Month: September 2018

Who was Ibsen, and what did he think?

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“A woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day, which is an exclusively masculine society, with laws framed by men, and with a judicial system that judges feminine conduct from a masculine point of view” – Henrik Ibsen, 1878

list of ibsen quotes

  • What do the quotes tell us about Ibsen’s worldview?
    • It tells us that Ibsen wanted an equal society and wanted everyone all over the world to be respected the same. He wants to stand up for what he believes is right and feels the best way of expressing these emotions through writing in which he could spread awareness of his beliefs. He also believes money and a stable income is important.
  • What does he value? What does he criticise?
    • he values women and men being equal and criticises social injustice and those who are in debt.
  • Was Ibsen a product of, or ahead of, his times?
    • I believe he was ahead of his time. This is because of the quite early on advocating for setting injustices straight for the minority and was always on the minorities side. Being on the minorities side was rare at this time because everyone wanted to be respected by being part of the crowd, whereas now individuality is celebrated unlike back then.

 

19th Century Norway

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  1. What do you believe to be the three most important facts about 19th century Norway?                                                  I think it is important that we know that at this time, Norway was beginning to industrialize. This means that factories and things like such were beginning to be built at this time- which could possibly mean getting rid of the aristocrats’ land and buying them to build said factories. It is also important that we know that many people were very over-aware of money and where their money was going to and what they would spend it on, this can show us how many people in this time may be very uptight about funds and this could create a more strict and stressful environment for the characters in the story. Finally, it is essential that we understand that expectations of being upper-middle class were also forming. This fact adds on to the stressful environment because the upper-middle class of 19th century Norway had to constantly maintain a good reputation so they would not be looked down on or less respected as wealthy people. An extra important fact that we should know is that at this time, women do not have much of a say in what goes on. They are expected to be a good housewife and do all the work in the house and are expected to do everything for their husbands. This gives us the perspective of the women in the play and their struggles with gender inequality.
  2. Why do you think the concept of respectability became more important as the middle class expanded?                      I think the concept became more important because as the middle class expanded. That meant there were more people and with more people of the same status, they could easily bond together and all have an alliance with each other to get equal benefits. With more people, there is more power. Hence, if you happened to disrespect one person in the middle class, the entirety of the middle class could come for you.

Background of “A Doll’s House” | Theater 271. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://pages.stolaf.edu/th271-spring2014/background-of-a-dolls-house/

Iceland (Alternatively titled, a city girl in the country)

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Over the summer, I had the pleasure of going to Reykjavik, Iceland with my family. I landed in Reykjavik on a cold, gloomy morning. Very different from the heat wave that was happening in Scotland, where I had flown in from. My first impression of the country was that it was very cold, even from inside the plane I could feel the cold surrounding the vehicle. It was summer and it was 12 degrees Celsius. We got off the plane and began heading to the small Airbnb we were staying at for the 5 days we were there. In the cab, I was surprised by the lack of tall buildings surrounding us, it was all just field for miles before we finally got the Reykjavik which was mostly filled with small stores and restaurant with the occasional small building. It was a huge contrast to what I was used to in Singapore, with its huge skyscrapers, practically touching the clouds in the sky.

Once my parents and I got settled into our Airbnb, we quickly left to look around Reykjavik and grab a bite to eat after our plane ride. Now, I’ll be honest, I did my fair share of complaining about the lack of wifi in the area. I was so used to being able to walk into a random mall and be able to get wifi that being in Iceland where people actually cared less about wifi and social media (shocker!) was a total culture shock. Eventually, my parents and I decided on a pizza restaurant (so much for being cultured and eating the food of Iceland). Without wi-fi, I was able to find things to talk about with my parents and  I actually found myself laughing a lot more than I would be from pointless texts from my friends (don’t get me wrong I love them)

My trip to Iceland was very eye-opening and showed me that there was much more to life than my phone and social media. I am very grateful for this experience and hope I have more opportunities to travel to places like these in the future.

 

Henrik Ibsen – Are his words true?

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“A woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day, which is an exclusively masculine society, with laws framed by men and with a judicial system that judges feminine conduct from a masculine point of view”

To what extent are Ibsen’s words still true today? Provide real-life examples in your response.

I believe that compared to 1878, the world has definitely changed a lot for the better in terms of feminism. (or humanism, as it was called in Ibsen’s time) With the feminist movement reaching new heights in recent years, women are finally starting to accept themselves and men are also starting to respect that us women have our own rights and do not have to follow and a cater to a man’s agenda.

Examples of feminism pushing our society into a fairer system can be seen in the Philippines, where the movement of feminist rock has been shaking up the nation for the past year and spreading the word of feminism through rock music. This is a different way of spreading awareness as it is more loud and clear in terms of the message the artists are trying to send. Lack of feminism has long been a problem in the Philippines as it has been in more western countries. However, it seems that it is starting to look up with social media and pop culture starting to make marketing campaigns based around feminism and body acceptance.