Truthful Themes In Henrik Ibsen's Duty Towards Oneself

Duty towards one’s own self is one of the most powerful themes which can be traced in many plays written by Henrik Ibsen, a nineteenth-century dramatist, who is often acclaimed as the father of Modern Drama. This paper argues that to perform one’s duty towards oneself which, according to Ibsen, is to be truthful, one needs to synthesise one’s thoughts, words and deeds. At the initial level, Ibsenian characters lack the unity of thought, word and action which is necessary for responsible living. However, conflict forces them to make an effort towards harmonisation. The fear of rejection, desire for comfort and lack of communication allow the characters to the live a passive life filled with illusion. In order to maintain the lie, the characters’ …show more content…
Usually, the disunity amongst these three is due to the fear of rejection, desire for comfort and lack of communication. It causes the individual to live a pretentious life, in which he fakes emotions, ideas, beliefs and actions. The individual continues this baseless life until he equips himself with a strong will to express what lies hidden, repressed and buried. The strong will which is required to emerge truthful is procured when an individual comes face to face with the ugliness, pettiness and worthlessness of living a dishonest life. This happens when the expected results of hypocritical behaviour are not in alignment with one’s expectations. At this stage, the individual resolves to give up the mask which he wears to satisfy others, and the responsibility of respecting himself in the first place dawns on him, by acknowledging his true …show more content…
Ironically, social conventions originated to free individuals by providing them with a healthier environment, but most of the time we find that conventions make people feel restricted. The deep-rooted reason behind this dichotomy is that every social institution needs to be understood in its essence or spirit, rather than being followed in letter. This is not to underestimate the nuances attached to each institution; instead, it is to make sure that societal traditions are practised in their very spirit.
Duty can be of many different kinds. At the macro level, an individual is supposed to perform his duty towards his nation; and, at the micro level, the individual is expected to perform his duty towards his family. However, to perform the respective duties diligently at all social levels, the most primary requirement is to perform one’s duty towards one’s own