Dismantling Theological Paradigms: A Reading of Selected Plays of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw

Njong Divine

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.16

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Dismantling Theological Paradigms: A Reading of Selected Plays of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw

Njong Divine

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 10, Issue 4)

Received: 14 July 2022 Accepted: 29 July 2022 Published: 10 August 2022

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Abstract

Ibsen was introduced to the British society by Edmond Gosse but it was Bernard Shaw who championed Ibsen’s ideas and introduced him to the British public. Although the two playwrights never met, Shaw’s admiration for Ibsen is clear in the former’s works and further butressed in the three critical essays he wrote about Ibsen namely; The Quintessence of lbsenism, Our Theatres in the Nineties, and The Preface. Shaw’s plays are therefore, greatly influenced by Ibsen’s ideas and this is evident in the identical thematic concerns of both authors. They are studied here as non-conformists who challenged dogmatic religious mores of 19th century Europe. The objective of this study entitled “Dismantling Theological Paradigms: A Reading of Selected Plays of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw” is to approach a larger comprehension of the religious perspectives and philosophies of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw. The article combines the religious ideas and theological paradigms inherent in the plays of both authors and explores the hypocritical mechanisms of the clergy. In another sense, the study questions conventionality, unveils social and religious hypocrisies and attempts to disillusion the reader. This study, therefore, analyses the two authors as satirists of conventional religion and demonstrates that, for Ibsen and Shaw, conventional religion hinders man’s progress and destroys man’s freedom. In other words, the article looks at conventional religious practices as stumbling blocks on the road to self-fulfilment and self-realisation. The hypocritical and exploitative attitudes of Ibsen’s clergymen and the life-denying philosophy of Christian Orthodoxy are the major issues that provoke the satires of both playwrights. All these are analysed here from a Marxist standpoint since their dramas tend towards representing how matters of marriage and religion are based on materialist tendencies. The Marxist’s idea of material possession, being at the bases of all human ventures, is quite relevant to this article.

Published in	International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 10, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.16
Page(s)	228-239
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Dismantle, Theological Paradigms, Conventional, Religious, Hypocritical, Freedom, Marxists

References

[1]	Ibsen, Henrik. The Pillars of Society in Ibsen’s Heddar Gebblar and Other Plays. Trans, Una Ellis. London: Penguin, 1950.
[2]	Ghosts in the Play: A Critical Anthology. Ed, Eric Bentley. New York: Prentice Hall, 1951.
[3]	A Doll‘s House in Forms of Literature: A Writers Collection. Ed, Jacqueline Costello and Army Turker. New York: Random House, 1959.
[4]	Shaw, Bernard. Major Barbara. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1964.
[5]	Mrs Warren’s Profession published in Plays Unpleasant. Hamondsworth: Penguin, 1985.
[6]	Saint Joan. Ed, Dan Laurence. Harmondsworth: UK, Penguin, 1986.
[7]	Bertolini, John A. The Playwrighting Self of Bernard Shaw. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 1991.
[8]	Bloom, Harold. George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara. New York: Chelsea House, 1988.
[9]	Dukore, Bernard F. Bernard Shaw, Playwright: Aspects of Shavian Drama. Columbia: Univ. of Missouri Press, 1973.
[10]	Ellis, Havelock. The Pillars of Society, and Other Plays. London: Walter Scott Publishing Co, 1890.
[11]	Ervine, John. Bernard Shaw: His Life, Work and Friends. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1956.
[12]	Gad, Barzilai. Law and Religion. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2007.
[13]	Gainor, J. Ellen. Shaw’s Daughters: Dramatic and Narrative Constructions of Gender. Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press, 1991.
[14]	Gassner, J. “Bernard Shaw and the Making of the Modern Mind” in Warren S. S. (Ed.), Bernard Shaw’s Plays. New York and London: W. W. Norton & Company, 1970.
[15]	Kant, Immanuel. Religion and Rational Theology. trans. and edited by Allen W. Wood and George di Giovanni, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
[16]	Purdom, C. B. A Guide to the Plays of Bernard Shaw. London: Methuen, 1963.
[17]	Shaw, Bernard. The Quintessence of Ibsenism. London: W. Scott, 1891.
[18]	The Holy Bible, Authorized Version, Philadelphia: The National Publishing Company, 1975.
[19]	Ward, A. C. Bernard Shaw. London: Longman for British Council, 1950.
[20]	Watson, Barbara Bellow. A Shavian Guide to the Intelligent Woman. London: Chatto and Windus, 1964.
[21]	Wilde, Oscar. The Soul of Man under Socialism. London: Porcupine Press, 1948.
[22]	Weintraub, Rodelle, ed. Fabian Feminist: Bernard Shaw and Woman. University Park. London: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1977.
[23]	Zimbardo, A Rose. ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Major Barbara. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1970.

