Amalie Skram (1846–1905)
Teoksen Constance Ring tekijä
Tietoja tekijästä
Amalie Skram was a scandalous figure at the time of the Modern Breakthrough: not only a divorced woman, but a writer on topics not deemed suitable for a lady. Her hard-hitting naturalism and exposes of social injustice and sexist sexual mores shocked many people. In Constance Ring (1885), for näytä lisää example, Skram explores the trauma caused by the societal expectation that women, raised in ignorance and married to men they do not love, should nevertheless become warm sexual partners. (Bowker Author Biography) näytä vähemmän
Erotteluhuomautus:
(nor) Giftet seg for 2. gang med Skram og bosatte seg i Danmark, fikk 1 datter. Hun hadde 3 sønner fra 1. ekteskap med Kaptein Muller. Død ved egen hånd.
Sarjat
Tekijän teokset
Samlede verker 2. Hellemyrsfolket II og III. 4 kappaletta
Lucie, Agnete 4 kappaletta
På St. Jørgen ; Sommer ; Julehelg 3 kappaletta
Lucie ; Barnefortellinger ; Kjærlighet i nord og syd 3 kappaletta
Forrådt ; Agnete ; Professor Hieronimus 3 kappaletta
"Og nu vil jeg tale ut"; "Men nu vil jeg ogsa tale ud" (Brevvekslingen Mellom; --Norvege--) (1982) 3 kappaletta
Udvalgte Fortællinger 2 kappaletta
Samlede Værker Del 1-9 2 kappaletta
Samlede verker b.2 1 kappale
Zwei Freunde 1 kappale
Hellemyrsfolket. S. G. Myre. Roman 1 kappale
Samlede verker 1 Constance Ring 1 kappale
Samlede verker 3 Hellemyrsfolket I-III 1 kappale
Samlede verker 2 I[n] Asiam profectum est ; Børnefortellinger ; Forraadt ; Sommer ; Julehelg 1 kappale
Samlede verker B 5 : Forrådt 1 kappale
Samlede værker, mindeutgave; B.1 - B.3 1 kappale
Samlede verker 1-6 1 kappale
Samlede verker b.3 1 kappale
Associated Works
Caught in the Enchanter's Net: Amalie and Erik Skram's Letters (Series A: Scandinavian Literary History and… (2004) — Avustaja — 1 kappale
Merkitty avainsanalla
Yleistieto
- Kanoninen nimi
- Skram, Amalie
- Virallinen nimi
- Skram, Amalie
- Muut nimet
- Alver, Amalie
- Syntymäaika
- 1846-08-22
- Kuolinaika
- 1905-03-15
- Sukupuoli
- female
- Kansalaisuus
- Norway
- Syntymäpaikka
- Bergen, Norway
- Kuolinpaikka
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Asuinpaikat
- Bergen, Norway
Copenhagen, Denmark
Oslo, Norway - Ammatit
- novelist
feminist - Suhteet
- Skram, Erik (husband)
- Lyhyt elämäkerta
- Amalie Skram was born Berthe Amalie Alver in Bergen, Norway. She had a difficult childhood, and her parents' small business went bankrupt when she was 16. Her father then left Norway for the USA to avoid imprisonment, leaving her mother with five children to support. Amalie was pressured into a marriage with Bernt Ulrik August Müller, a ship's captain about 10 years older. The union produced two sons but was unhappy; after a brief hospitalization in a psychiatric hospital, Amalie separated from her husband and then divorced. She moved with her children to the capital of Kristiania (now Oslo), where she began her writing career. She made her literary debut with the short story "Madam Høiers leiefolk" (Madam Høier's Lodgers) published in a magazine in 1882. In 1884, she remarried to Danish writer Erik Skram, and moved to Copenhagen. She had a daughter from this marriage. Her first novel, Constance Ring, appeared in 1885. She suffered another mental breakdown in 1894, and spent years living in a psychiatric hospital near Roskilde. Her second married ended in 1900, and she died five years later. Her novels were considered radical and provocative for their explorations of unhappy marriages, female sexuality, and the second-class status of women, and were received with some open hostility that may have contributed to her mental breakdown. She described her struggles as a wife, mother, and artist in her two autobiographical novels, Professor Hieronimus (1895) and På St. Jørgen (At St. Jorgen’s, also 1895), giving a thinly-veiled description of her own psychiatric treatment. The two books were adapted for Danish television in 1987. Her works, which had fallen into obscurity with her death, were rediscovered and received critical recognition in the 1960s. Today she's recognized as pioneering feminist author and one of the foremost Naturalist writers of her time. The Skram-prisen or Amalie Skram Prize, named in her honor in 1994, is awarded annually to Norwegian authors who show exceptional skill in addressing women's issues.
