Conceptual Correspondences between Henrik Ibsen’s “Rosmersholm” and Friedrich Nietzsche’s “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”

Abstract

In this paper we analyze the correspondence of some concepts characteristic of Nietzsche’s philosophy from Thus Spoke Zarathustra in Ibsen’s play Rosmersholm. Although they worked in different cultural spheres (literature and philosophy) and had little to say about each other, Henrik Ibsen and Friedrich Nietzsche produced the most radical criticism of the traditionalism of the age through their virulent works. We assume that beyond the obvious interferences between the two works, there also existed an influence of Nietzsche’s philosophy on Ibsen’s play.