Kovács Ferenc: Olvasópróba előtt (Skenotheke 1. Budapest, 1996)

Felhasznált irodalom

The first time we sense Borkman's real "greatness" is when he meets his son. Erhart disavows his father's plans and by doing so he turns Borkman's living death into a genuine one. It is here and not at the end of the play that Borkman's drama is actualized. Let us keep in mind that Ibsen's late plays, Borkman and The Master Builder, are representations of the struggle between generations, where - naturally enough - the fittest, youth survives. Borkman's further presence would weaken the dramatic climax. The play would end on a melancholy note if Gunhild and Ella indulged in nostalgia while holding hands over Borkman's dead body. Borkman's ghost in the house is akin to the ones that haunt ancient castles. Such ghosts are invisible - at times even visible - yet always present in the back of our minds, and everything we do and see is done and seen in relation to them. It is this fact that justifies, contrary to the original text, our immediate familiarity with the person who is going to be audible above the heads of the first-floor characters throughout the first act. For those who lack prior knowledge of the play, a faceless character- who is only gradually introduced through the sisters' dialogues might be exceedingly disturbing. Without visual representation, this character becomes uninteresting, the first-floor narrative is fractured into several tableaux, and the play turns into epic. As Tamás Bécsy contends, this Ibsen play is plainly defective because it lacks any development of the dramatic action, without which there is no play. The real protagonists of this play are the WOMEN. The story is largely carried by the twin sisters' past and present relationships to each other, which fact, however, does not make it a feminist story. Rather, it is a play about power and control, a play penned by a male author, and grounded in nineteenth century patriarchy, it depicts the battling of two women for prestige, for a male, a son, as well as their fight against a third woman, their common rival. The character of the fourth woman - the innocent but already victimized Foldal girl, Frida - is not elaborated enough, although she could potentially serve not only as an embodiment of a vision of the future, but also as a dream image and even as a symbol of a kind of fulfillment (but that would constitute a different play). MRS. BORKMAN is the less adaptable, less understanding and less humane half of the twins. The animosity between her and her twin sister can be traced back to their childhood. Owing to her more agreeable nature, it was Ella who was always considered to be the "real" woman, while Gunhild was apparently neglected. This is what hardened Gunhild's soul and what carved severe lines on her face. The odds were also on Ella's side in the sisters' competition for Borkman; indeed Gunhild's 48