- Erotteluhuomautus
- Giftet seg for 2. gang med Skram og bosatte seg i Danmark, fikk 1 datter. Hun hadde 3 sønner fra 1. ekteskap med Kaptein Muller. Død ved egen hånd.
Jäseniä
Kirja-arvosteluja
Written in 1885 Norway by early feminist Amalie Skram, this is a manifesto of sorts, criticizing the patriarchy, the double standard of sexuality, and the institutions of marriage and religion. The main character, a young woman named Constance Ring, is in a man’s world and resents women’s subservient role in it. She’s also in a religious world, and resents how it makes divorce even in the case of unhappiness or adultery very hard to obtain. She openly questions whether God exists, and points out how often society men have mistresses, often with lower-class women, and just write it off as meaningless physical pleasure. Everyone in society then looks the other way, so much so that Constance exclaims “if this is true and everybody accepts it, why don’t we get rid of this hypocritical institution? Why in the world don’t we practice polygamy openly?”
There are also some political bits here, as the characters span the spectrum from deeply conservative to wildly radical, and I thought it was interesting that the polarization led to the same kind of rhetoric and demonization that we see in today’s America (“Everything the Left wants is fundamentally destructive to society. My God – if they get power…” … my God, didn’t Lindsey Graham just say that?). Skram also touches on the plight of the poor, and through Constance makes it clear that she doesn’t “believe all that rubbish about anyone being able to find work who wants it – not enough to live on, at least.”
I sympathize for Constance, and there is great power when she is repulsed by her husband, an older, boorish man, and when “she didn’t feel, would never feel, it was her duty and her calling to make this fat, self-satisfied man happy, a man who never asked about her feelings, who treated her as if she didn’t have a soul in her body…” On the other hand, she’s so ice cold emotionally, and the combination of being bored with life and disgusted with people all makes for a pretty unlikeable character as the book goes on in its second half, which is also a little melodramatic. At one point she reaches a decision point and can go off and get a job, but decides to marry instead. She soon finds herself unhappy again, and seems caught between hating the conventional order of things and not wanting to embrace free love, or maybe between detesting the hypocrisy of pervasive adultery, and not wanting to admit many men have sexual needs. Even in her reaction to an episode to visiting a slum and helping the poor, when she sees how broken things are and the hypocrisy in others who are helping, she simply withdraws in negativity.
Still, all in all, this is a remarkable work, and Skram deserves credit for how clearly and honestly she puts forth her views, which were incendiary at the time. It’s also a good book to read while touring Norway, and to hear a feminine voice amidst her contemporaries, Ibsen and Bjørnson, who we hear so much more about.
Just one more quote, on adultery:
“The horror of being an unfaithful wife was so ingrained in her. Adulteress – whore. Oh, those words were unspeakable! There were better ways to describe this. ‘A woman only belongs to the man she loves,’ Mrs. Gyllembourg had written. And even if…Suppose Lorck were in love with a woman who wanted him as well. Would he think twice about it? Not for a minute. Not him, nor any of the other married men she knew. Why should women have all these scruples? Measure for measure – that was life’s only valid principle.”… (lisätietoja)
There are also some political bits here, as the characters span the spectrum from deeply conservative to wildly radical, and I thought it was interesting that the polarization led to the same kind of rhetoric and demonization that we see in today’s America (“Everything the Left wants is fundamentally destructive to society. My God – if they get power…” … my God, didn’t Lindsey Graham just say that?). Skram also touches on the plight of the poor, and through Constance makes it clear that she doesn’t “believe all that rubbish about anyone being able to find work who wants it – not enough to live on, at least.”
I sympathize for Constance, and there is great power when she is repulsed by her husband, an older, boorish man, and when “she didn’t feel, would never feel, it was her duty and her calling to make this fat, self-satisfied man happy, a man who never asked about her feelings, who treated her as if she didn’t have a soul in her body…” On the other hand, she’s so ice cold emotionally, and the combination of being bored with life and disgusted with people all makes for a pretty unlikeable character as the book goes on in its second half, which is also a little melodramatic. At one point she reaches a decision point and can go off and get a job, but decides to marry instead. She soon finds herself unhappy again, and seems caught between hating the conventional order of things and not wanting to embrace free love, or maybe between detesting the hypocrisy of pervasive adultery, and not wanting to admit many men have sexual needs. Even in her reaction to an episode to visiting a slum and helping the poor, when she sees how broken things are and the hypocrisy in others who are helping, she simply withdraws in negativity.
