In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Spring 2010 9 The Post-Oedipal Father and The Master Builder Magdalen Wing-chi Ki Instead of focusing on Henrik Ibsen’s deployment of symbols and Scandinavian folklore in The Master Builder,1 this essay argues that the play foregrounds the rise and fall of the post-oedipal father. If Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer relate the rise of the enlightened father to the dialectic of myth and reason, Ibsen problematizes the fall of the post-oedipal father due to the dialectic of the Imaginary troll-self, the Symbolic discourse of reason, and the Real symptom of (self-)love. In turn, The Master Builder unveils the clash between the old and new fathers, and reveals how the new father engages fresh with myths and reason, only to unleash a symptomatic force in the drive that welcomes aberrational self-destruction. Solness becomes a troll-man, and his decision strongly influences others’lives, for the living-dead wife, the performative fiancée, and the bird-woman can no longer anchor themselves in the past, or in any rational discourse that guarantees stable identities or social values. Eventually, all these characters are left to “enjoy” their symptoms. When asked to comment on the play, Ibsen refused to depreciate his characters; instead he asked, “was it so mad” for a person to undertake an action that cost “him his life, if he did it for his own happiness and only then, for the first time, achieved it?”2 The Master Builder demonstrates Ibsen’s new understanding of humanity, for happiness no longer implies the pursuit of mythic ideals or reason, but a stubborn attachment to the symptom in the drive. This essay employs a psychoanalytic (Lacanian, Žižekian) framework to map out the development of the post-oedipal father, juxtaposing Solness’s subjectpositions with his changing architectural styles. I argue that, in the final stage, the master builder is keen on subverting the conventional “space-architecture” and promoting an imaginary “place-architecture.” Gaston Bachelard first uses psychological vocabulary to study the “topoanalysis of the places.” Following Bachelard, Edward Casey foregrounds the “placiality of the unconscious,” and the psychological depth of the non-physical “imaginational place.” Just as traditional space purports to avoid the void, Solness finally welcomes the empty space. His imagined castle helps redefine the concept of inhabitation, for, in the words of Casey, “inhabitation is a matter of memorably contented dwelling, of being-well Magdalen Wing-chi Ki is Assistant Professor in the Department of English at the Hong Kong Baptist University. She received her Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Edinburgh, specializing in JaneAusten studies. Her recent publications include: “Structure andAnti-Structure: Virginia Woolf’s Feminist Politics and ‘The Mark on the Wall,’” English Studies (2010); “Diabolical Evil and Poe’s ‘The Black Cat,’” Mississippi Quarterly (2009); “Othello and the Master-Servant Dialectic,” The Dalhousie Review (2009); “Ego-Evil and ‘The Tell-Tale Heart,’” Renascence (2008); “Gift Theory and the Book of Job,” Theological Studies (2006); “The S(ub)lime Symptom and O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night” Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism (2006). 10 Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism and well-being.3 Before we go any further, a short summary of The Master Builder will reveal why post-oedipality is a key issue in this play. Solness yearns for the death of the “old” architecture so that his new design can flourish. He summons supernatural helpers and servers, and the burning down of Aline’s old house makes his dream come true. Solness’s modern architectural style enjoys great success, resulting in his former boss, Knut Brovik, having to work for him. For the sake of his own interest, Solness willingly lets Brovik die in sorrow by seeing to it that Brovik’s competent son, Ragnar, must not be allowed to build. It is Solness’s policy never to allow the younger generation to outshine him, especially when he feels that his success comes with a pervasive sense of guilt and ennui. He cannot forget the past—how the fire takes away his wife’s happiness and the lives of his two boys. To bury his grief, Solness is ruthless in...

pdf

Share