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Njong Divine. (2022). Dismantling Theological Paradigms: A Reading of Selected Plays of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 10(4), 228-239. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.16

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Njong Divine. Dismantling Theological Paradigms: A Reading of Selected Plays of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2022, 10(4), 228-239. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.16

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Njong Divine. Dismantling Theological Paradigms: A Reading of Selected Plays of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw. Int J Lit Arts. 2022;10(4):228-239. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.16

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@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.16,
  author = {Njong Divine},
  title = {Dismantling Theological Paradigms: A Reading of Selected Plays of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw},
  journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
  volume = {10},
  number = {4},
  pages = {228-239},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.16},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.16},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20221004.16},
  abstract = {Ibsen was introduced to the British society by Edmond Gosse but it was Bernard Shaw who championed Ibsen’s ideas and introduced him to the British public. Although the two playwrights never met, Shaw’s admiration for Ibsen is clear in the former’s works and further butressed in the three critical essays he wrote about Ibsen namely; The Quintessence of lbsenism, Our Theatres in the Nineties, and The Preface. Shaw’s plays are therefore, greatly influenced by Ibsen’s ideas and this is evident in the identical thematic concerns of both authors. They are studied here as non-conformists who challenged dogmatic religious mores of 19th century Europe. The objective of this study entitled “Dismantling Theological Paradigms: A Reading of Selected Plays of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw” is to approach a larger comprehension of the religious perspectives and philosophies of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw. The article combines the religious ideas and theological paradigms inherent in the plays of both authors and explores the hypocritical mechanisms of the clergy. In another sense, the study questions conventionality, unveils social and religious hypocrisies and attempts to disillusion the reader. This study, therefore, analyses the two authors as satirists of conventional religion and demonstrates that, for Ibsen and Shaw, conventional religion hinders man’s progress and destroys man’s freedom. In other words, the article looks at conventional religious practices as stumbling blocks on the road to self-fulfilment and self-realisation. The hypocritical and exploitative attitudes of Ibsen’s clergymen and the life-denying philosophy of Christian Orthodoxy are the major issues that provoke the satires of both playwrights. All these are analysed here from a Marxist standpoint since their dramas tend towards representing how matters of marriage and religion are based on materialist tendencies. The Marxist’s idea of material possession, being at the bases of all human ventures, is quite relevant to this article.},
 year = {2022}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Dismantling Theological Paradigms: A Reading of Selected Plays of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw
AU  - Njong Divine
Y1  - 2022/08/10
PY  - 2022
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DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.16
T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
SP  - 228
EP  - 239
PB  - Science Publishing Group
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UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.16
AB  - Ibsen was introduced to the British society by Edmond Gosse but it was Bernard Shaw who championed Ibsen’s ideas and introduced him to the British public. Although the two playwrights never met, Shaw’s admiration for Ibsen is clear in the former’s works and further butressed in the three critical essays he wrote about Ibsen namely; The Quintessence of lbsenism, Our Theatres in the Nineties, and The Preface. Shaw’s plays are therefore, greatly influenced by Ibsen’s ideas and this is evident in the identical thematic concerns of both authors. They are studied here as non-conformists who challenged dogmatic religious mores of 19th century Europe. The objective of this study entitled “Dismantling Theological Paradigms: A Reading of Selected Plays of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw” is to approach a larger comprehension of the religious perspectives and philosophies of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw. The article combines the religious ideas and theological paradigms inherent in the plays of both authors and explores the hypocritical mechanisms of the clergy. In another sense, the study questions conventionality, unveils social and religious hypocrisies and attempts to disillusion the reader. This study, therefore, analyses the two authors as satirists of conventional religion and demonstrates that, for Ibsen and Shaw, conventional religion hinders man’s progress and destroys man’s freedom. In other words, the article looks at conventional religious practices as stumbling blocks on the road to self-fulfilment and self-realisation. The hypocritical and exploitative attitudes of Ibsen’s clergymen and the life-denying philosophy of Christian Orthodoxy are the major issues that provoke the satires of both playwrights. All these are analysed here from a Marxist standpoint since their dramas tend towards representing how matters of marriage and religion are based on materialist tendencies. The Marxist’s idea of material possession, being at the bases of all human ventures, is quite relevant to this article.
VL  - 10
IS  - 4
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Author Information

