Catilina

by Henrik Ibsen

Catilina var Ibsens debutarbeid som dramatiker og en viktig nøkkel inn i det som skal bli et av verdenslitteraturens meste betydelige forfatterskap. Catilina ble skrevet i løpet av de tre første månedene av 1849. De første opptegnelsene må ha blitt gjort mot slutten av 1848. Stykket handler, som tittelen angir, om Catilina, en romersk statsmann, som vil gjenreise Romas storhet. Utsvevende livsførsel i tidlige år hindrer ham i å realisere de politiske ambisjonene han bærer på. Utgivelsen baserer seg på andre reviderte utgave fra 1875. Teksten er hentet fra den såkalte "folkeutgaven".

(tekst fra bokklubben.no)

Genres: Plays, Classics, Drama, Theatre

127 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1850

About the author

Henrik Johan Ibsen was a major Norwegian playwright largely responsible for the rise of modern realistic drama. He is often referred to as the "father of modern drama." Ibsen is held to be the greatest of Norwegian authors and one of the most important playwrights of all time, celebrated as a national symbol by Norwegians.

His plays were considered scandalous to many of his era, when Victorian values of family life and propriety largely held sway in Europe and any challenge to them was considered immoral and outrageous. Ibsen's work examined the realities that lay behind many facades, possessing a revelatory nature that was disquieting to many contemporaries.

Ibsen largely founded the modern stage by introducing a critical eye and free inquiry into the conditions of life and issues of morality. Victorian-era plays were expected to be moral dramas with noble protagonists pitted against darker forces; every drama was expected to result in a morally appropriate conclusion, meaning that goodness was to bring happiness, and immorality pain. Ibsen challenged this notion and the beliefs of his times and shattered the illusions of his audiences.

Reviews

[Leo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've never gone into so blind into a work of fiction before (play) before. Didn't find information what it was about but I wanted to read something by Henrik Ibsen and saw that this was first of his plays. Think I'll have a little project reading through his plays but don't know how long it will take me.

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cataline is one of the villains of history. Or should one say is supposed to be? He probably was. So it is fascinating to see what Ibsen does when he picks up this guy as the hero of his first play. (I am more than a little interested in the man because Trollope wrote his biography.)

First thing we learn is that he is in love with two women. Only one being his wife. The other is a Vestal Virgin with the appropriate name Furia. Because furious she is. And with good reason. Virgin she is, you see, by title only, not in fact. Because she has been raped. And now seeks revenge. Cataline is easily persuaded to take an oath to kill her enemy. Turns out he is himself the guy. How is that for drama? Next to this, Oedipus is a tale for children.

Cataline is a ruined man. He tried to bribe his way to consul ship, unsuccessfully. Now he and his lovely wife want to emigrate. But Furia has other plans. And luckily the prodigy of Cataline is all to willing to help her. Until he changes his mind.

So the Cataline conspiracy follows and finally death. In between Cataline gives away all his remaining money to some poor soldier, by the way. And it is hinted that he indeed wants to reestablish a better Rome.

It really is a pity that plays like this (I read it in a translation by Christian Morgenstern) are not performed anymore. Instead theatre people think it is a good idea to “adapt” novels for the stage. What a waste.

[Truls Haugen Sletvold · Rating 3 out of 5]

Den unge Henrik Ibsen som skrev dette stykket, vil veldig mye og får lite til. Han har en lang vei å gå…

Sommerprosjektet å lese alle Ibsens skuespill har hittil:

1/22 ☑️ (Ibsens samlede verker fra 2006 har 22 skuespill, selv om Ibsen skrev nærmere 30).


Ibsens debut fra 1850 er et ambisiøst, men rotete episk skuespill. Til å være en 22 år gammel apotekstudent i Grimstad, er det forsåvidt et imponerende forsøk.

Jeg velger å gi dette skuespillet en velfortjent..

👷‍♂️👷‍♂️👷‍♂️ - Tre Byggmester Solnesser


/

🧌🧌🧌🧌🧌 - fem Dovregrubber

[☄ · Rating 5 out of 5]

grant me gods of mercy, in return for what i gave
by the side of him i love, the stillness of the grave.

this. was. AMAZING. i have no words!!! ibsen you absolute mad man!!!! by now you all know well my obsession with dramatic renderings of catiline's conspiracies. i just... love catiline. he's wicked and tempestuous and unendingly complex and i adore him, my favorite of all the enemies of the state. this play (ibsen's first, written at the ripe old age of 22) captures catiline BEAUTIFULLY and in a way i've never seen him characterized before.

jonson portrays him as conniving and single-minded.

ibsen gives him a big fat heart and it HURTS to see him torn between what he believes to be his destiny and what he can never possibly have: a simple life lived by the side of his beloved wife, aurelia. my heart absolutely ached for aurelia. she is so sweet and so pure in all of her intentions - all she wants is to lie among the flowers with her husband and to escape the torment and corruption of roman life in the city. her eventual demise is a heart-wrencher. I DON'T WANNA TALK ABOUT IT!

overall, marvelously done. i love catiline, i love ibsen, i love magical realism. what more could a girl ask for?

