Agenda
RSS-FeedVortrag: Freitag, 26.06.2026
Zeit/Ort: 11:00-11:30
Ellida, the main character of Henrik Ibsen's 1888 drama "Fruen fra Havet", is often perceived as a mermaid descendant, caught between agoraphobia on land and thalassophobia during her swims in the fjords. This ambivalence stems not only from her history but from the genre. In classic literature, the sea belongs to the epic realm. In drama, however, it is absent for good reason: it would violate the unity of space by lying outside the plot on land. In Andersen's "Den lille Havfrue", the eponymous character undermines her sea origin by becoming human. The transgression follows a tragic structure, culminating in evaporation as an aerial being. I will examine "Fruen fra Havet" through the lens of "Den lille Havfrue", focusing on the genre shift. Bearing in mind Peter Szondi's statement that Ibsen's drama is modern in its 'static' and 'epic' nature, I demonstrate how the sea plays a major role in the emergence of epic drama, foregrounded by the opposite tendency of the tragic epic tale.