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lemonlime_78's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
the_wicked_witch_of_the_south's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
It's an easy read with a mixture of drama romance thriller that will keep you on your cozy reading corner from start to finish
blankaroz's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
jana_kiss's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
ebokhyllami's review against another edition
4.0
If you love something - set it free. If it comes back to you, it's yours. If it doesn't, it never was...
eososray's review against another edition
3.0
I came to the end of this play and thought it seemed to be based on the premise of If you love someone, set them free. If they come back they're yours; if they don't they never were.
While I didn’t really care for the long ago lover part of the story, I did think that the family dynamics were a little interesting. A stepmother who hasn’t managed to fit into the family in any way, a father who doesn’t see, or want to see, the problems and daughters who still mourn their mother are all brought together in the end. Not an unusual storyline in this day and age but still pretty well done.
While I didn’t really care for the long ago lover part of the story, I did think that the family dynamics were a little interesting. A stepmother who hasn’t managed to fit into the family in any way, a father who doesn’t see, or want to see, the problems and daughters who still mourn their mother are all brought together in the end. Not an unusual storyline in this day and age but still pretty well done.
mx_malaprop's review against another edition
1.0
Believe it or not, I was loving The Lady from the Sea until Act 5. Now I wish I could un-read it. More fool me for expecting a repeat of A Doll's House. If you've had it up to here with stories justifying middle-aged men who think they're entitled to girls and women half their age, don't waste your time on this one, even if it was a formative literary work for one of your favorite writers (a writer who, by the way, better be glad that ).
And if anyone wants to make the argument that Ibsen is winking to the audience the whole time about how unjust it was that women of the time were given fake choices vis-a-vis marriage because of living in a society that was inimical to their independence, you may be right, but I'm not going to spend a lot of time considering that idea because I don't even want to think about this play anymore, and if so he should have been way less subtle.
Thematic issues aside, is it really dramatically necessary for Arnholm to say Bolette's name every three words of his dialogue?
Spoiler
when, in his own life, he was in a position somewhat similar to that of the Stranger's, things turned out differently for him - I'm talking about D.H. LawrenceAnd if anyone wants to make the argument that Ibsen is winking to the audience the whole time about how unjust it was that women of the time were given fake choices vis-a-vis marriage because of living in a society that was inimical to their independence, you may be right, but I'm not going to spend a lot of time considering that idea because I don't even want to think about this play anymore, and if so he should have been way less subtle.
Thematic issues aside, is it really dramatically necessary for Arnholm to say Bolette's name every three words of his dialogue?
joyce_appreciator's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
- An enjoyable slow-paced drama with set in a gentle, expansive world and with some interesting ideas - but definitely one of Ibsen's weaker plays due to its lukewarm narrative thrusts.
- If you're accustomed to the climactic drawing-rooms that provide the setting Ibsen's usual fare, or even the dizzying saga-style narrative of the prose dramas, the Lady from the Sea will seem slightly unusual. We see Wangel's daughters drift serenely between suitors, there is painting and music, and much more interest in time spent in the natural world than in many of Ibsen's other plays. It is a welcome contrast in some ways, allowing Ibsen to take an interest in a broader group of protagonists and move away from the tightly-disciplined style of his other realist dramas towards a less predictable formula for the problem of human relationships towards the turn of the century.
- That being said, the characters vary in power as a result - the morbid sculptor Lyngstrand, the impetuous Hilda and Wangel and his wife are all somewhat individuated and useful vehicles for the exploration of family life and love, but none of them operate with true moral (or amoral) force.
- Morever, the central narrative dilemma is bold but executed without much conviction (Joyce does it much better in Exiles but with none of Ibsen's accomplished world-building), and the sudden evaporation of Ellida's feeling, alongside the heavy-handed romantic motif of the sea, will disappoint those who love Ibsen for his uncompromising dramatic inclinations. Maybe I'm saying I don't like happy endings - but this one was just somewhat insipid (even if some sadness does lurk in the background)
- If you're accustomed to the climactic drawing-rooms that provide the setting Ibsen's usual fare, or even the dizzying saga-style narrative of the prose dramas, the Lady from the Sea will seem slightly unusual. We see Wangel's daughters drift serenely between suitors, there is painting and music, and much more interest in time spent in the natural world than in many of Ibsen's other plays. It is a welcome contrast in some ways, allowing Ibsen to take an interest in a broader group of protagonists and move away from the tightly-disciplined style of his other realist dramas towards a less predictable formula for the problem of human relationships towards the turn of the century.
- That being said, the characters vary in power as a result - the morbid sculptor Lyngstrand, the impetuous Hilda and Wangel and his wife are all somewhat individuated and useful vehicles for the exploration of family life and love, but none of them operate with true moral (or amoral) force.
- Morever, the central narrative dilemma is bold but executed without much conviction (Joyce does it much better in Exiles but with none of Ibsen's accomplished world-building), and the sudden evaporation of Ellida's feeling, alongside the heavy-handed romantic motif of the sea, will disappoint those who love Ibsen for his uncompromising dramatic inclinations. Maybe I'm saying I don't like happy endings - but this one was just somewhat insipid (even if some sadness does lurk in the background)
eb00kie's review against another edition
4.0
As my first Ibsen play, this is utterly atypical, but hardly lacking. It starts slow, but the ending is spectacular; the characters are complex and engaging and strongly contemplative. The Lady from the Sea is strongly symbolic, strange, out of the cultural contest, for a first reader like me, and captivating in its representation of romantic love, especially near the end of act IV. There's a fascinating discussion on the terrible "that which repels and attracts", marriage as something between bargain and union, as a matter of both promise and free choice.
That being said, theatre and poetry benefit much from being read in the original language. This style of translation is tone-specific; the dialogues, but for the strangeness of their content, sound English ("Fiddlesticks"). However, despite similarities of structure between English and Scandinavian languages, the former has a wider breadth of slang and vocabulary that translates into nuance. The Scandinavian languages, on the other hand, are terse - to me, almost spartan - which leaves a greater burden of feeling on each of their words. The play feels much diminished.
That being said, theatre and poetry benefit much from being read in the original language. This style of translation is tone-specific; the dialogues, but for the strangeness of their content, sound English ("Fiddlesticks"). However, despite similarities of structure between English and Scandinavian languages, the former has a wider breadth of slang and vocabulary that translates into nuance. The Scandinavian languages, on the other hand, are terse - to me, almost spartan - which leaves a greater burden of feeling on each of their words. The play feels much diminished.