Sigrid Undset

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Sigrid Undset

1882-1949

Novelist and social commentator

Life. The Norwegian writer Sigrid Undset was born in Kalundborg, in western Denmark, the eldest of three daughters. Her father was an archaeologist, and the family lived a comfortable uppermiddle-class lifestyle. In 1884 the family moved to Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. After Undset’s father died in 1893, her mother raised her daughters in more difficult conditions. From 1899 until 1909 Undset attended a commercial school in Kristiania and then worked as a secretary in an office. During this decade she began to write, and in 1907 and 1908 she published her first two books, the novel Fru marta Oulie (Mrs. Marta Oulie) and Den lykkelige alder (The Happy Age), a collection of short stories about middle-class women in contemporary Norway.

Early Themes Undset’s early fiction is a window into the experiences of middle-class Norwegians at the turn of the century. In Mrs. Marta Oulie Undset depicts the life of a middle-class housewife who has become involved in an affair with her husband’s friend. After her husband becomes ill and dies, she is so guilt-ridden that she refuses to continue her relationship with her lover. One of the stories in The Happy Age focuses on the difficulties faced by poor teenage girls as they interact with wealthier school friends. Two other stories describe the economic insecurity and unfulfilling work experiences of young middle-class women who have left home in search of careers. The women dream of better, more gratifying lives; yet, they avoid extended relationships with men and offers of marriage because they fear that their dreams might never come true. One character commits suicide when she realizes the difficulties of her depressing situation.

Feminism. From 1909 until the outbreak of World War I, Undset studied in Italy, visiting Paris and continuing to write fiction. Jenny (1911) reveals Undset’s interest in turn-of-the-century feminist issues and her belief that women should be allowed to pursue interesting professions and enjoy family life. Turn-of-the-century middle-class Europeans, however, frowned upon these goals. Undset’s title character eventually commits suicide after struggling between identifying herself through her work and through her personal and sexual relationships. The novel sold well but aroused intense feelings. Social conservatives were shocked by its explicit discussion of sexuality, eroticism, and pregnancy, while feminists questioned the meaning of having the main character abandon her career for her relationships and then kill herself.

Marriage and Family While studying abroad, Undset met her future husband, Anders Svarstad, whom she married in 1912, after he left his first wife and children. They separated in 1919, when she was pregnant with their third child. Undset and her children settled in Lillehammer, Norway, where they lived until 1940.

Nobel Prize During the 1920s Undset published a trilogy of historical novels, Kristin Lavransdatter (1920–1922), on the basis of which she was awarded the 1928 Nobel Prize in literature. In 1924 she converted to Catholicism. Her faith plays an important role in the historical and contemporary novels she wrote during the 1920s and later. Undset fled Norway after the Germans invaded in 1940 and spent the war in Sweden and the United States. She returned home in 1945 and died there in 1949.