lcdrz Posted December 27, 2014 Report Share Posted December 27, 2014 Hi, so I've decided to do my Lit in translation essay on Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen and I've come up with this question: "How and to what effect does Ibsen use the character of Pastor Manders to comment on Norwegian society and its values in Ghosts?" I'm not sure if I'm overcomplicating the task.. Is the question suitable or should I just simplify it to something like "What is the significance of Pastor Manders in Ghosts?" For the essay I know I mainly want to focus on the character of Pastor Manders and how he represents society - and what aspects of society he represents (e.g. the hypocrisy of Norwegian society) and my general outline is to focus on: - the duality of pastor manders' personality- his repressed personality- his corruptionetc. But I'm not sure if it becomes too much about a character study rather than looking at literary techniques/being a critical literary essay. Sorry for the long message & thank you in advance! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrashmaster Posted December 27, 2014 Report Share Posted December 27, 2014 You have some freedom to study characters in the lit in translation essay, but make sure that you do focus on the literary techniques, one of which is archetyping. However, when I read your question, it sounded to me as though you'd be comparing him to real life historical problems, and I don't think you want to use new historicism in your literature in translation essay. You'd need to refer to real life Norwegian society to show Ibsen is commenting on it, right? So I'd probably go with a different phrasing or question to avoid that problem. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcdrz Posted December 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2014 Well I was thinking more in terms of how Ibsen uses Pastor Manders as a pastiche of sorts of Norwegian society so wouldn't really actually be comparing to actual Victorian Norwegian society. What I thought with the question was that I would maybe look at one aspect of Manders' society and how Ibsen uses it to criticise society, as Ghosts is probably most well-known as a critique of the Victorian values & society. I hadn't ever thought that the wording of my question would make it seem as if I'd have to bring in real-life aspects.. Would this question perhaps be better for literary exploration? : 'What is the role/significance of the character of Pastor Manders in Ghosts?' Thanks! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.