Deconstructing Modern-Western Masculinity in Three Film Adaptations of Peer Gynt

Eric Todd Guggisberg Master’s thesis in Ibsen Studies IBS4390 Master's Thesis in Ibsen Studies 60 Credits, Autumn 2020 Deconstructing Modern-Western Masculinity in Three Film Adaptations of Peer Gynt Center for Ibsen Studies Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies University of Oslo, Autumn 2020 1 Contents: Acknowledgement 1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………. a. Contextualizing the Adaptations…………………………………………… b. Theory………………………………………………………………………... c. Methodology…………………………………………………………………. 2. Defining the Masculine Parameters within which Peer Can Stake His Claim….. a. Setting the Normative Culture……………………………………………… b. Using Violence to Stake a Claim on Hegemonic Masculinity…………….. c. Defining Consensual Sex Vs. Sexual Assault in Modern Culture………… 3. Using Sex to Stake a Claim on Hegemonic Masculinity…………………………… 4. The Patriarchal Father………………………………………………………………. 5. Cinematic Gazes……………………………………………………………………… a. The Sexualizing Gaze Directed towards the Female Body………………… b. The Sexualizing Gaze Directed towards the Male Body…………………… 6. The Empathic Male…………………………………………………………………... 7. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….. Bibliography 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT If life was as easy as I always expected it to be I would still be drifting gently backward and forward on the swings under the old willow tree in my backyard. Yet here I am and here you are. I would like to thank you, the reader, for taking your time to read my work. I do not take your time lightly and I am honoured to have my work read by the likes of you, whomever you may be. I wish you well and hope that it may help serve the work you have left ahead of you and perhaps it may provide insight into something you might inquire about in this niche subject or, at least, give a fresh perspective. I would like to thank my thesis advisor, Ellen Rees. My constant compulsion to use quotation marks where none should exist have driven you half mad, but you endured me. Your patience, brilliance, guidance, and humor has been invaluable to my work. Throughout the process I often found myself feeling like a little ship out in the vast dark academia sea. I would sail along for hours feeling confident and free until, quite suddenly, I would realize I was completely lost. Yet there you were, a lighthouse in the distance to redirect me with a smile and set my boat back on course. I would like to thank my wife, Elise. Of all the people I have met in the course of my life thus far, none do I have as much respect for as you. I can say, with absolute certainty, this work would not have come into existence if it had not been for your support and gentle shoves when I needed it most. I admire everything you are and I love you infinitely. Lastly I would like to thank my family for their unconditional love and support. Despite being both an acting undergraduate and a philosophy graduate candidate, you all have shown me nothing but love and encouragement. My mother told me recently that the willow tree that I would swing beneath as a child, Grandmother Willow, was dying and would need to be cut down soon. My heart hurts for Grandmother Willow but as some things in life come to pass new things are created. I would like to dedicate this thesis to Grandmother Willow. She listened to everything I endured as a child; every shriek, every sob, every laugh. She listened to me as I discovered love and heartbreak and how to heal from it; her leaves gently whispering in the wind. This work is for you Grandmother Willow. Thank you for your shelter, your patience, and your comfort. 3 1. INTRODUCTION This thesis considers what R.W. Connell terms hegemonic masculinity and what George L. Moss terms manliness in three film adaptations of Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt directed by David Bradley (United States, 1941), Bentein Baardson (Norway, 1993), and Uwe Janson (Germany, 2006). Connell defines hegemonic masculinity as, “[…] the configuration of gender practice which embodies the currently accepted answer to the problem of legitimacy of patriarchy which guarantees […] the dominant position of men and the subordination of women” (Connell 1995, 77). Besides a handful of the most elite, wealthy and powerful men, very few live up to these standards. Most men are positioned somewhere beneath them, either pushing their way to the top or complicit with the trickle-down effects these ideals establish within their own social order. George L. Mosse writes in his book The Image of Man, “[…] manliness not only was thought necessary for running bourgeois society but also served to define it, side by side with family life, which was said to be at the heart of modern culture” (Moss 1998, 143). It is this manliness, this hegemonic masculinity ideal, that runs steadily and profusely throughout all three adaptations of Peer Gynt which I aim to highlight clearly within the following pages. 