[Rudi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tja. Catilina er nå spennende å lese, og interessant, i lys av at det er Ibsens første skuespill. Og jo, det er da noe her. De to kvinnelige karakterene som speiler senere kvinnefigurer i Ibsens forfatterskap. Forholdet mellom Catilinas personlige oppgjør og hans offentlige oppgjør. Og den slags. Men mens jeg ellers stort sett har klart å la meg rive med av det jeg har lest av Ibsen, var dette en kamp. Mye på grunn av den svulstige stilen, men også fordi selve intrigen ikke fanget min interesse. En slags konklusjon for min del, er at dette er et stykke som det er mer spennnende å lese om, enn å lese.

[Blaine DeSantis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Out of the clear blue I decided I wanted to read Ibsen's plays. Have never read any and so I started with the first and really liked it. Simple play about the Roman Senator who plotted to overthrow the Roman Senate in 63 BC. Play reads like an ancient one in that there are lots of references to Gods, the Vestal Virgin Furia, etc. Great stuff and and great way to start Ibsen!!

[Pernille · Rating 3 out of 5]

nå er jeg i gang
1/22
+ teller ikke med stykkene jeg har lest før

skjønner hvorfor folk ikke liker hans første så godt, men akt 3 trakk det opp fra 2 stjerner

[raShit · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Artık dünya baştan başa, buz gibi
Soğuk bir mezara döndü, kurşunî kubbeli,
Ve biz, o kubbeye dikmişiz gözlerimizi, biz
Işığın ve karanlığın, hayatın ve ölümün
Nefret ettiği, huzursuz gölgeleriz.”

[Nora Røssland · Rating 4 out of 5]

JUSTICE FOR FURIA

[Kowsar Bagheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

در ایران معمولاً نمایشنامه‌های مدرن ایبسن بارها ترجمه و چاپ می‌شن. تا جایی که من جست‌وجو کردم، این اولین‌باری‌ هست که اولین نمایشنامه‌ی ایبسن ( مربوط به دوران اساطیری و حماسی‌ش) به فارسی ترجمه و چاپ شده. اینو ایبسن در بیست‌ویک‌سالگی‌ش نوشته. چیزی که شخصیت ایبسن رو فارغ از هر چیز برای من ارزشمند می‌کنه، تغییرات سازنده و روند صعودی‌ش در حرفه‌شه. این اولین کارشه و ضعیف‌ترین چیزی‌ هست که من ازش خوندم (قاعدتاً). ولی خب با توجه به سن و بی‌تجربگی‌ش درخور توجه هست به‌هرحال.
در واقع امتیازم ۲.۵ از ۵ هست.

[Ahn Hundt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought a 5-volume set of Henrik Ibsen's complete works last year, and went into his plays without knowing anything. I had read nothing by him prior, so this was a completely blind buy that I did simply because he was one of James Joyce's favorite literary figures, and the complete works set I bought was pretty cheap, and I'm glad I made that purchase; 'Catiline/Catilina' is Ibsen's debut play, so obviously very far away from what people consider to be his best stories, even in the introduction to the play he says that he looks back on it fondly by claiming it introduces some of his themes that become more apparent in his highly acclaimed plays, and reading it was quite a joy, and if it only goes up from here, then I am very excited to see what heights he can reach.

I think this play mainly suffers from its brevity, the story is very condensed and it feels almost as if parts are missing, it just doesn't fell as thorough and satisfying as you'd want it to be, it moves quite quickly and it's over before you realize it, but at its core lies an excellent approach to dialogue and language. This play is in verse, so it was a pleasure to sink my teeth into Ibsen's lyrical prowess, and everything flowed very smoothly, and the choice of musical phrase is often quite powerful. There are many moments of early genius on display during some of the soliloquies, and while it obviously isn't Shakespeare, the play kept me engaged through the poetry despite being a little disjointed and clunky in story structure.

I think the approach to the historical figure of Catilina is interesting, flipping the script sort of and making him a hero is a fascinating premise that gets executed pretty decently, and I think his character as well as the characters of Furia, Curius, Lentulus and Aurelia are strong enough to be captivating and compelling, even though there's lots to desire, especially in the lesser characters that barely have any personality. I think the themes are explored in a rushed but also compact manner that did leave me satisfied, and I think I don't have much more to say. It is nothing special in the grander scheme of things, but as a first taste of a master, it was quite appetizing.

