Eivind TjØnneland: “Abnorme” Kvinner. Henrik Ibsen Og Dekadansen.

Eivind Tjønneland has already published several texts about Ibsen’s women, such as Rebekka West and Hedda Gabler, as well as other aspects of his work, such as modernity in Ibsen og moderniteten from 1993, symbolism in “Ibsen og symbolismen” from 2021, and the concept of bohemianism in “Bohembegrepet i norsk litteraturdebatt 1890” from 2021.” Tjønneland’s present volume studies the concept of decadence and literary representations of decadence both in general and in relation to the heroines in Ibsen’s plays. The main theme of the book is the connection between decadence and abnormality, especially as it is relevant to the women in Ibsen’s drama. Tjønneland gives a nuanced portrait of the author in his final years as seen through the critical reception of the time. Tjønneland focuses primarily on Norwegian critics but includes insights from Swedish, Danish, and German voices as well. In the twelve chapters of the book, he discusses “abnormal” female figures and theoretical perspectives on the Decadent Woman of the 1890s. In the first chapter he introduces what he refers to as Ibsen’s “abnormal” female characters, while in the second chapter he presents the decadent woman of 1890 before he, in the third chapter, investigates Hedda Gabler. In chapter four he presents how women were associated with “primitive races” in the 1890s, and then he brings up Hilde Wangel. In the sixth chapter he shows how Ibsen’s characters were seen as lacking Norwegian character, and in the seventh how the Norwegian literary historian Christen Collin saw decadent women as “morally abnormal fantasy children.” In chapter eight Tjønneland examines Rita Allmers and in chapter