“Per Gynt” Ibsen in brief summary


The action of the poem covers the time from the beginning to the 60s. XIX century. and occurs in Norway, on the Moroccan coast of the Mediterranean, in the Sahara desert, in a crazy house in Cairo, at sea and again in Norway, in the homeland of the hero.

A young country boy, Per Gynt, fools around, deceiving his mother Osa. He tells her a story about hunting for a quick reindeer. The wounded reindeer rises with a feather mounted on it to the top of the ridge, and then jumps from a height into a crystal-clear lake like a mirror, rushing to its own reflection. With bated breath, Osa listens. She does not immediately remember: she knows the story – Per only slightly altered the old tradition, trying it on himself. Torn clothing of his son is explained by another – he fought with the blacksmith Aslak. Pera is haunted by the surrounding guys often: he likes to fantasize, and in dreams he sees himself as a hero of fairy tales or legends – a prince or a king, while

others regard his stories as empty boasting and nonsense. In general, Per is too arrogant! Of course, he is the son of a captain, even if he has drunk, spoiled his fortune and left his family. And one more thing – Per like girls. On this occasion, the mother complains that he would not marry Ingrid, the daughter of a rich farmer? Then they had a land and an estate! But Ingrid looked at Per. It’s a pity! Just in the evening playing her wedding, Ingrid marries Masa Mona.

For Masa Mona? The mattress and the stilt? It will not happen! Per goes to the wedding! Trying to dissuade her son, Osa threatens – she will go with her son and in front of everyone will abuse him! Ah well! Per, laughing and playful, puts his mother on the roof of someone else’s house: let him sit here, until it is removed, and he yet descends on a holiday.

At the wedding of the uninvited guest they are met with hostility. Girls do not go to dance with him. Per once distinguishes among them Solveig, the daughter of a peasant-sectarian from immigrants. She is so beautiful, pure and modest that even he, a dashing guy, is

afraid to approach her. Per invites Solveig several times, but each time he receives a refusal. In the end, the girl confesses to him: she is ashamed to go with a drunk. In addition, she does not want to upset her parents: strict rules of their religion do not make exceptions for anyone. Per distressed. Taking advantage of the moment, the guys offer him a drink, then later laugh at him. Pera also angers and provokes the groom, who does not know how to deal with the bride… Suddenly, even for himself, Per grabs the bride under his arm and, “as a pig,” as one of the guests say, carries her to the mountains.

Passionate passion Pera is not long, he almost immediately releases Ingrid on all four sides: she is far from Solveig! The enraged Ingrid leaves, and Per arranges a round-up. He hides in the depths of the forest, where he is welcomed by three shepherdesses who reject their troll friends for the sake of his love. Here the next morning Per meets the Woman in the Green Cloak, the daughter of the Dovrsky king – the ruler of the evil spirits in the forest – trolls, kobolds, woodpeckers and witches. Per wants a Woman, but even more he wants to be a real prince – even a forest! Conditions Dovr’s grandfather puts tough: trolls profess “soil” principles, they do not recognize free travel outside the forest and are content only with home – food, clothing, customs. The princess will be married to Per, but first he should wear a tail and drink the honey here. Curled, Per agrees to both. Everything in the palace of Dovr’s grandfather looks hard and ugly, but this, as Dovr’s grandfather explains, is just a defect of the human view of life. If, after making an operation, perekusit Peru’s eyes, he will also see instead of white black and instead of ugly beautiful, that is, he will gain a world view of the true troll. But Per’s operation, ready for power and glory for almost everything, does not go – he was and will remain a man! Trolls lean on him, but when they hear the sounds of the church bell, they let go. ready for power and glory for almost everything, does not go – he was and will remain a man! Trolls lean on him, but when they hear the sounds of the church bell, they let go. ready for power and glory for almost everything, does not go – he was and will remain a man! Trolls lean on him, but when they hear the sounds of the church bell, they let go.

Per – in an unconscious state between life and death. The invisible Curve envelops him with fetters and screams for the massacre of winged demons. Per stumbles and falls, but again the church singing and ringing of bells are heard. With a cry: “Death to me, women behind him!” – The curve lets go of Per.

He is found in the forest by his mother and Solveig. Ose tells his son: for kidnapping Ingrid he is now outlawed and can only live in the forest. Per builds a hut. The snow has already fallen and the house is almost ready when Solveig resorts to him on skis: she left her strict but loved parents, deciding to stay with him forever.

