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 Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen, born in 1828 in Skien, Norway, was the eldest of five children after the early death of his older brother. His father, Knud Ibsen, one in a long line of sea captains, was born in 1797 in Skein and married Marichen Cornelia Martie Altenburg, the daughter of a German merchant, in 1825. Though Ibsen later reported that Skein was a pleasant place to grow up in, his own childhood was not particularly happy. Described as an unsociable child, his sense of isolation increased at the age of sixteen when his father's business had to be sold to meet the demands of his creditors. On top of this, a rumor began circulating that Henrik was the illegitimate son of another man. Although the rumor was never proven to be true, it manifested itself in the theme of illegitimate offspring that runs throughout Ibsen's later works. After Knud's business was repossessed, all that remained of the family's former estate was a dilapidated farmhouse on the outskirts of Skein. It was there that Ibsen began to attend the small, middle-class school where he cultivated a talent for painting, if nothing else. In 1843, at the age of fifteen, Ibsen was confirmed and taken from the school. Though he had declared his interest in becoming a painter, Ibsen was apprenticed to an apothecary shortly before his sixteenth birthday. Leaving his family, Ibsen traveled to Grimstad, a small, isolated town, to begin his apprenticeship. He maintained a strong desire to gain admission to the University to study medicine, and also fathered an illegitimate son with the servant of the apothecary. Despite his unhappy lot, Ibsen began to write in earnest in Grimstad. Inspired by the revolution of 1848, Ibsen wrote satire and elegant poetry. At the age of twenty-one, Ibsen left Grimstad for the capital. While in Christiania (now Oslo), Ibsen passed his exams but opted not to pursue his education, instead turning to playwriting and journalism. It was in Christiania that he penned his first play, Cataline. Ibsen also spent time analyzing and criticizing modern Norwegian literature. Still poor, Ibsen gladly accepted a contract to write for and help manage the newly constituted National Theater in Bergen in 1851. Untrained and largely uneducated, Ibsen learned much from his time at the theater, producing such works as St. John's Night. The majority of his writings from this period were based on folksongs, folklore, and history. In 1858, Ibsen moved back to Christiania to become the creative director of the city's Norwegian Theater. That same year, Ibsen married Suzannah Thoresen, with whom he fathered a child named Sigurd Ibsen. Though his plays suggest otherwise, Ibsen revered the state of marriage, believing that it was possible for two people to travel through life as perfect, happy equals. During this period, Ibsen also developed a daily routine from which he would not deviate until his first stroke in 1901: he would rise, consume a small breakfast, take a long walk, write for five hours, eat dinner, and finish the night off with entertainment or early retirement to bed. Despite this routine, Ibsen found his life in Bergen difficult. Luckily, in 1864, his friends generously offered him money that they had collected, allowing him to move to Italy. He was to spend the next twenty-seven years living in Italy and Germany. During this time abroad, he authored a number of successful works, including Brand (1866) and Peer Gynt (1867). Ibsen moved to Dresden in 1868, and then to Munich in 1875. It was in Munich, in 1879, that Ibsen wrote his groundbreaking play, A Doll's House. He pursued his interest in realistic drama for the next decade, earning international acclaim; many of his works were published in translation and performed throughout Europe. Ibsen eventually turned to a new style of writing, abandoning his interest in realism for a series of so-called symbolic dramas. He completed his last work in exile, Hedda Gabler, in 1890. After being away from Norway for twenty-seven years, Ibsen and Suzannah returned in 1891. Shortly afterwards, he finished writing The Master Builder, after which he took a short break. In late 1893, in need of moist air to help cure her recurring gout, Suzannah left for southern Italy. While his wife was away, Ibsen found a companion in a young female pianist, Hildur Andersen, with whom he spent a great deal of time. He continued to correspond with her even after Suzannah's return. Ibsen's relationship with Andersen was characteristic of his larger interest in the younger generation; he was famous for seeking out their ideas and encouraging their writing. After suffering a series of strokes, Ibsen died in 1906 at the age of seventy-eight. He was unable to write for the last few years of his life. |
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