Still, all in all, this is a remarkable work, and Skram deserves credit for how clearly and honestly she puts forth her views, which were incendiary at the time. It’s also a good book to read while touring Norway, and to hear a feminine voice amidst her contemporaries, Ibsen and Bjørnson, who we hear so much more about.
Just one more quote, on adultery:
“The horror of being an unfaithful wife was so ingrained in her. Adulteress – whore. Oh, those words were unspeakable! There were better ways to describe this. ‘A woman only belongs to the man she loves,’ Mrs. Gyllembourg had written. And even if…Suppose Lorck were in love with a woman who wanted him as well. Would he think twice about it? Not for a minute. Not him, nor any of the other married men she knew. Why should women have all these scruples? Measure for measure – that was life’s only valid principle.”… (lisätietoja)
2 
gbill | 1 muu arvostelu | Jul 27, 2019 |
gbill | 1 muu arvostelu | Jul 27, 2019 | 
I bokas innledende scene er Ory nygift og har ikke en gang rukket å komme ut av brudestasen. Hun er 17 år gammel og kunne knapt vært mindre forberedt på hva ekteskapet innebærer, der hun kommer rett fra barnerommet hos sin mor og far. Brudgommen er den 30 år gamle kaptein Adolf Riber, en mann som har et levd liv bak seg etter mange år til sjøs. Ory har akseptert å gifte seg med ham gjennom frivillig tvang ... Og hun vemmes ved tanken på at det forventes at hun skal dele seng med sin mann på bryllupsnatten. Hun kan ikke skjønne hvorfor hun ikke kan få tilbringe sin siste natt hjemme på barnerommet, sammen med sine småsøsken. Etter en krangel rundt dette med moren, går hun motvillig med på at dette ikke går. Tenk på folkesnakket!
Allerede samme kveld aner vi at bryllupsnatten ikke kommer til å bli noen suksess. Den kan vel knapt sies å finne sted noen gang ... For så opptatt er Ory av sin egen uskyld at hun for en hver pris vil unngå å bli besudlet. Alt som er urent og ufint tar hun på det dypeste avstand fra. Stakkars Riber vet ikke sine arme råd. Hva skal han gjøre med sin strenge kone, som han elsker av hele sitt hjerte og kunne gått i døden for?
Det er forventet at Ory allerede dagen etter bryllupet følger sin mann ombord i et skip med retning mot London. Der skal de vente på skipet Orion, hvor kaptein Riber har fått hyre. Over alt møter Ory sine omgivelser med den dypeste forakt, beskyttet som hun i hele sitt liv har vært mot alt som er skittent, ondt og besudlet. Da hun skjønner at hennes mann har levd og hatt andre kvinner, får hun det for seg at dersom hun bare får vite eksakt hva han har opplevd, så skal hun nok klare å hanskes med dette. Riber går motvillig med på dette, men skjønner for sent at dette bare gjør alt så mye verre. Han som bare er et helt vanlig menneske, men som i Orys verden etter hvert fremstår som et uhyre ... Til slutt går det galt ... fryktelig galt ...
Jeg leste denne boka mens jeg var i tenårene, og et så sterkt inntrykk gjorde den på meg at hele handlingsforløpet sto levende for meg også før jeg valgte å lese denne boka på nytt - mange tiår senere. I boka tar Skram et kraftig oppgjør mot datidens skjerming av unge kvinner i forhold til hva som ventet dem når de ble gift. I allefall overklassens unge kvinner ante lite eller ingenting om seksualitet, men ble tvert i mot oppdratt til kyskhet og til å ta avstand for egne lyster og behov. Det er vel neppe noen tvil om at denne boka har helt klare selvbiografiske trekk. Amalie Skram ble selv gift som følge av et arrangert ekteskap mellom henne, som var pur ung, og en eldre skipskaptein. Noe lykkelig ekteskap ble det ikke, og paret ble senere skilt. Det må ha vært svært oppsiktsvekkende på den tiden.
