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Ibsen and psychoanalysis: "the compulsion to repeat" in 'Brand' and the 'Epic Brand.' (Henrik Ibsen)

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From: Scandinavian Studies
Date: 19940622
Author:Gerland, Oliver

Psychoanalytic principles help in understanding Henrik Ibsen's 'Epic Brand' and dramatic poem 'Brand'. The protagonist was a victim of early trauma which he feels compelled to repeat. These scenes of repetition can be read on both the mythic and naturalistic levels. The mythic level has Brand reenacting Jesus's suffering and crucifixion. The naturalistic level has Brand repeating violence he witnesses as a child, namely, his mother striking his father's corpse.

IBSEN IS WIDELY CONSIDERED A PRECURSOR of psychoanalysis. Gunnar Brandell argues that Ibsen's was "one of the minds that gave ...

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