Summary: | 碩士 === 輔仁大學 === 德國語文學系 === 89 === For everyone in this world the following description should be a common experience: “There is a will, but not the strength to act upon it.” In such a situation we will be compelled to give up our wishes and become a person without disposing capacity. Faktors causing such helpless situation can be many. But the most notorious one is society’s intentional discrimination, to which especially women fall victim. Women suffering in this situation of powerlessness are a theme in literature. In literature women characters usually perform a significant function. Just like David Thomas, author of Henrik Ibsen, says: “a yardstick for judging the maturity and humanity of contemporary society.” Therefore, in order to examine europe’s society especially in 19 century, I use Hebbels and Ibsens works as a demonstration in this study. Hebbel is probably the most well-known dramatist in German literature of the 19 century. In his most representative work Maria Magdalena he not only ends the tradition of civil tragedy, but also creates the first time in German literature a civil tragedy taking place in a family instead of several social levels. Ibsen, born in Norway, is such a important dramatist, that he is respectfully addressed as the founder of modern drama. Although Hebbel and Ibsen represent two different kinds of national literature, the similarities of this two dramatists are more noticeable than their differences. David E. R. George, author of Henrik Ibsen in Germany, even describes Ibsen as Hebbels incarnation. Then in my study I will try to demonstrate, how this two dramatists of 19 century handle the helpless situation of women characters in their works.
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