Per does not believe in his own happiness. He emerges from the hut behind the brushwood and unexpectedly meets in the woods a heavily fattened Woman in Green with a freak, whom she represents to Peru as his son – who, by the way, meets his father not very affably. Trollich requires Pera to drive Solveig! Or, maybe, they will heal in his house three together? Per is in despair, he is burdened with a heavy sense of guilt. He is afraid to blot Solveig with his past and does not want to deceive her. So he must give it up! Saying goodbye, he leaves the hut supposedly for a minute, but in reality forever.

Peru has no choice but to flee the country, but he does not forget about his mother and visits her. Osie is ill, her neighbor helps her; Simple property in the house is described by a bailiff. In the misfortune of the mother, of course, the son is guilty, but Osa justifies him, she believes that Per her is not bad, it was ruined by wine. The old woman feels that she does not have much time to live – her feet are cold, the cat is scratching the door. Per sits down on the bed and, comforting his mother, tells her in a sing-song tale. They are both invited to the magical castle of Suria Muria. The crow is already harnessed, they are riding along the snowy field, through the forest. That’s the gate! Saint Peter himself meets them, and Osa, as an important lady, brings coffee and a cake. The gate is behind, they are at the castle. Per praises the mother for her cheerful disposition, for patience and solicitude, he did not appreciate them before, so let the owner of the magical castle reward her for kindness! Looking askance at Ax, Per sees that she is dead. Without waiting for a funeral, he leaves “for the sea, the further, the better.”

Many years pass. Peru Gyuntu at fifty. Well-groomed and prosperous, he takes guests on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco. Next to the sea is his yacht under the American flag. Guests of Per: the businesslike master Cotton, the profoundly meaningful background of Eberkopf, the boisterous monsieur Balloon and the laconic but ardent Trumpeterstroele – extol the host for hospitality and generosity. How did a man from the people make such a brilliant career! In cautious terms, trying not to offend the liberal-progressive views of the guests, Per Gynt tells them the truth: he speculated in China church antiques and was engaged in slave trade in the southern states of America. Now he is on a yacht heading to Greece and can offer friends a deal. Excellent! They will gladly help the Greek insurgents in their struggle for freedom! Here, here, Gynt confirms, he wants them to fan the flames of the uprising as much as possible. The greater the demand for weapons. He will sell it to Turkey, and they will divide the profits together. The guests are confused. They are ashamed and at the same time sorry for the lost profits. Von Eberkopf finds a way out – guests take away the yacht from Gynt and swim away on it. Cursing the failed companions, Per threatened them after – and a miracle! – a yacht loaded with weapons explodes! God keeps Gynt for further achievements.

Morning. Gynt hides from predatory animals on a palm tree, but here it also enters the society… of monkeys. Instantly orienting, Per adapts to the laws of the pack. The adventure ends safely. Jumping off the tree, the hero wanders through the desert further, realizing in the imagination the majestic project of irrigation of the Sahara. Per Gynt will turn the desert into an ideal country – Guntianu, he will settle the Norwegians in it and encourage them to study the sciences and the arts that will flourish in such a blessed climate. The only thing he does not have now… is a horse. Surprisingly, Gynt immediately gets it. The horse and precious clothes were hidden behind thie barkhans by thieves, who were frightened off by the guards searching for them.

Having dressed in oriental clothes, Gynt goes further, and in one of the oases the Arabs take him for an important person – as Gynt himself thinks, for the prophet. The newly-revealed prophet is keenly interested in the charms of the local Huriyah – Anitra, but she deceives him – she does not need a soul, but the jewels of Gynt. The role of the prophet also failed.

Next stop is Pera in Egypt. Considering the Sphinx and the statue of Memnon, Per imagines himself a famous historian and archaeologist. Mentally, he builds grandiose plans for travel and discovery, but… does the face of the Sphinx remind him of someone? Whom? Is not Dovre a grandfather? Or the enigmatic Curve?

