In these works, we meet two older men, bank manager Borkman and the artist Rubek, who both go through an inner struggle with the sacrifices they have imposed on family and friends in order to be able to follow their own artistic dreams.
These plays are often considered some of Ibsen's most autobiographical works, as he himself was well grown up and in a contemplative phase of life when he wrote them in his apartment in Arbins gate 1.
Below you can take a closer look at the plot of each of the plays.
John Gabriel Borkman
John Gabriel Borkman and Ella Rentheim were lovers in their youth. Lawyer Hinkels was in love with Ella, and offered John Gabriel a position as bank manager in exchange for letting go of Ella. Driven by personal ambitions, he settled for her twin sister Gunhild, and they had a son, Erhart.
As a child, John Gabriel was with his father in the mines and heard the ore sing as it was mined. In this way, he also tries as a bank manager to get the bank's money to flow through dubious transactions. Attorney Hinkels, who holds John Gabriel responsible for Ella's still rejecting him, exposes the fraud. This leads to eight years in prison, while Ella takes in Erhart as a foster son and gets them a house.
After serving his sentence, John Gabriel isolates himself in the house and wanders restlessly on the second floor. Ella becomes terminally ill. She offers Erhart to become sole heir in exchange for bearing her name, Rentheim.
John Gabriel is willing to sacrifice the family name, while Gunhild wants Erhart to make a career and restore the family's honor. Erhart does not care about his mother's pride, his father's reputation, or his dying aunt's legacy. Out in the snow, the cold grips John Gabriel's heart and he dies, while the sisters reconcile in the darkness of the night.
When We Dead Awaken
Arnold Rubek is an aging and famous visual artist. He has created the sculpture Day of the Resurrection in which Irene was the model. When she was younger, she saw it as her life's mission to follow Rubek and help him with his art. She also had feelings for him, but when she realized that Rubek saw her as nothing more than a model, she left him in anger and disappointment.
Since then, Rubek's creative abilities have been weakened, and only Irene can get him back to the artist he once was. Now he is married to the much younger Maja, and they have lived abroad in a marriage that has faded over the years.
Maja and Arnold Rubek are holidaying at a seaside hotel in Norway. Coincidentally, Irene is also there, along with a deaconess who follows her like a shadow. Maja meets the bear hunter Ulfhejm who invites her up into the mountains.
Irene accuses Rubek of ruining her life. She has two marriages behind her in addition to a stay in a mental hospital. Rubek asks her to come back so he can create again. Together, the two go up the mountain where they meet Maja and Ulfhejm who are on their way back down to seek shelter from the storm. Rubek and Irene continue uphill and are taken by an avalanche.