Henrik Johan Ibsen was a major 19th-century
NorwegianNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
playwrightA playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. These works are usually written to be performed in front of a live audience by actors...
, theatre director, and
poetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
. He is often referred to as the "father of modern drama" and is one of the founders of
ModernismModernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes both a set of cultural tendencies and an array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society in the late...
in the theatre. His plays were considered scandalous to many of his era, when
Victorian valuesVictorian morality is a distillation of the moral views of people living at the time of Queen Victoria in particular, and to the moral climate of Great Britain throughout the 19th century in general that were in stark contrast to the morality of the previous Georgian period...
of family life and propriety largely held sway in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
. Ibsen's work examined the realities that lay behind many facades, possessing a revelatory nature that was disquieting to many contemporaries. It utilized a critical eye and free inquiry into the conditions of life and issues of
moralityMorality has three principal meanings.In its first, descriptive usage, morality means a code of conduct or belief concerning matters of what is moral or immoral...
. Ibsen is often ranked as one of the truly great playwrights in the European tradition, alongside such other notable playwrights as
SophoclesSophocles was the second of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose work has survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus and earlier than those of Euripides...
,
William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, and
MolièreJean-Baptiste Poquelin, mostly known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
.
Family and youth
Ibsen was born to Knud Ibsen and Marichen Altenburg, a relatively well-to-do merchant family, in the small port town of
Skien' is a city and municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Skien. Skien is also the administrative centre of Telemark county....
,
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
, which was primarily noted for shipping timber. He was a descendant of some of the oldest and most distinguished families of Norway, including the Paus family. Ibsen later pointed out his distinguished ancestors and relatives in a letter to
Georg BrandesGeorg Morris Cohen Brandes was a Danish critic and scholar who had great influence on Scandinavian and European literature from the 1870s through the turn of the 20th century. He is seen as the theorist behind the "Modern Break-through" of Scandinavian culture...
. Shortly after his birth his family's fortunes took a significant turn for the worse. His mother turned to religion for solace, and his father began to suffer from severe
depressionMajor depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
. The characters in his plays often mirror his parents, and his themes often deal with issues of financial difficulty as well as moral conflicts stemming from dark secrets hidden from society.
At fifteen, Ibsen left home. He moved to the small town of
Grimstadis a town and municipality in Aust-Agder county, Norway. It belongs to the geographical region of Sørlandet. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of Grimstad.It is a little maritime town set among many small islands...
to become an apprentice
pharmacistPharmacists are health professionals who practice the science of pharmacy. In their traditional role, pharmacists typically take a request for medicines from a prescribing health care provider in the form of a medical prescription, evaluate the appropriateness of the prescription, dispense the...
and began writing plays. In 1846, a liaison with a
servantA domestic worker is someone who works within the employer's household. Domestic workers perform a variety of household services for an individual or a family, from providing care for children and elderly dependents to cleaning and household maintenance, known as housekeeping...
produced an illegitimate child, whom he later rejected. While Ibsen did pay some
child supportIn family law and government policy, child support or child maintenance is the ongoing obligation for a periodic payment made directly or indirectly by an to an for the financial care and support of children of a relationship or marriage that has been terminated, or in some cases never existed...
for fourteen years, he never met his illegitimate son, who ended up as a poor blacksmith. Ibsen went to
Christianiais the capital and largest city in Norway. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the town was largely destroyed by a fire in 1624. The Danish–Norwegian king Christian IV rebuilt the city as Christiania . Oslo, then an alternative name, became official again in 1925...
(later renamed Oslo) intending to matriculate at the university. He soon rejected the idea (his earlier attempts at entering university were blocked as he did not pass all his entrance exams), preferring to commit himself to writing. His first play, the
tragedyTragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that, paradoxically, offers its audience pleasure...
CatilineCatiline or Catalina was Henrik Ibsen's first play. It was written in 1850 and first performed under Ibsen's name on December 3, 1881 at the Nya Teatern , Stockholm, Sweden...
