Ibsen and his discontents Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ibsen and his discontents - Essay Example bsen, would yet appreciate that marriage, with all its flaws, is still better than its alternative (celibacy) and that human existence (more so in the confines of marriage) can never be perfect. Ibsen, on the other hand, simply asserts that marriage is the root cause of all evil and sadness in the world (Dalrymple, 2005). A gifted yet controversial writer, many people (mostly women) regard Ibsen as the writer who was not afraid to write about the ‘facts’ that others feared to write about. Ibsen looks at marriage and proposes new ways of approaching it that, according to him, will liberate mankind from the relentless strife and turmoil present in marriages. Ibsen first reckons that most people marry for money and that there is no true love in marriages hence. He says that women go for the security and pride in marrying rich made men while men opt for women who are cheap to manage financially. Secondly, Ibsen underlines that societal pressures put a lot of pressure, and thus melancholy, in couples who have to put up appearances in the public which are contrary to their genuine feelings and selves. He adds that notions of respectability and the fear of shame (such as of a struggling/ broken marriage) enslaves married couples and renders their lives meaningless, miserable, degraded and viole nt (Dalrymple, 2005). Ibsen also insinuates that marriages pair people who would not choose each other if circumstances of life had been better/ different. In the wake of these marital and life ‘issues,’ Ibsen offers a solution - philosophical autonomy (Dalrymple, 2005). This is basically the call for each person to live according to their own standards/ principles, put self first (ahead of the partner and children) and pursue their own desires. Theodore disagrees with this remedy and records that he has seen countless such minded parents who abandon their children and so subject them to lives of despair, damage, disease, moral degradation and death. According to Theodore,