1.a CONTEXTUALIZING THE ADAPTATIONS To understand the similarities and differences between each adaptation we can use Linda Hutcheon’s theory of adaptation for each film in the context of the, “What? Who? Why? How? Where? When?” (Hutcheon 2006, VII). Hutcheon’s what is the form that an adaptation takes. For example: a comic strip to a play, a film to a novel, or a play to a film. Each medium contains its own “[…] communicational energetics” (Gaudreault and Marion 2004, 65). Thus, using Ibsen’s play and transferring it to film constitutes a shift in these energies. Hutcheon summarizes that, “film is usually said to be the most inclusive and synthesizing of performance forms […]” and that the medium of film “[…] opens up new possibilities” (Hutcheon 2006, 35). If this is to be believed as true, this shift in media not only warrants a closer look but demands it. If a camera can “[…] isolate some element of a scene and bestow upon it not only meaning but also symbolic significance by its act of 4 contextualizing” (Hutcheon 2006, 71), then it must be explored. In such a shift the adapted text changes, it is altered and becomes its own work of art complete with nuances, subtleties, and subtext. Of course, there are potentially negative effects of this transposition as well. When moving a piece of literature to the screen there is often a reduction of scope. An example would be Uwe Janson’s adaptation where he has edited and cut many of the scenes such as Peer’s travels to Morocco, his encounter with the Boyg, and his long monologues. In Janson’s adaptation these are gone. Whether this makes for a better or worse version of Peer Gynt is debatable; however, it remains non debatable that it is altered and, therefore, contains themes and ideas that have been, thus far, untouched and unscrutinised. Furthermore “The text of a play does not necessarily tell an actor about such matters as the gestures, expressions, and tones of voice to use in converting the words on a page into a convincing performance” (J. Miller 1986, 48). Rather it is, “[…] Up to the director and the actors to actualize the text and to interpret and then recreate it” (Hutcheon 2006, 39). In these choices made by both actors and directors throughout each of the three adaptations lies the body of my thesis. Each of these three film adaptations have been created between the 1941 and 2006 in Western countries (the United States, Norway, Germany) placing them all well within a modern masculine context which was “[…] in the making at the end of the eighteenth century” (Mosse 1996, 17). Janson’s adaptation is set in present times. Baardson’s is set somewhere within the 19th century in Norway. The same can be found with Bradley’s adaptation, however, Bradley’s was filmed entirely within the United States, and attempts to mimic the Norwegian landscape as closely as possible. In the context of Hutcheon’s theory this is our where and when. So, we are working with modern masculine adaptations set in Western culture. While Ibsen was also working during this time, masculinity has changed and evolved over time in relation to social norms and ideal constructs of hierarchy. Thus, we are working with new creations that need further exploration and deconstruction. The context in which these adaptations are set is important for understanding why these sources were chosen in the first place as, “Adaptations […] constitute transformations of previous works in new contexts. Local particularies become transplanted to new ground, and something new and hybrid results” (Hutcheon 2006, 150). With the defined parameters of modern Western 5 masculinity, we can begin to see the effect of each adaptation within the context and masculine culture they are set in. Take for example Bradley’s Peer Gynt, made in 1941 when the United States was in the midst of World War II. While the perspective of gender roles began to shift during the war, due to the need to have women helping in the factories to help supply the troops, they were still widely viewed as being inferior to men. Look at any advertisement, movie, or book from the time period and they are riddled with now seemingly absurd gender stereotypes. Bradley’s Peer Gynt is no different, and in this regard without knowing the cultural context that this adaptation is taking place within, these stereotypes and absurdities make little sense. On face value it seems obvious that David Bradley, Bentein Baardson, and Uwe Janson are the who (adaptors) in the framework of Hutcheon’s theory. Yet the adapted text “[…] is not something to be reproduced, but rather something to be interpreted and recreated, often in a new diegetic, narrative, and axiological, that the adapter can use or ignore” (Gardies 1998, 68-71).

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