(1850), was published under the
pseudonymA pseudonym is a fictitious name used by a person, or sometimes, a group.Pseudonyms are often used to hide an individual's real identity, as with writers' pen names, graffiti artists, resistance fighters' or terrorists' noms de guerre and computer hackers' handles. Actors, musicians, and other...
"Brynjolf Bjarme", when he was only 22, but it was not performed. His first play to be staged,
The Burial MoundThe Burial Mound, , was Henrik Ibsen's second play and the first play to be performed. It is a three-act verse drama, written in 1850 when Ibsen was 22 years old. The play was first performed at the Christiania Theater on September 26, 1850, under Ibsen's Pseudonym Brynjolf Bjarme....
(1850), received little attention. Still, Ibsen was determined to be a playwright, although the numerous plays he wrote in the following years remained unsuccessful.
Life and writings
He spent the next several years employed at the Norwegian Theatre in
BergenBergen is the second largest city in Norway, with a population of 253,600 as of July 2009. Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Economic Region, as defined by Statistics Norway, had a population of 385,450 as of January 2009.Bergen is located in the...
, where he was involved in the production of more than 145 plays as a writer, director, and producer. During this period he did not publish any new plays of his own. Despite Ibsen's failure to achieve success as a playwright, he gained a great deal of practical experience at the Norwegian Theater, experience that was to prove valuable when he continued writing.
Ibsen returned to Christiania in 1858 to become the creative director of Christiania's National Theater. He married
Suzannah ThoresenSuzannah Ibsen was the wife of playwright and poet Henrik Ibsen....
the same year and she gave birth to their only child,
SigurdSigurd Ibsen was a Norwegian author and politician. As the only child of Henrik Ibsen and his wife Suzannah Thoresen, he was born to high expectations and struggled all his life to meet these.Sigurd Ibsen was born in Oslo...
. The couple lived in very poor financial circumstances and Ibsen became very disenchanted with life in Norway. In 1864, he left Christiania and went to
SorrentoSorrento is the name of many cities and towns:*Sorrento, Italy*Sorrento, Florida, United States*Sorrento, Louisiana, United States*Sorrento, Maine, United States*Sorrento, Victoria, a township on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia...
in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
in self-imposed exile. He was not to return to his native land for the next 27 years, and when he returned it was to be as a noted playwright, however controversial.
His next play,
BrandBrand is a play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It is a verse tragedy, written in 1865 and first performed in Stockholm on 24 March 1867. Brand was an intellectual play that caused many people to "think outside the box"....
(1865), was to bring him the critical acclaim he sought, along with a measure of financial success, as was the following play,
Peer GyntPeer Gynt is a five-act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen, loosely based on the fairy tale Per Gynt. Interpreted in its day as a satire on the Norwegian personality, Peer Gynt is the story of a life based on avoidance. A first edition of 1,250 copies was published on 14...
(1867), to which
Edvard GriegEdvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist who composed in the Romantic period. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt , and for his collection of piano miniatures Lyric...
famously composed
incidental musicIncidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack."...
and songs. Although Ibsen read excerpts of the
DanishDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
philosopher
Søren KierkegaardSøren Aabye Kierkegaard was a prolific 19th century Danish philosopher and theologian. Kierkegaard strongly criticised both the Hegelianism of his time and what he saw as the empty formalities of the Church of Denmark...
and traces of the latter's influence are evident in
Brand, it was not until after
Brand that Ibsen came to take Kierkegaard seriously. Initially annoyed with his friend Georg Brandes for comparing Brand to Kierkegaard, Ibsen nevertheless read
Either/OrPublished in two volumes in 1843, Either/Or is an influential book written by the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, exploring the aesthetic and ethical "phases" or "stages" of existence....
and
Fear and TremblingFear and Trembling is an influential philosophical work by Søren Kierkegaard, published in 1843 under the pseudonym Johannes de silentio...
. Ibsen's next play
Peer Gynt was consciously informed by Kierkegaard.
With success, Ibsen became more confident and began to introduce more and more of his own beliefs and judgments into the drama, exploring what he termed the "drama of ideas". His next series of plays are often considered his Golden Age, when he entered the height of his power and influence, becoming the center of dramatic controversy across Europe.
