Realism And Theatre
Realism is the movement toward representing reality as it is, in art.
Realistic
drama is an attempt to portray life on stage, a movement away from
the
conventional melodramas and sentimental comedies of the 1700s. It is
expressed
in theatre through the use of symbolism, character development,
stage setting
and storyline and is exemplified in plays such as Henrik
Ibsen's A Doll's House
and Anton Chekhov's The Three Sisters. The arrival of
realism was indeed good
for theatre as it promoted greater audience
involvement and raised awareness of
contemporary social and moral issues. It
also provided and continues to provide
a medium through which playwrights can
express their views about societal
values, attitudes and morals. A Doll's
House is the tragedy of a Norwegian
housewife who is compelled to challenge
law, society and her husband's value
system. It can be clearly recognized as
a realistic problem drama, for it is a
case where the individual is in
opposition to a hostile society. Ibsen's
sympathy with the feminine cause has
been praised and criticized; as he requires
the audience to judge the words
and actions of the characters in order to
reassess the values of society. The
characters in A Doll's House are quite
complex and contradictory, no longer
stereotypes. In Act II, Nora expresses her
repulsion about a fancy dress worn
to please Torvald (her husband): "I wish
I'd torn it to pieces"; she
attempts to restore it and resign herself to
her situation right after: "I'll
ask Mrs Linde to help". In Act III,
Torvald ignores his wife's plea for
forgiveness in order to make a moral
judgement: "You've killed my
happiness.You've destroyed my future".
"I can never trust you again." Later
on in the same act, he
contradicts himself: "I'll change. I can change-";
much after Nora
confronts him: "Sit here, Torvald. We have to come to
terms".
"...There's a lot to say". Here, Ibsen shows us he has worked in
depth
with the psychology of the characters, giving them a sense of
complexity and
realism. Playgoers therefore recognize the revelation of
characters through
memory. Thus drama became an experience closely impinging
on the conscience of
the audience. Ibsen was also unique for his use of
symbolism to assist realism
on stage. Symbolic significance is presented
through the detail of design, props
and actions of the characters. For
example, in Act III, Nora goes offstage to
get changed; "I'm changing. No
more fancy dress". It is a symbolic
representation of her personal change,
one where she has come to the realization
that she has been living the life
of a doll, confined to the roles of a
"featherbrain", "plaything",
"dove",
"skylark" and "songbird". Thus, symbolism enhanced realism,
and
its effect can be seen as positive in the sense that it stirred
conscious
awareness of values. The stage settings of A Doll's House are an
integral part
of the theatrical design, and not mere décor to be overlooked.
The setting in
Act II; "...the Christmas tree stands stripped of its
decorations and with
its candles burnt to stumps" is symbolic of the lack of
happiness in Nora's
life at that moment. Also the change of setting in Act
III; "The tables and
chairs have been moved centre" foreshadows a character
change that will
take place in Nora. The many references to doors also have
significance beyond
the stage directions. The play begins with the opening of
the door and finishes
with the "slamming" of the door. Nora enters the doll's
house with the
values of society and departs from it, symbolizing her
rejection of them. All
these intricacies of play settings and characters
depict realism on stage.
Ultimately, it has been good for theatre because
it presents the playwright's
ideas in interesting and original ways. Realism,
as expressed through symbolism,
also draws the attention of the audience,
thus stimulating moral thought, and
stirring reaction. Realism is also
defined as art-imitating life (source). This
is a fitting account of Anton
Chekhov's plays, for they tend to show the
stagnant, helpless quality of
Russian society in the late C19th. Quite evident
in The Three Sisters, when
Tuzenbakh illustrates realism; "The suffering we
see around us these days -
and there's plenty of it - is at least a sign that
society has reached a
certain moral level." Hence, while the portrayal of
life here seemed 'gloomy
and pessimestic', it was still good for theatre in that
it presented issues
which audiences could identify with. It was also more
intellectual theatre
when the playwright could express their views, compared
with the conventional
dramas that merely played out fiction. Chekhov tends to
portray people who
are perpetually unsatisfied, such as Olga; "I felt my
youth and energy
draining away, drop by drop each day. Only one thing grows
stronger and
stronger, a certain longing." (Act 1). This is reflective of
Chekhov's
realistic character work, where people dream to improve their lives,
but most
fail. Realism here effectively presents harsh realities onstage, and
not
having to promote idealistic ways of life. Reality is difficult as
Olga
expresses; "What is all this for? Why all this suffering? The answer
will
be known one day, and then there will be no mysteries left, but till
then, life
must go on, we must work and work and think of nothing else." (Act
IV).
Chekhov also exposes human foibles and anti-social tendencies, such
as with the
character Natasha; "you have so many people here. I feel
awfully
nervous...I am just not used to meeting new people." Thus, audiences
can
sympathize and identify with characters, as these traits are reflective
of
certain aspects of the human condition. So realism in theatre has been
good in
the respect that it has greater impact when there are elements of
truth in the
play. In the final analysis, the arrival of realism has been
good for theatre
primarily because it promoted greater audience involvement.
While the portrayal
of realistic issues may have been contentious in some
cases, such as in A Doll's
House, it nevertheless stirred reaction, which
encouraged moral thought.
However, one could argue that its arrival has
lead to less use of the
imagination. In either case, realism has raised
awareness of social and moral
issues and the playwright's views serve to
challenge the audience ultimately
making theatre more interactive and
interesting.