Revolutionens datter (1918) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

The story unfolds in a bustling shipyard town centered around industrial labor, with key scenes at a Dalton estate and in a neighboring country where Albert and Claire briefly flee before returning. The primary settings include the shipyard where workers toil, the manager's home, and the wealthy Dalton property.

• shipyard
• industrial town
• Dalton estate
• setting

The film is set during the Industrial era, a period marked by labor conflicts between workers and factory owners. The narrative spans roughly five years, beginning with the workers' revolt and concluding with a return to stability and hope for the future.

• industrial era
• time period
• 1918

The film explores economic disparity through Albert's role as workers' spokesman and Staalhammer's refusal of wage demands. The revolt highlights power dynamics between factory workers, managers, and landowners, showing how labor conflicts challenge authority and shape character choices.

• class struggle
• workers revolt
• labor conflict
• wages

Albert's love for Claire crosses social class lines, creating tension between personal attachment and employer-employee divisions. Claire must choose between her family’s world and her love for Albert, with the unconventional boxing match deciding their marriage outcome.

• romance
• social class
• love story
• forbidden love

Albert Fjeld is a dedicated shipyard worker who becomes the workers' spokesman during pay raise demands. He is brave, principled, and willing to risk danger to protect others, including Claire. His love for her drives him to confront authority and orchestrate an escape during the revolt.

• Albert Fjeld
• worker
• protagonist

Claire is the daughter of shipyard manager Staalhammer, torn between her family's world and her love for Albert. She navigates hospitality from the Dalton estate and the consequences of a fortune that could secure both a political alliance and her marriage.

• Claire Staalhammer
• daughter
• love interest

The Dalton estate represents wealth and the old social order. Dalton, a generous landowner, hosts Claire when she flees with Albert. His pleasure at the idea of his son marrying Claire underscores how social advantages and inheritance shape the characters' fates.

• Dalton estate
• landowner
• wealth

The unexpected inheritance of nearly a million kroner shifts power dynamics, making social mobility central. Dalton's hospitality and his son's courtship of Claire suggest money can enable security while complicating genuine affection, ultimately implying a new social order built on love and shared hardship.

• inheritance
• money
• social mobility
• power

Staalhammer is the shipyard's director and Claire's father. He represents firm authority and the upper class, rejecting worker demands for pay increases. His stance triggers the workers' revolt and tests the loyalties of those around him, including his daughter.

• Staalhammer
• manager
• shipyard director
• authority

The boxing match serves as the story's decisive resolution, where Albert faces Fred Boston to determine his future with Claire. This unconventional solution to romantic rivalry embodies the film's lighthearted tone, using physical contest rather than social status to decide marriage.

• boxing match
• Fred Boston
• resolution
• climax

The revolt centers on workers demanding a pay raise from the shipyard management. Tensions rise as the manager Staalhammer rejects these demands, sparking conflict that tests the manager's authority and forces Albert to lead workers in challenging the established order.

• workers revolt
• pay raise
• labor dispute