Ibsen moved from Italy to
DresdenDresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
in 1868, where he spent years writing the play he regarded as his main work,
Emperor and GalileanEmperor and Galilean is a play written by Henrik Ibsen and published in 1873. It is Ibsen's longest play, and he considered it his magnum opus. The play is about the Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate and is written in two parts with five acts in each part. It covers the years A.D...
(1873), dramatizing the life and times of the Roman emperor
Julian the ApostateFlavius Claudius Julianus, known also as Julian, Julian the Apostate or Julian the Philosopher , was Roman Emperor , last of the Constantinian dynasty...
. Although Ibsen himself always looked back on this play as the cornerstone of his entire works, very few shared his opinion, and his next works would be much more acclaimed. Ibsen moved to
MunichMunich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg...
in 1875 and published
A Doll's HouseA Doll House is an 1879 play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Written one year after The Pillars of Society, the play was the first of Ibsen's to create a sensation and is now perhaps his most famous play, and required reading in many secondary schools and universities...
in 1879. The play is a scathing criticism of the acceptance of traditional roles of men and women in Victorian marriage.
Ibsen followed
A Doll's House with
GhostsGhosts is a play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It was written in 1881 and first staged in 1882.Like many of Ibsen's better-known plays, Ghosts is a scathing commentary on 19th century morality....
(1881), another scathing commentary on Victorian morality, in which a widow reveals to her pastor that she had hidden the evils of her marriage for its duration. The pastor had advised her to marry her then fiancé despite his philandering, and she did so in the belief that her love would reform him. But she was not to receive the result she was promised. Her husband's philandering continued right up until his death, and the result is that her son is
syphiliticSyphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochetal bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The route of transmission of syphilis is almost always through sexual contact, although there are examples of congenital syphilis via transmission from mother to child in utero.The...
. Even the mention of venereal disease was scandalous, but to show that even a person who followed society's ideals of morality had no protection against it, that was beyond scandalous.
In
An Enemy of the PeopleAn Enemy of the People is an 1882 play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Ibsen wrote it in response to the public outcry against his play Ghosts, which at that time was considered scandalous...
(1882), Ibsen went even further. In earlier plays, controversial elements were important and even pivotal components of the action, but they were on the small scale of individual households. In
An Enemy, controversy became the primary focus, and the antagonist was the entire community. One primary message of the play is that the individual, who stands alone, is more often "right" than the mass of people, who are portrayed as ignorant and sheeplike. The Victorian belief was that the community was a noble institution that could be trusted, a notion Ibsen challenged. In
An Enemy of the People, Ibsen chastised not only the right wing or 'Victorian' elements of society, but also the
liberalismLiberalism is the belief in the importance of individual freedom. This belief is widely accepted today throughout the world, and was recognized as an important value by many philosophers throughout history...
of the time. He illustrated how people on both sides of the social spectrum could be equally self-serving.
An Enemy of the People was written as a response to the people who had rejected his previous work,
Ghosts. The plot of the play is a veiled look at the way people reacted to the plot of
Ghosts. The protagonist is a
doctorA physician — also known as medical practitioner, doctor of medicine, medical doctor, or simply doctor — practices the ancient profession of medicine, which is concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease or injury...
, a pillar of the community. The town is a vacation spot whose primary draw is a public bath. The doctor discovers that the water used by the bath is being contaminated when it seeps through the grounds of a local
tanneryTanning is the process of making leather, which does not easily decompose, from the skins of animals, which do. Often this uses tannin, an acidic chemical compound. Coloring may occur during tanning....
. He expects to be acclaimed for saving the town from the nightmare of infecting visitors with disease, but instead he is declared an 'enemy of the people' by the locals, who band against him and even throw stones through his windows. The play ends with his complete
ostracismOstracism was a procedure under the Athenian democracy in which a prominent citizen could be expelled from the city-state of Athens for ten years. While some instances clearly expressed popular anger at the victim, ostracism was often used pre-emptively...