Njong Divine

Higher Teacher Training College-Bertoua, The University of Bertoua, Bertoua, The Republic of Cameroon

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Njong Divine. (2022). Dismantling Theological Paradigms: A Reading of Selected Plays of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 10(4), 228-239. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.16

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ACS Style

Njong Divine. Dismantling Theological Paradigms: A Reading of Selected Plays of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2022, 10(4), 228-239. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.16

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AMA Style

Njong Divine. Dismantling Theological Paradigms: A Reading of Selected Plays of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw. Int J Lit Arts. 2022;10(4):228-239. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.16

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@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.16,
  author = {Njong Divine},
  title = {Dismantling Theological Paradigms: A Reading of Selected Plays of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw},
  journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
  volume = {10},
  number = {4},
  pages = {228-239},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.16},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.16},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20221004.16},
  abstract = {Ibsen was introduced to the British society by Edmond Gosse but it was Bernard Shaw who championed Ibsen’s ideas and introduced him to the British public. Although the two playwrights never met, Shaw’s admiration for Ibsen is clear in the former’s works and further butressed in the three critical essays he wrote about Ibsen namely; The Quintessence of lbsenism, Our Theatres in the Nineties, and The Preface. Shaw’s plays are therefore, greatly influenced by Ibsen’s ideas and this is evident in the identical thematic concerns of both authors. They are studied here as non-conformists who challenged dogmatic religious mores of 19th century Europe. The objective of this study entitled “Dismantling Theological Paradigms: A Reading of Selected Plays of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw” is to approach a larger comprehension of the religious perspectives and philosophies of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw. The article combines the religious ideas and theological paradigms inherent in the plays of both authors and explores the hypocritical mechanisms of the clergy. In another sense, the study questions conventionality, unveils social and religious hypocrisies and attempts to disillusion the reader. This study, therefore, analyses the two authors as satirists of conventional religion and demonstrates that, for Ibsen and Shaw, conventional religion hinders man’s progress and destroys man’s freedom. In other words, the article looks at conventional religious practices as stumbling blocks on the road to self-fulfilment and self-realisation. The hypocritical and exploitative attitudes of Ibsen’s clergymen and the life-denying philosophy of Christian Orthodoxy are the major issues that provoke the satires of both playwrights. All these are analysed here from a Marxist standpoint since their dramas tend towards representing how matters of marriage and religion are based on materialist tendencies. The Marxist’s idea of material possession, being at the bases of all human ventures, is quite relevant to this article.},
 year = {2022}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Dismantling Theological Paradigms: A Reading of Selected Plays of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw
AU  - Njong Divine
Y1  - 2022/08/10
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.16
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.16
T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
SP  - 228
EP  - 239
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-057X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20221004.16
AB  - Ibsen was introduced to the British society by Edmond Gosse but it was Bernard Shaw who championed Ibsen’s ideas and introduced him to the British public. Although the two playwrights never met, Shaw’s admiration for Ibsen is clear in the former’s works and further butressed in the three critical essays he wrote about Ibsen namely; The Quintessence of lbsenism, Our Theatres in the Nineties, and The Preface. Shaw’s plays are therefore, greatly influenced by Ibsen’s ideas and this is evident in the identical thematic concerns of both authors. They are studied here as non-conformists who challenged dogmatic religious mores of 19th century Europe. The objective of this study entitled “Dismantling Theological Paradigms: A Reading of Selected Plays of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw” is to approach a larger comprehension of the religious perspectives and philosophies of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw. The article combines the religious ideas and theological paradigms inherent in the plays of both authors and explores the hypocritical mechanisms of the clergy. In another sense, the study questions conventionality, unveils social and religious hypocrisies and attempts to disillusion the reader. This study, therefore, analyses the two authors as satirists of conventional religion and demonstrates that, for Ibsen and Shaw, conventional religion hinders man’s progress and destroys man’s freedom. In other words, the article looks at conventional religious practices as stumbling blocks on the road to self-fulfilment and self-realisation. The hypocritical and exploitative attitudes of Ibsen’s clergymen and the life-denying philosophy of Christian Orthodoxy are the major issues that provoke the satires of both playwrights. All these are analysed here from a Marxist standpoint since their dramas tend towards representing how matters of marriage and religion are based on materialist tendencies. The Marxist’s idea of material possession, being at the bases of all human ventures, is quite relevant to this article.
VL  - 10
IS  - 4
ER  -

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