Naturalism Movement and the Actor - Essay Example

Student Name> NATURALISM AND THE ACTOR Naturalism is the movement which was initiated in the field of theatre and arts and which attempted to encourage realities which occurred on a daily basis and which were based on true events. Events that can be believed on and which do not appear falsely stated or made up. Naturalism as a Movement Naturalism was a subject which was totally against other famous movements of that time. The popular movements of that time were Romanticism and the kind, which propagated their protagonists in unrealistic or supernatural ways. They were shown to be highly idealistic and symbolic for the common masses. The naturalism theme believed that the main lead or the story of the Romanticism was out of reach for those who were viewing it. It took them to a world which was pleasant but had no real roots in it. There was no possibility of that story happening or the event with any of the general audience in real life. For this reason, the propagators of Naturalism believed it to be a rationale and objective theory. It was something which bases its saying on daily life happenings of the general masses. The writers who used the movement of Naturalism in their work were strong believers of the theory of Evolution, which was proposed by Charles Darwin. In this theory, Darwin had said that all civilizations and people in general, had to pass through three stages which are: barbarism, savagery and ultimately civilization. These three stages will be attained in chronological order and cannot precede the other. These stages are based on rationality and say that a man's character is determined by his heredity and the social environment in which he is growing. As civilizations move through these three stages in unison, a man is dependent on the civilization that he belongs to. He has to move with it and cannot move independently. Counter movements like Surrealism or Romanticism are attempting to justify man as he is, with no connection to his surroundings. This is baseless, as far as Naturalism is concerned. The works which are Naturalistic often have sordid subjects. These subjects are uncouth in nature and tend to be impolite and ill-mannered. They tend to go against the norms and leave a bad taste in the end. They do not believe in happy endings or the perfect ideal situation. They focus their energies on subjects that have been taboo, have been sent to the dark dungeons, never to be discussed again among people. Yet these topics are what our life consists of. These subjects touch upon real life as no other subject can. They are the harsh realities of life and cannot be ignored. The Naturalistic works gives a shot at uncovering these bitter realites of life. They can be any subject from poverty to prostitution, ranging from prejudice to diseases, varying from filth to racism. Even when naturalistic writers dealt with these subjects, they were often pessimistic about it. They did not focus on how to counteract these problems and make the world a better place. Rather they will show the crude reality, without filtering it out. They would be too blunt for people to digest. Naturalism in the Theatres: It was in the late 19th and the early 20th century only that Naturalism began to show its signs and presence in the theatres. It is a theatre which consists of many elements. Firstly, it uses many deviated dramatic strategies, which have been frequently used in theatrical performances, to give that illusion which is a must in theatre. It focuses on reality, yet presents it like it is an illusion. The second element is that it gives a lot of detail to the settings, trying to bring a three-dimensional effect to it. Moreover, the third element is that everyday forms of speech are preferred over using poetic verses for conversation between the actors. The fourth element is that the secular world view is portrayed where there is no belief in supernatural beings and things like ghosts and religion are totally disregarded. Man is responsible for it all. Furthermore, the subjects in action are indigenous characters, who are not exposed to fantastic settings or otherworldly elements. Lastly, the acting which is demanded by the actors suggests that they should try to be as much real as possible. This is because they are not portraying things which are out of the world. They are depicting stories which can take place in real life. Therefore, any sort of exaggeration is not allowed. Gender Stereotyping / Prejudice Against Women: Since time immemorial, there has been an unintentional gender bias which has its roots in every civilization. Women are discriminated against, are thought to be the weaker sex and are assumed that they can never reach up to the level at which men persist. There is always a sexual inequality that exists in every place that can be imagined. Whether it is the workplace or the home, the women is expected to make all the sacrifices and compromise for the betterment of everybody. A concept called self-discovery is considered a blank term for women. Whether they are part of a boss-employee relationship or a relationship with their spouse, they have to compromise their own desires and go for what is better for everyone else. They first live for their father, then their husband and then their sons.1 All this has given impetus to social workers, who are constantly fighting for women rights and voicing their opinions on firm grounds. This topic of prejudice against women falls in one of such realities of life that the Naturalism movement attempts to uncover and conquer in its works. Naturalism has always covered issues that are realistic and nothing can be more realistic than the issue of gender stereotypes and discrimination against women. Women are always discriminated against, especially in the workplace where they are never promoted or given the top positions or posts in the workplace. For this reason, Government has always tried to legalize affirmative action within companies so that women can be saved from discrimination and that the employer remains equal opportunity for all who try to apply in the company. Moreover, the women who returns to the workplace after taking maternity or labour gaps or after rearing her children to a reasonable