. It is obvious to the reader that disaster is in store for the town as well as for the doctor, due to the community's unwillingness to face reality.
As audiences by now expected of him, his next play again attacked entrenched beliefs and assumptions; but this time, his attack was not against the Victorians, but against overeager reformers and their idealism. Always the
iconoclastAn iconoclast is someone who performs iconoclasm — destruction of religious symbols, or, by extension, established dogma or conventions.Iconoclast may also refer to:...
, Ibsen was equally willing to tear down the ideologies of any part of the political spectrum, including his own.
The Wild DuckThe Wild Duck is an 1884 play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.-Plot:The first act opens with a dinner party hosted by Hakon Werle, a wealthy merchant and industrialist. The gathering is attended by his son, Gregers Werle, who has just returned to his father's home following a self-imposed...
(1884) is considered by many to be Ibsen's finest work, and it is certainly the most complex. It tells the story of Gregers Werle, a young man who returns to his hometown after an extended exile and is reunited with his boyhood friend Hjalmar Ekdal. Over the course of the play the many secrets that lie behind the Ekdals' apparently happy home are revealed to Gregers, who insists on pursuing the absolute truth, or the "Summons of the Ideal". Among these truths: Gregers' father impregnated his servant Gina, then married her off to Hjalmar to legitimize the child. Another man has been disgraced and imprisoned for a crime the elder Werle committed. Furthermore, while Hjalmar spends his days working on a wholly imaginary "invention", his wife is earning the household income.
Ibsen displays masterful use of
ironyIrony is a situation, literary or rhetorical device, in which there is an incongruity, discordance or unintended connection that goes beyond the most evident meaning....
: despite his dogmatic insistence on truth, Gregers never says what he thinks but only insinuates, and is never understood until the play reaches its climax. Gregers hammers away at Hjalmar through innuendo and coded phrases until he realizes the truth; Gina's daughter, Hedvig, is not his child. Blinded by Gregers' insistence on absolute truth, he disavows the child. Seeing the damage he has wrought, Gregers determines to repair things, and suggests to Hedvig that she sacrifice the wild duck, her wounded pet, to prove her love for Hjalmar. Hedvig, alone among the characters, recognizes that Gregers always speaks in code, and looking for the deeper meaning in the first important statement Gregers makes which does not contain one, kills herself rather than the duck in order to prove her love for him in the ultimate act of self-sacrifice. Only too late do Hjalmar and Gregers realize that the absolute truth of the "ideal" is sometimes too much for the human heart to bear.
Interestingly, late in his career Ibsen turned to a more introspective drama that had much less to do with denunciations of Victorian morality. In such later plays as
Hedda GablerHedda Gabler is a play first published in 1890 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play premiered in 1891 in Germany to negative reviews, but has subsequently gained recognition as a classic of realism, nineteenth century theatre, and world drama...
(1890) and
The Master BuilderThe Master Builder is a play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It was first published in 1892 and first performed in Berlin on 19 January 1893.- Plot summary :Characters* Halvard Solness, master builder.* Aline Solness, his wife....
(1892), Ibsen explored psychological conflicts that transcended a simple rejection of Victorian conventions. Many modern readers, who might regard anti-Victorian didacticism as dated, simplistic, and even clichéd, have found these later works to be of absorbing interest for their hard-edged, objective consideration of interpersonal confrontation.
Hedda Gabler and
The Master Builder center on female protagonists whose almost demonic energy proves both attractive and destructive for those around them.
Hedda Gabler is probably Ibsen's most performed play, with the title role regarded as one of the most challenging and rewarding for an actress even in the present day. Hedda has a few similarities with the character of Nora in
A Doll's House, but many of today's audiences and theater critics feel that Hedda's intensity and drive are much more complex and much less comfortably explained than what they view as rather routine feminism on the part of Nora.
Ibsen had completely rewritten the rules of drama with a realism which was to be adopted by
ChekhovAnton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian short-story writer, playwright and physician, considered to be one of the greatest short-story writers in the history of world literature. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
and others and which we see in the theater to this day. From Ibsen forward, challenging assumptions and directly speaking about issues has been considered one of the factors that makes a play
artArt is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, sculpture, and paintings...
rather than
entertainmentAn entertainment is any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time.Entertainment is typically passive - as in watching opera or a movie. Activities which involve participating in games or sports are more often considered to be recreation...
