HENRIK IBSEN'S DRAMATIC POEM "BRAND" IN THE LIGHT OF SOREN KIERKEGAARD'S RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL VIEWS

As is known, Ibsen rejected any influence of Kierkegaard on his dramatic poem Brand (1866). However Kierkegaardian echoes are numerous in the play, and the book Fear and Tremble (1843) is essential for understanding the meaning of its dramatic action. The notion of a tragic hero as opposed to a "knight of faith" provides a deeper apprehension of the character of Brand who remains within the boundaries of ethics for a long time. Nevertheless the hero's religious transformation in the final scene resembles a "leap of faith" in Kierkegaardian terms, and the work may be treated as "a drama about moral problems in a religious perspective" (D. Haakonsen).