 Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
Table of Contents Minor Theme The secondary theme of the play revolves around the importance of truth in any human relationship. This theme is mainly developed by the portrayal of disastrous relationships that are built on lies. Hakon Werle betrayed Gregers' mother, sending her to an early grave. Werle has also not been truthful with Gregers or Old Ekdal, destroying his relationships with his son and his business partner. Gina withholds the truth from Hialmar, which kills their marriage and their daughter. Unfortunately, Gregers, the idealist, thinks he can solve the problems in a relationship by interfering and telling the truth. Instead, his meddling as an outside agent causes tragedy. Ibsen seems to be stating that a relationship must be based on truthfulness that is earnestly given by both people in the relationship. Ironically, the seemingly mis-matched Werle and Ms. Sorby find great happiness with each other because they have been totally truthful with one another.
Mood The mood of the play is overwhelmingly bleak and tragic. Werle and his son are openly hostile to one another. Gregers blames his father for sending his mother to an early grave because of his lack of faithfulness to her. But Gregers is also a bumbling idealist whose intervention in the Ekdal household results in Hedvig's tragic suicide. The only humor in the play comes from the fact that Hialmar, Gregers, and Molvik are all presented as ridiculous and extreme characters. Table of Contents | |
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