IBSEN and the Suicide Enigma

Abstract

The famous Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen died of natural causes in old age. Ibsen's life and his creative work strongly suggest suicidal tendencies never manifested in his behavior. Various factors in his personality are examined and contrasted with aspects of Ernest Hemingway, who did commit suicide. Although both men tended to move around through most of their lives, and to reject close emotional ties, Ibsen can be seen to be less compulsively self-sufficient. Although Ibsen's plays indicate an acceptance of suicide as a reasonable solution to difficult problems, the author maintained his stability; partly through keeping to a high level of creative quality, and partly through continuous dependence on his only wife. Since a suicide outcome is generally unpredictable, the study of lives such as Ibsen's may reveal factors of resiliency in suicidally-inclined people, and thereby reduce the unpredictability.