. Ibsen returned to Norway in 1891, but it was in many ways not the Norway he had left. Indeed, he had played a major role in the changes that had happened across society. The Victorian Age was on its last legs, to be replaced by the rise of Modernism not only in the theater, but across public life.
Death
On 23 May 1906, Ibsen died in
ChristianiaChristiania may refer to:* Christiania or Kristiania, names of Oslo * Christiania Township, Jackson County, Minnesota* Christiania Township, Burleigh County, North Dakota* Freetown Christiania, neighborhood of Copenhagen, Denmark...
(now Oslo) after a series of
strokeA stroke is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by thrombosis or embolism or due to a hemorrhage...
s. When his nurse assured a visitor that he was a little better, Ibsen sputtered "On the contrary" and then died.
Ibsen was buried in
Vår Frelsers gravlundVår Frelsers Gravlund is a cemetery in Oslo, Norway. It was created in 1808 as a result of the great famine and cholera epidemic of the Napoleonic Wars. Extended in 1911, the cemetery has been full since 1952....
("The Graveyard of Our Savior") in central Oslo.
Centenary
In 2006, the 100th anniversary of Ibsen's death was commemorated in Norway and many other countries, and the year was dubbed the "Ibsen year" by Norwegian authorities.
On 23 May 2006, the occasion of the hundred-year commemoration of Ibsen's death,
the Ibsen MuseumThe Ibsen Museum conveys the playwright Henrik Ibsen's last home and is located close to the Royal Palace in Oslo.-The Dramatist's last home in Kristiania 1895-1906:...
reopened a completely restored writer's house with the original interior, colors, and decor.
Also in May 2006, a biographical puppet production of Ibsen's life named
The Death of Little IbsenThe Death Of Little Ibsen is a play about the life of Henrik Ibsen performed in May 2006 at New York City's Sanford Meisner Theater. This puppet play was created by Wakka Wakka Productions. The puppets were created by Kirjan Waage, a cofounder and member of Wakka Wakka...
debuted at New York City's Sanford Meisner Theater.
List of works
- 1850 Catiline
Catiline or Catalina was Henrik Ibsen's first play. It was written in 1850 and first performed under Ibsen's name on December 3, 1881 at the Nya Teatern , Stockholm, Sweden...
(Catilina)
- 1850 The Burial Mound
The Burial Mound, , was Henrik Ibsen's second play and the first play to be performed. It is a three-act verse drama, written in 1850 when Ibsen was 22 years old. The play was first performed at the Christiania Theater on September 26, 1850, under Ibsen's Pseudonym Brynjolf Bjarme....
also known as The Warrior's Barrow (Kjæmpehøjen)
- 1851 Norma (Norma)
- 1852 St. John's Eve
St. John's Eve, is a play written by Henrik Ibsen in 1853. The play is considered apocryphal, because it never entered Ibsen's collected works...
(Sancthansnatten)
- 1854 Lady Inger of Oestraat
Lady Inger of Oestraat is a play by Henrik Ibsen, inspired by the life of Inger, Lady of Austraat. The play, the third work of the Norwegian's career, reflects the birth of Romantic Nationalism in the Norway of that period, and had a strongly anti-Danish sentiment...
(Fru Inger til Østeraad)
- 1855 The Feast at Solhaug
The Feast at Solhaug is the first publicly successful drama by Henrik Ibsen. It was written in 1855 and had its premier at Det norske Theater in Bergen on January 2, 1856...
(Gildet paa Solhoug)
- 1856 Olaf Liljekrans (Olaf Liljekrans)
- 1857 The Vikings at Helgeland
- List of Characters :* Sigurd the Strong, a sea king* Gunnar, a rich farmer of Helgeland* Ørnulf, a settler * Hjørdis, Ørnulf's foster daughter* Dagny, Ørnulf's daughter* Egil - Gunnar's and Hjørdis' four-year-old son...
