A Psychologically Framed Expoloration of Human Nature: The Wild Duck

Henrik Ibsen uses several different stylistic devices in A Doll’s House. The author’s choice of writing this piece as a play is to emphasize interactions between various

Henrik Ibsen creates characters in A Doll’s House who change throughout the play. Ibsen’s use of foil characters helps the reader understand each individual character better. Some of the characters in the play are perceived as opposites but in fact share several similarities. Krogstad and Torvald, Christine and Nora, and Krogstad/Christine’s relationship and Torvald/Nora’s relationship are all foils to each other. Foil characters are mirror images of each other; they have similarities as well as differences.

The concept of nature vs nurture is easily one of the oldest and most controversial arguments of modern times. Harvard psychology professor Steven Pinker is notably known in the world of psychology and the social sciences for his book “The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature.” In his book, Pinker addresses this exact argument and reasons that human behavior is mostly and at its roots is formed by evolutionary psychological adaptations. In 2003, Steven Pinker gave a Ted Talk regarding his book and the idea that human behavior is predisposed, rather than formed by socialization, interactions between people and the exposure to culture. Pinker discusses the reasoning behind his stance on nature over nurture using five key discussion points, these points being, human universals, neurology and DNA, political reasoning, the arts and parenting. During his Ted Talk, Pinker begins by stating that there are human universals, concepts, behaviors and traits that are carried and found, with many similarities, throughout every human civilization, he then explains that a common example of this is with twins separated at birth, and can be proven through neurological studies. Another concept that Pinker address to further solidify his stance is the idea that the argument that humans are ‘blank slates’ and human behavior is developed through nurture rather than nature is the political reasoning behind the benefits of everyone being ‘blank slates’. Two critical points he made however

In Genesis one and two, it provides a full understanding of God’s creations and wisdom of human nature because it is free from evil. Human nature is revealed from Genesis one with God creating the Earth and the Heavens and creating the man of his likeness. The Bible explains how God created Adam, from dust and was placed in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:7). The Bible explains humanity was created to work and serve (Genesis 2:15). Subsequently, Eve was created; “God had created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). Adam and Eve would help God because He wanted them to multiply the Earth by taking care of all of his creation (Hiles & Smith, 2014). God is the sovereign ruler, he created humanity as how he should have wanted. The Bible explains about human nature that God created everything to be distinct from animals and all of His creation. God created us in his own image, which is why we all look different; we are unique in His eyes. Also, God created us to be good because we are born innocent of all evil and loving of God. In addition, we were all born pure as Adam and Eve were. The Bible explains that God was pleased with his creations, “God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:10-21).

In Genesis the word of God leads humanity in the direction of self preservation, urging them to procreate, to ”Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 9:1), and to minimize hostility and violence among people. As Freud asserted, “Besides the instinct to preserve living substance and join it into ever larger units, there must exist another, contrary instinct seeking to dissolve those units and bring them back to their primeval, inorganic state” (Freud 77). Genesis exemplifies the struggle between the two opposing human instincts, with God acting as a moderator between them. Forms of justice are put into place in an attempt to control these drives, one example being the proclamation that “Whoever sheds the blood of a human, by a human shall that person’s blood be shed” (Genesis 9:6). The ethics and laws that develop throughout Genesis seek to “prevent the crudest excesses of brutal violence” but are unable to control “the more cautious and refined manifestations of human aggressiveness” (Freud 70). Since they cannot be completely eradicated, the scriptures instead play into the more negative aspects of human nature, especially narcissism, and manipulate them into a force for conservation rather than annihilation.

Human beings are part of the animal kingdom, and therefore part of nature. If that is true, then everything they create or destroy is by default "natural". I agree with the statement.

Human nature by essence has been the cause of many entrepreneurial paths, all follow to known the essence itself behind of what we conceive as life. Moreover it’s righteous description and abstract content, that many great man has humbly studied and that for centuries have made a path closely enough to the understanding of it, yet far from the light, it seems to be and unsolvable question that gives us a “Raison d'être” to our existence in this world.

Where the Wilds Things Are is a 2009 fantasy film directed by Spike Jonze, it is adapted from Maurice Sendak’s children book of the same name wrote in 1963. Max, the main character of 9 years old, retreats from the frustration of his life into fantasy, and so do we all. The movie works with the part of the human subconscious.

Just as the muted, earthy tones of the dirt in a forest draw attention to the surreal colors of the changing autumn leaves, a literary foil is designed to bring out the attributes of the protagonist in a work by contrasting them with those of another character. Such can be seen in Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, which delves into the story a woman with a debilitating, but subtly written, fear of scandal. Hedda badly wants control, but has none, and desperately wants freedom, but has none due to her fear of judgement. On the other hand, Ibsen writes a character named Judge Brack; Brack goes purposefully against societal expectations, however he is unmarried and in ultimate control. Brack is ultimately a foil to Hedda, illustrating the

What does my culture tell me about human nature? Good question, but first, we need to establish, what is human nature? I would say, human nature is what makes us unique, it is something captured at birth, its instinctive, biological and something that differentiates us from every other species on earth. The question then becomes, can our culture influence this natural state, or are we pre-disposed as “human beings” to be inherently different from one another based on origin of birth. I believe all human beings, share a common bond and special connection that makes uniquely human, no matter social status, religious belief, or country of origin. You are first and foremost a Human Being, then the culture you live in will change or influence you

Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist who provided vital research and information that advanced techniques in psychoanalysis. The Freudian Theory of Personality states that there are three main components of personality; ID, ego, and super ego. In “The Most Dangerous Game”, Sanger Rainsford’s personality changes from having a low ID, a relatively high ego, and very high super ego to having a high ID, a relatively high ego, and a very low super ego because of the hunt.

The American Psychologist Association (APA) defines psychology as ‘the study of the mind and behaviour . The discipline embraces all aspects of the human experience — from the functions of the brain to the actions of nations, from child development to care for the aged. ‘(Association, 2014). With such an extensive definition, it is not overly surprising that its scientific kudos has been used to propagate political dogma, including abominable beliefs such as the innate inferiority of black people (Howitt and Owusu-Bempah, 1994) and to facilitate the legalislation of racist laws such as the American Jim Crow laws that placed severe restrictions on the rights and privileges of African Americans in 1877 (Brown and Stentiford,

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5 (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.

There is a huge difference in the judgments that are made in the moral system and the behaviors and the character trait the characters possess. This play is mainly written because Ibsen feels angry that people suffer from repression and are deprived of joy. He is surely optimistic to break free of society and to having the courage to be yourself and mainly to have ‘livesklegn’ and factors like class and gender should not determine. Soren Kierkegaard is one that understands Ibsen, ‘Boredom is root of all evil-the despairing refusal to be oneself’, just like all his other quotes it summarize the things that mattered to Ibsen. Society in Norway is one that militates against self-realization. You could have never been a complete individual in the 19ths century in

Henrik Ibsen is a Norwegian playwright born in Skien in 1828. His father was a wealthy merchant who went bankrupt and had to give up his lavish lifestyle. As a result, he became bitter and moody and often abused his wife. These biographical details help us understanding the writings of Ibsen. He wrote from a unique vantage point about society ad questioned the conditions of living, morals and subservience of women.