Ibsen and Individualism

In the article “Ibsen and Mimesis” that is posted as a link on Shelby’s blog, Otto Reinert (the author) makes an interesting point regarding Halvard Solness’s feeling of guilt in The Master Builder. Reinert writes on page 223 that “The Master Builder is a play about the inner anguish of guilt and fear, the obstinate ambition, and the erotic fantasies of an aging egotist, whose achievements have become instruments of torture.” Solness repeatedly makes reference to the fact that he feels guilty for all of his successes and that his previous “luck” is now a source of anguish. This is because his accomplished career as a master builder was made possible only through harm to others. For example, Solness’s first opportunity to build houses arose from the fire that destroyed his wife’s family’s home and that has since caused his wife incessant grief. Additionally, the ascension in his building career directly corresponded to the demise of Knut Brovik’s business, as Solness effectively displaced and ruined Brovik’s career while pushing to get to the top. These examples illustrate one of the realities that Ibsen wished to illuminate in this play – that the fates of all humans are related and that the rise of an individual toward his goals necessitates the fall of another from his aspirations.

Reinert goes on to comment that “This is the essence of an Ibsen tragedy: by some immutable law self-realization through self-transcendence entails transgression against others. That theme is also the most radical challenge to individualism in all of modern drama,” (page 223). Besides it’s obvious relation to The Master Builder, this concept is also present in An Enemy of the People, where Dr. Stockmann’s great discovery does not unite the townspeople but instead threatens their economic wellbeing and forces Peter Stockmann to push back against his brother. This is Ibsen illustrating the dualistic nature of the human quest for self-affirmation: for every individual who wishes to accomplish a goal there is another individual who would be negatively affected if such a goal were realized. As Reinert points out, Ibsen is effectively undermining the validity of individualism through this argument. If pursuing our own aspirations leads to the injury of another, are we justified in chasing after our goals? Where should the line be drawn between justifiably following our own desires and inexcusably holding others back? These are the types of questions that tormented Halvard Solness in The Master Builder, and Ibsen seems to give no resolution to this qualm in the play. With Solness’s tragic fall from the top of his own house, Ibsen is suggesting that this contradiction between self-affirmation and assistance to others is an essential component of human nature, and that it is impossible to escape from its grasp. Thus, Ibsen again is able to deftly illuminate a difficulty that is inherent in the human experience and to encourage examining the subject of individualism with a critical eye.