striking passages reveal Shaw's radical feminist perspectives, some of which resonate as if a half-century ahead of their time. A fascinating revelation of the minds of two great and revolutionary writers (it's not always obvious whose voice is exactly whose), this always-timely book exposes hypocrisies still poisoning Society in the twenty-first century. - Summary by Expatriate

Genre(s): Literary Criticism, Philosophy

Language: English

Keyword(s): ibsen (12), Scandinavian literature (5), modern drama (4)

(5 hr 58 min)

Chapters

Author's Prefaces (1913 & 1889) 18:40 Read by Expatriate
I. The Two Pioneers 30:08 Read by Expatriate
II. Ideals and Idealists 18:19 Read by Expatriate
III. The Womanly Woman 24:47 Read by Expatriate
IV. The Autobiographical Anti-Idealist Extravaganzas, Pt. 1 (Brand, Peer Gynt) 18:25 Read by Expatriate
IV. The Autobiographical Anti-Idealist Extravaganzas, Pt. 2 (Emperor & Galilean) 25:40 Read by Expatriate
V. The Objective Anti-Idealist Plays, Pt. 1 (League of Youth, Pillars of Societ… 16:13 Read by Expatriate
V. The Objective Anti-Idealist Plays, Pt. 2 (Ghosts, Enemy of the People) 23:37 Read by Expatriate
V. The Objective Anti-Idealist Plays, Pt. 3 (Wild Duck, Rosmersholm) 18:56 Read by Expatriate
V. The Objective Anti-Idealist Plays, Pt. 4 (Lady from the Sea, Hedda Gabler) 19:23 Read by Expatriate
VI. Down Among the Dead Men: The Last Four Plays, Pt. 1 (Master Builder) 14:01 Read by Expatriate
VI. Down Among the Dead Men: The Last Four Plays, Pt. 2 (Little Eyolf) 18:44 Read by Expatriate
VI. Down Among the Dead Men: The Last Four Plays, Pt. 3 (John Gabriel Borkman) 12:06 Read by Expatriate
VI. Down Among the Dead Men: The Last Four Plays, Pt. 4 (When We Dead Awaken) 18:34 Read by Expatriate
VII. The Lesson of the Plays 21:35 Read by Expatriate
VIII. What is the New Element in the Norwegian School? 22:07 Read by Expatriate
IX. The Technical Novelty in Ibsen's Plays, Pt. 1 12:55 Read by Expatriate
IX. The Technical Novelty in Ibsen's Plays, Pt. 2 16:39 Read by Expatriate
X. Needed: An Ibsen Theatre 7:53 Read by Expatriate