The Pillars of Society: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Pillars of Society" is a play that explores the complexities of morality and social responsibility through its major characters, each representing different facets of societal values. At the center is Karsten Bernick, a seemingly upstanding shipbuilder whose actions reveal a web of deceit and self-serving decisions. Despite portraying himself as a community benefactor, he is embroiled in scandals, including allowing his brother-in-law Johan Tönnesen to take the blame for his own misdeeds. Johan's return from America ignites a series of confrontations, especially with Lona Hessel, who challenges Bernick’s ethical standing and reveals past romantic entanglements.
Dina Dorf, the daughter of a disgraced woman, serves as a critique of societal norms and expectations, while Martha Bernick embodies sacrifice and unrequited love. The schoolmaster, Doctor Rörlund, and Bernick's loyal agent Krap highlight the tension between personal desires and public duties. As the narrative unfolds, the characters navigate their intertwined fates, ultimately exposing the fragility of their societal positions and the moral dilemmas they face. This analysis invites reflection on the themes of hypocrisy, guilt, and the quest for redemption within the structure of societal expectations.
The Pillars of Society: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Henrik Ibsen
First published: 1880 as Samfundets støtter (English translation, 1880)
Genre: Play
Locale: A Norwegian seaport
Plot: Psychological realism
Time: Nineteenth century
Karsten Bernick, a shipbuilder and a pillar of society who says that his every action is performed to help the community. Actually, Bernick is guilty of an intrigue with Mrs. Dorf, now dead, and of letting his brother-in-law, Johan Tönnesen, assume his guilt and flee to America. Because his mother's finances were in bad shape, he also permitted and helped circulate a rumor that Johan had run off with her cash box. Now he is planning to let an American ship manned with a drunken crew set sail with inadequate repairs to avoid criticism from the press. When his brother-in-law, who has returned from America, plans to sail on the vessel, the Indian Girl, Bernick does nothing to prevent him because Johan is the only one who can accuse him. When his own son Olaf, a boy of fourteen, plans to run away and ship aboard the Indian Girl, Bernick is horrified. After the son has been saved and the citizens of the town come to recognize him as a pillar of society, Bernick confesses his guilt. He had married his wife Betty because she would inherit money from her aunt, and he needed money to get his mother's business out of trouble. Betty forgives him and hopes to win him. His repentance is difficult to accept.
Johan Tönnesen, Mrs. Bernick's younger brother. Johan had taken Bernick's guilt upon himself because Bernick was willing to help him go to America and was courting his sister Betty, who would not have married Bernick if she had known he was implicated with Mrs. Dorf. Johan comes home because his half sister, Lona Hessel, insists that she is homesick. He meets Dina, Mrs. Dorf's daughter, and they plan to marry. When Dina decides to go to America with him, Johan changes his passage from the Indian Girl to the Palm Tree,a ship in good repair. Although Lona has cared for him like a mother and schemed to get him home so that he could find a wife, Johan is not aware that Karsten Bernick had been in love with Lona and she with him, but that he threw her over for Betty and her money.
Lona Hessel, Mrs. Bernick's half sister, who had gone to America to look after Johan. After some years, she returns with him and confronts Bernick with his guilt. She had loved Bernick and had boxed him on the ear when he decided to marry Betty.
Dina Dorf, a young girl living with the Bernicks. The daughter of the ill-famed Mrs. Dorf, she hates the pretense, sham, and prudery of the proper, altruistic people about her. When Schoolmaster Rörlund asks her to marry him, she consents, but when Johan appears, she falls in love with him and seizes thechancetogotoAmerica.
Martha Bernick, Bernick's sister, a schoolteacher. Martha had been in love with Johan for years, but she sacrifices her own love to permit Dina Dorf to marry him. She had helped bring up Dina after her mother's death.
Doctor Rörlund, the schoolmaster, a leader in the community and a critic of all. He is ashamed to admit his love for Dina, but at last he decides that he will marry her to save her. Dina throws him over for Johan.
Betty Bernick, Karsten's wife. She is a passive character. Lona tells Karsten Bernick that the reason Betty has never truly shared his life is that he will not discuss his affairs with her. Betty says at the end that she will win Bernick at last.
Krap, Bernick's confidential agent, a conscientious workman who warns Bernick that the Indian Girl is not seaworthy. He blames Aune, the foreman of the shipyard, who is rebelling against the new machines.
Aune, the foreman of the shipyard. When Bernick orders Aune to have the Indian Girl ready to sail in two days, Aune protests. Bernick says that he will fire him if the ship is not ready to sail, and Aune agrees to have the work done on time. He works day and night on the job, though he knows that the ship is not seaworthy and that the whole bottom is rotten. At the end of the play, Aune issues orders, in Bernick's name, that the ship is not to sail, after Olaf has been found stowed away on the hulk destined for the bottom of the sea.