age, people feel that she has lost her touch and experience. They feel she no longer understands the rules and regulations of the business and would have to be taught everything from the start. This way, it is even more difficult for her to grasp top positions or posts of responsibility after she returns from this long gap. There have been many works by Naturalistic writers who have touched this topic in a very blunt and pessimistic way. Some examples are that of A Doll House and Hedda Gabler. But to present this case, we will deal with the exemplary play by Ibsen, A Doll House. A Doll House "The strongest man [or woman] in the world is he who stands most alone." This has been said by Henrik Ibsen, who is a Norwegian playwright and the writer of the successful, revolutionary and controversial play The Doll House. This line which has been said by him very well depicts his mistrust for the general masses and how no one can be trusted enough to be befriended. He believes that the more social you are, the more harming it is to you. Socialization makes you a weak man. Whereas, on the other hand, if you are a loner, it makes you strong to face the world all on your own. Ibsen has very frankly dealt with the sexual inequality that often takes place. Expectations are high on women, even though they are labeled the weak sex. Ibsen has portrayed her protagonist to be a woman who goes on a journey of self-discovery, which initiates due to the turmoil of events that take place in her life. Basically the plot revolves around Nora and her husband Torvald. Nora is the happy mother of three children and loves her husband a lot. This love ultimately is tested when Torvald becomes fatally ill and his health reaches a very critical position. Nora, to save the life of her husband, borrows money and uses it for curing him. She decides to keep this fact a secret because if Torvald gets to know about it, it will hurt his ego and he would not be able to take this life that has been given by a woman, precisely her wife, borrowing money from someone. Krogstad is the person who has lent Nora the money and he knows this fact that Nora has kept this borrowing a secret. Moreover, Krogstad is also an employee of Torvald, who is now planning to fire him. This enrages Krogstad and he blackmails Nora that if, through her influence on Torvald, she does not save his job, he will tell Torvald all about the loan. This puts Nora in a very dangerous position and she tries with all her might that Torvald does not lay him off, but in vain. Ultimately, Krogstad is fired and he vows to tell about the bond to Torvald, though he does not care about the remaining balance which is still to be paid by Nora. Nora is devastated by such happenings and decides to commit suicide. But before that happens, Torvald gets to read the letter and he is really furious. He confronts Nora. He decides to keep quite about this whole affair and then he declares Nora to be unfit to be his wife and the mother of his children, yet for the sake of the society in which they live, he will stay with Nora in the bond of marriage, yet there will be no husband-wife relationship between them. Right after he declares all these terrible things, he receives yet another letter from Krogstad in which he has returned the papers of the loan, forever giving up the evidence that the loan was ever given. On seeing this, there is a total change of attitude in Torvald. He takes back everything he said to her, forgiving her and taking her again in the protective courtship of marriage. Yet this sudden change in her husband on such happenings makes her realize that he is not a man of dignity. He is not the man she had originally loved or he might have been that way all along. It's just that circumstances showed his true self. She suddenly feels the burden of her life and wants to make something out of her life. Things suddenly start dawning at her. She realized that the fact that she always was her father's daughter and then her husband's wife seemed very evident to her now. She starts feeling like a stranger for her own husband and living with him would be compromising on a very big scale. And then she breaks the conventions. She leaves the house, not even looking back once. She embarks on the journey of self discovery. The story of Nora depicts how things change with time. Sexual inequality is less accepted by women since modern times. Women now give more importance to self than their family. This is because of the high scale of prejudice which is inflicted on the women. In the 19th century, when this play was made and shown, marriage was considered the most prestigious bonds of all. Going against it was totally unacceptable. The play was so ill-mannered for the times in which it was made, that actresses often refused to play the part of Nora. They felt it would prove to be bad for their career and would cast a bad and witch image of them. A Doll House is an example of how blunt and rude Naturalism can be. Its type also resulted in the play getting banned in British. The most amount of criticism was thrown on Nora's want and ultimate choice of self discovery. People said that a woman is not supposed to go for self discovery.2 Rather she should stay at home and serve her family and raise her children. Then their were other side characters in the play as well like Christine, who was a widow and the ex-lover of Krogstad. Whatever mishaps have taken place in their lives is the result of the irresponsibility of their fathers. Some fathers make the girl reject the one she loves, not allowing freedom of choice to their daughters. This was the story of the side character, Christine. A Doll House is the true depiction of a work done in and for the Naturalistic movement. It shows the picture of the woman who is strong enough not to be influenced by factors which she feels will not do her any good. She wants her betterment now, as she has already sacrificed a whole lot over the long run. It was a blunt ending and shocking for the masses that had never seen a woman take on such a step in her life. She was different from the conventions, killing the norms and butchering the age-old traditions. Works Cited Nelson, Todd. The Psychology of Prejudice. 2005 Jones, Melinda. Social Psychology of Prejudice. 2002 Read More