LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 12 : 1 January 2012
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.

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Revenge in John Gabriel Borkman

Md. Sarwar Jahan, M.Phil.

Henrik Ibsen

Point of Departure

The point of departure for my claim is Peter Madsen’s “Nature’s Revenge: The dialectics of mastering in late Ibsen” where he writes, “the attempt to create the economic preconditions for the development of the natural resources involved repression of natural human attitudes. In order to raise the treasure of nature he (Borkman) had to strike down on his own inner nature by sacrificing his love to Ella Rentheim. But nature takes its revenge: emptiness invades his life” (Madsen 77). I believe that ‘revenge’ in this play is related with the Renaissance aspirations of the major characters, which is not related to modernity alone. A universal search for glory is also involved here that distorts human relationships. I would show how nature’s revenge is enacted through the motive of revenge working in each character as the basic human relationships break down.

Theoretical Basis and Basic Question

Madesn’s essay would be my theoretical basis; along with it, I would discuss Karen Horney, an American psychiatrist, whose theory on search for glory helps me to take the topic. I will start with the statement where she writes, “the last element in the search of glory, more destructive than the others, is the drive toward a vindictive triumph. It may be closely linked up with the drive for actual achievement and success, but if so, its chief aim is to put others to shame or defeat them through one’s very success; or to attain the power, by rising to prominence, to inflict suffering upon them—mostly of a humiliating kind.”(Horney 1950, 26-27) Though her theory is basically meant for the children I would apply it on the adult characters of this play, and ask “Why did they incline towards this vindictive triumph?”

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Md. Sarwar Jahan
Assistant Professor
Department of English
Khulna University
Khulna- 9208
Bangladesh
sarwar1186@yahoo.com
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