Woody Allen - Henrik Ibsen. Hedda and her sisters - on women and space

Astrid Sæther

doi:10.7557/13.3383

Authors

Astrid Sæther Centre for Ibsen Studies, University of Oslo

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7557/13.3383

Keywords:

Henrik Ibsen, Woody Allen, Feminity, Gender, Space.

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to relate Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler to Woody Allen’s Interiors with respect to their inquiry into women’s relation to power and art. Both artists are close watchers and profound analysts of women’s positions in times of transition, and both relate their themes to class and gender. The subordination of women is apparent in the use of cinematic and theatrical space. In order to compare the screenplay and the drama text I have studied how the artists allow women to use space, building on C. Hermann’s theory (1976) about spatial systematization and hierarchization.

Author Biography

Astrid Sæther, Centre for Ibsen Studies, University of Oslo

Astrid Margrethe Sæther. Associate Professor, Centre for Ibsen Studies, University of Oslo. Director of the Ibsen Centre, 1992-2000, lecturer at the University of Copenhagen, and at the University of Odense, 1978-1990. Visiting Professor and Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, 2012-2014. Has edited a number of anthologies, articles, and the biography Suzannah. Fru Ibsen (2008). Co-editor of Ibsen Studies, Editor-in-chief of Ibsen and the Arts (2002), Ibsen, Tragedy, and the Tragic (2003), Den biografiske Ibsen (2010).