Det beste med boka synes jeg er beskrivelsene av karakterene. Både Ory og Riber beskrives som meget sammensatte personer på godt og vondt. Her er det ikke slik at Ory er offeret og Riber den fæle. Riber er vel så mye offer for omstendighetene som hans kone. Faktisk var det aller mest ham jeg syntes synd på til slutt, der han ble utsatt for Orys inkvisitoriske og besettende utspørringer om hans fortid. Maktkampen dem i mellom er glitrende beskrevet! Marianne Krogh som oppleser var dessuten flott! Her blir det terningkast fem - en sterkt sådan!… (lisätietoja)
Allerede samme kveld aner vi at bryllupsnatten ikke kommer til å bli noen suksess. Den kan vel knapt sies å finne sted noen gang ... For så opptatt er Ory av sin egen uskyld at hun for en hver pris vil unngå å bli besudlet. Alt som er urent og ufint tar hun på det dypeste avstand fra. Stakkars Riber vet ikke sine arme råd. Hva skal han gjøre med sin strenge kone, som han elsker av hele sitt hjerte og kunne gått i døden for?
Det er forventet at Ory allerede dagen etter bryllupet følger sin mann ombord i et skip med retning mot London. Der skal de vente på skipet Orion, hvor kaptein Riber har fått hyre. Over alt møter Ory sine omgivelser med den dypeste forakt, beskyttet som hun i hele sitt liv har vært mot alt som er skittent, ondt og besudlet. Da hun skjønner at hennes mann har levd og hatt andre kvinner, får hun det for seg at dersom hun bare får vite eksakt hva han har opplevd, så skal hun nok klare å hanskes med dette. Riber går motvillig med på dette, men skjønner for sent at dette bare gjør alt så mye verre. Han som bare er et helt vanlig menneske, men som i Orys verden etter hvert fremstår som et uhyre ... Til slutt går det galt ... fryktelig galt ...
Jeg leste denne boka mens jeg var i tenårene, og et så sterkt inntrykk gjorde den på meg at hele handlingsforløpet sto levende for meg også før jeg valgte å lese denne boka på nytt - mange tiår senere. I boka tar Skram et kraftig oppgjør mot datidens skjerming av unge kvinner i forhold til hva som ventet dem når de ble gift. I allefall overklassens unge kvinner ante lite eller ingenting om seksualitet, men ble tvert i mot oppdratt til kyskhet og til å ta avstand for egne lyster og behov. Det er vel neppe noen tvil om at denne boka har helt klare selvbiografiske trekk. Amalie Skram ble selv gift som følge av et arrangert ekteskap mellom henne, som var pur ung, og en eldre skipskaptein. Noe lykkelig ekteskap ble det ikke, og paret ble senere skilt. Det må ha vært svært oppsiktsvekkende på den tiden.
Det beste med boka synes jeg er beskrivelsene av karakterene. Både Ory og Riber beskrives som meget sammensatte personer på godt og vondt. Her er det ikke slik at Ory er offeret og Riber den fæle. Riber er vel så mye offer for omstendighetene som hans kone. Faktisk var det aller mest ham jeg syntes synd på til slutt, der han ble utsatt for Orys inkvisitoriske og besettende utspørringer om hans fortid. Maktkampen dem i mellom er glitrende beskrevet! Marianne Krogh som oppleser var dessuten flott! Her blir det terningkast fem - en sterkt sådan!… (lisätietoja)
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[Constance Ring] is a 1885 Norwegian novel that explores the limited, powerless life of a young married woman. Constance's first marriage happens when she is still a very young woman to a husband 20 years older than her. At first things are ok, but she is increasingly disgusted by him and refuses any intimacy with him. She is young and beautiful and her husband tries everything to make her open to him, but in the end he turns to their also young and beautiful maid. When Constance finds out she considers divorce, to the horror of her family. They understand her situation and expect her to accept it.
Constance's second marriage starts slow, but she grows to love her husband. Discovering his past lovers, though, ruins her trust and love. Her last lover also betrays her, which is the final betrayal she can handle.
I thought this was a really good novel that explores the double standard imposed on women. Constance simply can't accept that men are allowed to indulge their sexual desires with any woman at any time and people simply accept it or pretend not to see it. She feels badly for the women of a lower social stratus who are even more powerless than she is. She feels betrayed that men she is married to and/or loves would indulge in these sexual relationships without love, whether it occurs before her relationship with them or during. And she seems to only partially ever awaken to the joy of physical intimacy with any of her lovers because of these thoughts and feelings.
I found this book in the [500 Great Books by Women] that I've been exploring this year. I've read a bit of Norwegian literature (well, of what is available in English translation) and I hadn't heard of this author. I'm glad I read it and recommend it to readers who enjoy this era and topic.
Original publication date: 1885
Author’s nationality: Norwegian
Original language: Norwegian translated to English by Judith Messick
Length: 289 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: purchased used copy
Why I read this: 500 great books by women… (lisätietoja)