Antigone, by Sophocles

Antigone is well known as the play that indicates that the Greeks understood the primacy of natural law over temporal laws enacted by governments.  Antigone is Oedipus’s elder daughter, who after burying her father, wishes to perform the burial rites for her brothers, both killed in the war.  The problem is that her uncle Creon has passed a law that prohibits anyone, from burying Polynices, her elder brother, seen as a traitor who made war against his own city. Antigone disobeys this law, on the grounds that the laws of the gods are more important than the laws of man, and suffers the consequences.  Like the other two plays, the narrative is simple and direct, the characters lifelike.

Oedipus at Colonus, by Sophocles

Of Sophocles’s three Theban plays, this is the one we didn’t read in high school.  It covers the end of Oedipus’s life, years after he has left Thebes, blind, and in shame because of the misfortune he brought to the city.  His two sons are at war over who will be the next king of Thebes, and his two daughters are really the only ones left he can rely on.  Having learned his lesson on how unwise it is to try to cheat fate, he is obedient to the prophecies when choosing his last resting place—at Colonus, near Athens—and resists entreaties from his two sons to settle near one of them, since there is a new prophecy that says that whomever Oedipus goes to live with will win the war.  I didn’t find this one as interesting as the other two plays in the series.

Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles

This is a re-read for me, as we read this for English class when I was in high school years ago.  Probably everyone knows the story of Oedipus and how he and everyone around him tried to cheat the prophecy of the oracle, and failed.  It packs a punch.  I don’t remember it being quite so dramatic and vivid when I read it the first time years ago.  Or maybe I just appreciate it better now since I’m reading it because I want to, not because a teacher is requiring it.

The Wild Duck, by Henrik Ibsen

This play makes one think about truth-telling, how it can be used for good or ill, and how good intentions can very well end in bad results.  While being honest is recognized as a morally good thing in general, one's motivations behind telling the truth and realistic expectations of likely consequences do matter when trying to judge whether or not it is a good thing to do in particular situations.

The wild duck, though silent, is in a way the most important character in the play.  Apparently they have a tendency, when shot, to plunge all the way down to the bottom of the water, get hold of the weeds that are found on the lake bed, and hang on tight to them until death, never coming back up to the surface.

Ibsen seems to indicate that life is like a lake scene.  The water is beautiful and smooth, while at the bottom lie all the weeds and junk that nobody wants to see and that people prefer to not think about.  But it's there all the same.  The "wild ducks" among us are those who are forced by others, well-intentioned or not, in the name of "honesty" to get down to the bottom of the lake to see all the debris.  But once they see it, they are unable to let go and live life on the surface as before, so the sight destroys them. 

The Master Builder, by Henrik Ibsen

Another great play by Henrik Ibsen.  It's about a builder named Halvard Solness who experienced tragedy early in his life. Ibsen leaves it ambiguous as to whether the tragedy was an unavoidable accident or due to willful negligence since it resulted in career opportunities for Solness.  Since that time, he has been angry at God, and carried out his life as if there isn't one.  As far as money and career go, his life has outwardly been very successful; he takes great pride in being a self-made man who owes nothing to anyone (especially God). 

But despite the formidable exterior, there are signs that not all is well.  The tragedy destroyed his marriage such that his wife is a shell of what she once was, and Solness has been consoling himself with the admiration of younger women.  There's a certain type of building Solness refuses to work on: churches.  Then there's his odd habit of putting tall church-like spires on all the buildings he designs, and the Norwegian custom of the builder climbing up to the highest part of the building to put a wreath on it on opening day.

In many ways this play brings to mind Icarus and Daedalus, not to mention the Tower of Babel--stories of what happens to people who think they can attain heaven on their own instead of being humble enough to rely on God's grace.

A Doll's House, by Henrik Ibsen

I like this even better than Hedda Gabler. Husband Torvald is kind and affectionate to wife Nora, but has a tendency to treat her like a pampered child to spoil, amuse himself with and protect from all cares. However, years ago when they were poorer and Torvald seriously ill, Nora decided to bend the law, risking her own good name to borrow a large sum of money for his extended rest cure in Italy. She has been living in fear ever since that her secret will get out. Meanwhile her creditor wants a favor from her that she has little power to give and he's threatening to talk.

It brings to mind that Bible verse everyone hates but never quotes in its entirety (because they've already blown their top before they get halfway through), Ephesians 5:22-27: Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord...Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her....  This play is about a husband who fell short, a disappointed wife, and the need to do a lot of growing up, not to mention a lot of reflection about what marriage is, before they can be reconciled.

Hedda Gabler, by Henrik Ibsen

This has some similarities to Madame Bovary in that the title character is a beautiful woman who marries a good natured man that she finds boring and who looks for excitement elsewhere. 

However, Hedda Gabler has a cold calculating nature that I don't remember Emma Bovary as having.   She is quite capable of deliberately ruining other people's lives purely for her own entertainment.  She has a foil in her friend Mrs. Elvsted and also Aunt Julie--women who freely give of themselves to care for others. The two men who are interested in Hedda are Judge Brack, whose coldness and calculation are quite similar to her own, and Eilert Lovborg, an old beau with a generous, romantic nature and a self-destructive streak.  The play is about how these differing personalities affect each other's lives.

Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller

This is the story of Willy Loman, a salesman whose main fault seems to be a lack of prudence, the virtue of always remaining firmly anchored to reality.  Willy likes to think of himself as a very successful, popular salesman with a wealth of contacts in the Northeastern territory with a devoted wife and two grown sons on track to become as successful as himself.  In real life, his boss is trying to get him to retire, and his wife and sons are very careful not to say or let him know anything that might spoil his illusion since they found evidence pointing towards a suicide attempt on his part.  His elder son hasn't accomplished much of anything after being a star football player in high school and has lost several jobs because of theft, while his younger son is a womanizer who hasn't done much else either.

 I would probably enjoy this more if I saw a performance rather than just reading it.  It did get a bit dull at times, although the premise is interesting.