[LINN · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lest ifm jobb. Se for deg Game of Thrones-tidsepoke blandet med Romeo og Julie-kjærlighetsdrama. Catilina må velge mellom den lyse vene og den mørke dramatiske kvinnen. Jeg elsker jo Ibsen, og det er rart å gi han en 2’er men det har med leseropplevelsen å gjøre. Skrevet på rim, blandet med dansk og pompøst lyrisk språk gir ikke god leseflyt. Dette var jo hans første stykke, skrevet som 20-åring, så det er klart: da er det pompøst som en 20-åring selv. Ikke et stykke jeg anbefaler at leses, men tolkningen av det kan være interessant. Spesielt sett i lys av hans senere kvinneskikkelser i de andre skuespillene, samt hans eget personlige kvinnedrama (han gjorde tjenestejenta i Grimstad gravid på den tiden han bodde der og skrev dette stykket, mens han selv var forelsket i den rike herskapsjenta Clara).

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 2 out of 5]

This poetic drama in three acts, is set in Ancient Rome, where Catiline is disenchanted with his immoral rulers and dreams of "greatness, power and eternal fame". His wife Aurelia tries to discourage him from becoming enmeshed in politics so that he can retire with her to a peaceful life in the country. But her effect is defeated by that of Furia, the first of those overbearing women whom Ibsen was to depict at intermissions during the course of his work. She urges him to revolt, but then deceives him, revealing herself to be the sister of a woman whom Catiline had, in his youth, seduced and who had drowned hersef!!. Catiline commits suicide. Dark and forbidding, this play was part of my Ibsen project during the University years.

[Trine Hegre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ibsens debut, hvor intet mindre en oppreising av Romas storhet er hovedkarakterens Catilinas livskall. Parallelt følger er vi vitne til hans uetiske og forføreriske handlinger og hvordan dette blir hans tragedie.

Catilina har en artig tematisk likhet til Søren Kirkegaards Don Juan-karakter i forførerens dagbok. Forpliktelsen til ekteskapet versus begjæret til andre kvinner er et annet fellestrekk mellom de to verkene. Til slutt og som det siste avgjørende poeng; det enkelte individ innehar en subjektiv skyld og det må en bøte for.

Dette er det mest krevende stykket å lese og forstå av Ibsen så langt, men det bekrefter utvilsomt Ibsens kreative ferdigheter og psykologisk innsikt i menneskets sinn og natur.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a terrible play, but Ibsen can be partly forgiven because it was his first play, written where he was a mere twenty years old. (But then again, Schiller wrote The Robbers when he was 21! But I digress…) The set-up is a classic psychomachia, represented by the rather clichéd “woman of light vs. woman of darkness.” Ibsen is imitating the tragedies of classic antiquity, perhaps with a touch of influence from European Romantics such as Schiller. In short, I’m glad I read Ibsen’s later work before reading this one. I would advise others to do the same.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've decided to take on reading all of the play of Ibsen, so this one is the first in a collection I have. It's not my first Ibsen, but it was the first one I found hard to follow. I still am at a bit of a loss of what the main thread was, and although there were several really powerful moments I had a hard time figuring out what has going on. Maybe I'm just off my play-reading game. Hopefully the next one will fair as a better reading experience!

[Ring Chime · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not surprising to me to read that this was Henrik Ibsen's first attempt. It's one of the more cliche pieces that I've read. The tension which is inherent to most tragedies is not quite as thick here as other works I've read. There's some reuse of imagery and especially Furia and Aurelia that hammers home the point rather clumsily in some ways.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading or rereading all Ibsen in 2018. This first play is grand, versed and splendidly rhyming in Anders Orbeck’s translation. Our brave hero is hounded and destroyed by the spirit of a Vestal Virgin whose sister he wronged — as far as I know, Ibsen’s own invention.

[Michael A. Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this play more readable than Brand, although the main character is no more endearing.

[Henrik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ibsens første skuespill har mange spirer man finner igjen i senere Ibsen, men er ikke så alt for interessant i seg selv.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

wish I could add a 0.5 star, just for Furia

[Winter · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ikke helt Ibsens vanlige stil, han prøvde seg vel på noe shakespeariansk drama. Det var ikke ille, samtidig så var det ikke en favoritt.

[Jannicke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reminded me of how much I actually like Ibsen's writing. I have kind of an aversion because of school.
It isn't the best, Catilina's mood-swings are a bit unrealistic, but considering it's Ibsen's first play it's good. The language is outdated but it's not hard to understand. It is very clear that he draws inspiration from 1848 and the revolution that raged across Europe.

I read this because I was going to have a group presentation of the use of the ancient Greece or Rome in "newer age".

[Dianne Durante]

Recently I swiped open the Delphi Kindle edition of Ibsen's collected works and decided to read Ibsen's very first play, which I'd never heard of: Catiline. In the preface, Ibsen explains that as a student reading Cicero's Catilinian orations, he was intrigued by the fact that our only record of Catiline is from his opponents: "I am even now prone to believe that there must after all have been something great and consequential" about Catiline, he says.
Like most readers, I start with an author's best-known works, and I was wondering if I'd be able to see why this play of Ibsen's is so little known and seldom performed. The answer in this case is: yes. I don't have to share the character's values in order to appreciate a play esthetically, but I do have to find the character all of a piece. The transition of Ibsen's Catiline from freedom-loving patriot to bloody-minded destroyer is just too drastic to be believable.