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Sophocles, Hegel and Ibsen
A Perspective on A Doll’s House, Ghosts and An Enemy of the People
by Helge Salemonsen
XIII. The Emperor and the Solid Majority
The decisive difference between the modern and the Roman legal system
consists in their completely different power structures. Imperial Rome's
power is centred in the One, in monas monandum, while powerlessness
is equally shared by the many: the faceless, the masks, the persons,
the atoms as Hegel refers to them. The Roman state of justice, “this
universal being thus split up into a mere multiplicity of atoms, this
lifeless Spirit is an equality, in which all count the same, i.e. as
persons.” (Hegel 1977: 290) “To describe an individual
as a ‘person’ is an expression of contempt.” (Hegel
1977: 293)
In Ibsen’s small town we find no Emperor, only a group of “chieftains” – the small town magistrate, the editor, the chairman of The House-Owner’s Association – hungry for power and cash, but still at the mercy of the multitude: the prosperous, the less prosperous, the conservatives, the liberals, the subscribers, the house-owners, the scheming, the greedy, the stingy petit bourgeois – the multitude in power – not women and workers at that time, but the voters – the political majority – shouting in one voice whenever the money flow is threatened. And then it is always irrelevant who is in the right. Or what is right:
Dr. Stockmann:
The most insidious enemy of truth and freedom among us is the solid
majority. Yes, the damned, solid, liberal majority – that’s
it! Now you know.
Aslaksen:
As chairman, I urge the speaker to withdraw his irresponsible comments.
Dr. Stockmann:
Not a chance, Mr. Aslaksen. It’s that same majority in our community
that’s stripping away my freedom and trying to keep me from
speaking the truth.
Hovstad:
The majority is always right. […]
Dr. Stockmann:
Oh, yes you can shout me down well enough, but you can’t refute
me. The majority has the might – unhappily –
but it lacks the right.
Power suspends right – ruthlessly and blindly – be it with the one, the Emperor, or with the many, the masses. “Ah, what does it help to be in the right if you don’t have any power?”
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