““To live is to war with trolls in heart and soul” (94). –He keeps his trolls hidden from the world and only brings them out to write, to order/ scientifically observe and dissect the people around him.” This comment in Bizz’s blog gave me incentive to observe the characters depicted by Ibsen in “An Enemy of the People” in a different light as well-as trolls. When we examined the Arthur Miller adaption of “An Enemy of the People” I noticed a few adjustments that Miller put into action that I do not believe Ibsen would have approved of if her were alive to assess it. However, each director imposes his own creative motives on the story presented giving it his/her own truth. Nonetheless, I disagree with Miller’s portrayal of Dr. Thomas Stockmann as a “Christ-like” heroic character. I found Miller’s illustration to be a man’s battle to speak out the truth but instead is crucified by society and resurrected through his resolution to stand alone against what is right until change arises. By placing this character on a pedestal of sorts, I imagine is contrary to what Ibsen was intending to represent with Dr. Stockmann and instead wished to construct of a more “troll-esque” individual with various qualities including flaws that Miller failed to highlight.
The most significant representation of an incident in which Stockmann is altered is during his address to the towns people in Act IV. I could not help but notice that his word choice throughout his speech in Miller’s version varied from what Ibsen composed in his original play write. In Miller’s adaptation Stockmann is shown dictating his speech on the ground among the people and his linguistic expressions throughout the oration being incredibly toned down. In Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People”, Stockmann gives no mercy when conveying his thoughts of the compact majority of society/ the average tax payer is the bacteria infecting the town. He proclaims
“what does the destruction of a community matter, if it lives on lies? It ought to be razed to the ground. All who live by lies ought to be exterminated like vermin. You will end by infecting the whole county”.
Through the original version like Michael expressed in his blog Dr. Stockmann displays his impetuous nature his zero sense of tact through his action in Act IV and throughout the play. He is not a heroic character at all but like Maria illustrated “is pompous and arrogant to a point of near insanity”. These traits that are observed I suppose can be relatable to a troll. Maybe that is what Ibsen is inclining to his audience; that the world is not infected with bacteria but with trolls. These mythical creatures when examined scientifically can be determined to possess very ‘humanistic’ traits and I believe that Ibsen discovered that the make-up of a human being can be constructed both scientifically and magically. It is too complicated for me but I believe that trolls may be misunderstood. I am not too sure though, I will contemplate this a bit more and edit this……
No comments:
Post a Comment