Per shares his conjectures with a certain Behriffenfeld, and he, very interested in the interlocutor, promises to introduce him to his Cairo friends. In the house with barred windows, Behriffenfeld under a terrible secret reports: literally an hour ago the Absolute Reason was reincarnated – they are in a madhouse. Behriffenfeld, his director, introduces Pera to the sick: Gutu, the champion of the revival of the ancient language of the Indian monkeys, Fellah, who considers himself the sacred bull of the ancient Egyptians Apis, and Hussein, who imagines himself a pen that must be immediately cleaned, which he does himself, cutting his throat with a penknife. All this fantastic scene was well understood by Ibsen’s contemporaries, in it on the “Egyptian” material are encoded attacks against the national Norwegian Romanticism: Gutu is supposed to be Ivar Osen, the creator of the lansmol, the artificial language composed of peasant dialects, the fellah is the Norwegian bond, the “sacred cow” and the ideal of the Norwegian romantics, Hussein the foreign minister Manderstrem, who betrayed during the Danish-Prussian military conflict in 1864 the ideals of Scandinavianism: he substituted the specific actions of Sweden and Norway in defense of Denmark by writing countless notes of protest, for which he was nicknamed Ibsen in a newspaper article as a “capable pen.” Oshalev from the atmosphere of insanity and committed suicide before his eyes, Per falls into a swoon, and the mad director of the yellow house sits on top of him and crowns his head with a straw wreath of a fool. Hussein, Foreign Minister Manderstrom, betrayed the ideals of Scandinavianism during the Danish-Prussian military conflict in 1864: he substituted specific actions by Sweden and Norway in defense of Denmark by writing countless notes of protest, for which he was nicknamed Ibsen in a newspaper article as a “capable pen” . Oshalev from the atmosphere of insanity and committed suicide before his eyes, Per falls into a swoon, and the mad director of the yellow house sits on top of him and crowns his head with a straw wreath of a fool. Hussein, Foreign Minister Manderstrom, betrayed the ideals of Scandinavianism during the Danish-Prussian military conflict in 1864: he substituted specific actions by Sweden and Norway in defense of Denmark by writing countless notes of protest, for which he was nicknamed Ibsen in a newspaper article as a “capable pen” . Oshalev from the atmosphere of insanity and committed suicide before his eyes, Per falls into a swoon, and the mad director of the yellow house sits on top of him and crowns his head with a straw wreath of a fool.

It takes many more years. Perfectly gray Per Gynt returns to his homeland. His ship is sinking off the coast of Norway, but Gyuntu, clinging to the boat thrown into the sea, manages to escape. On board the ship Pera pursued the Unknown Passenger, vainly begging his body for “science” – in fact Per, in his opinion, will certainly die soon. And the same Passenger appears in the sea again and clings to the inverted boat; to a direct question whether he is the Devil, the Passenger answers evasively and casuously with a question, in turn denouncing Per as a person who is not too persistent in spirit.

Per successfully arrives at home. He accidentally falls into the cemetery, where he listens to the priest’s laudatory word over the coffin of one settler – a man who snatched himself a sickle finger during the war. This man, with all his life and, mainly, with his tireless work, has redeemed his cowardice and earned the respect of society. In the words of the priest Peru there is a reproach – he did not create a family or a house. In his former village at the funeral, Ingrid Per greets many old acquaintances who are old beyond recognition. And he himself remains unrecognized, although people remember him – the local police chief, for example, remembering Per, calls him a poet who believed in a fantasy reality he invented. But Pera immediately recognizes in the forest Pugovicnik, has long been looking for him. The time of Gynt on earth is over, and Pugovicnik intends immediately on the spot to pour his soul into a button – because in Paradise, or in Hell, Per’s soul does not fall, it is only suitable for melting. Scoundrel Pera Pugovicnik does not consider him a scoundrel, but he was not a good person either? Most importantly, Per Gynt did not fulfill his destiny on the ground – he did not become himself, he only tried on a variety of averaged-standard roles. However, Per knows about this himself, unless recently, he did not compare himself with the bulb. The bulb also does not have a solid core and consists of only pelts. Per was and remained a rolling field. he only tried on a different averaged-standard roles. However, Per knows about this himself, unless recently, he did not compare himself with the bulb. The bulb also does not have a solid core and consists of only pelts. Per was and remained a rolling field. he only tried on a different averaged-standard roles. However, Per knows about this himself, unless recently, he did not compare himself with the bulb. The bulb also does not have a solid core and consists of only pelts. Per was and remained a rolling field.

Per Gynt is frightened. What can be more terrible than melting away the soul – turning it into an absolutely amorphous faceless gray? He asks Pugovicnik for a delay, he will prove to him that in his nature there was something integral! The Cryptographer releases Pera. But his meetings with the lost Dovrsky grandfather and Kostlyav of the former power do not give anything definite, and Guntu now needs precisely this – definite! Wandering through the forest, Per goes to the once built hut. On the threshold he is met by Solveig, aged, but happy from the fact that she saw him again. Only now Per Gynt understands that he is saved. Even under the most varied masks during his whole variegated life he remained himself – in the hope, faith and love of the woman waiting for him.

The Counselor releases Pera with a warning that he will wait for him at the next intersection. They will still talk among themselves.


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“Per Gynt” Ibsen in brief summary