(Hærmændene paa Helgeland)
- 1862 Digte - only released collection of poetry, included "Terje Vigen
Terje Vigen is a poem written by Henrik Ibsen, published in 1862. Much of the story and setting is from the area around the town of Grimstad in southern Norway where Ibsen lived for a few years in his youth...
".
- 1862 Love's Comedy
Love's Comedy is a comedy by Henrik Ibsen. It was first published on 31 December 1862. As a result of being branded an "immoral" work in the press, the Christiania Theatre would not dare to stage it at first...
(Kjærlighedens Komedie)
- 1863 The Pretenders
The Pretenders, in original Kongs-Emnerne, is a play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, written in 1863.The play opened at the old Christiania Theatre on the 19th of January 1864 and evolves around the historical conflict between Norwegian King Håkon Håkonsson and his father-in-law; Earl Skule...
(Kongs-Emnerne)
- 1866 Brand
Brand is a play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It is a verse tragedy, written in 1865 and first performed in Stockholm on 24 March 1867. Brand was an intellectual play that caused many people to "think outside the box"....
(Brand)
- 1867 Peer Gynt
Peer Gynt is a five-act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen, loosely based on the fairy tale Per Gynt. Interpreted in its day as a satire on the Norwegian personality, Peer Gynt is the story of a life based on avoidance. A first edition of 1,250 copies was published on 14...
(Peer Gynt)
- 1869 The League of Youth
The League of Youth is a play by Henrik Ibsen finished in early May 1869, following Peer Gynt. It was widely considered Ibsen's most popular play in nineteenth-century Norway, although its initial reception was not successful The League of Youth is a play by Henrik Ibsen finished in early May...
(De unges Forbund)
- 1873 Emperor and Galilean
Emperor and Galilean is a play written by Henrik Ibsen and published in 1873. It is Ibsen's longest play, and he considered it his magnum opus. The play is about the Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate and is written in two parts with five acts in each part. It covers the years A.D...
(Kejser og Galilæer)
- 1877 Pillars of Society (Samfundets Støtter)
- 1879 A Doll's House
A Doll House is an 1879 play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Written one year after The Pillars of Society, the play was the first of Ibsen's to create a sensation and is now perhaps his most famous play, and required reading in many secondary schools and universities...
(Et Dukkehjem)
- 1881 Ghosts
Ghosts is a play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It was written in 1881 and first staged in 1882.Like many of Ibsen's better-known plays, Ghosts is a scathing commentary on 19th century morality....
(Gengangere)
- 1882 An Enemy of the People
An Enemy of the People is an 1882 play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Ibsen wrote it in response to the public outcry against his play Ghosts, which at that time was considered scandalous...
(En Folkefiende)
- 1884 The Wild Duck
The Wild Duck is an 1884 play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.-Plot:The first act opens with a dinner party hosted by Hakon Werle, a wealthy merchant and industrialist. The gathering is attended by his son, Gregers Werle, who has just returned to his father's home following a self-imposed...
(Vildanden)
- 1886 Rosmersholm
Rosmersholm is a play written in 1886 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. In the estimation of many critics the piece is Ibsen's masterwork, only equalled by The Wild Duck of 1884...
(Rosmersholm)
- 1888 The Lady from the Sea
The Lady from the Sea is a play written in 1888 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.-Plot:Ellida Wangel is married to the much older Doctor Wangel, a widower who already has two daughters not much younger than Ellida. After some years, Doctor Wangel finds his wife increasingly strange and anxious...
(Fruen fra Havet)
- 1890 Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler is a play first published in 1890 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play premiered in 1891 in Germany to negative reviews, but has subsequently gained recognition as a classic of realism, nineteenth century theatre, and world drama...
(Hedda Gabler)
- 1892 The Master Builder
The Master Builder is a play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It was first published in 1892 and first performed in Berlin on 19 January 1893.- Plot summary :Characters* Halvard Solness, master builder.* Aline Solness, his wife....
(Bygmester Solness)
- 1894 Little Eyolf
Little Eyolf is an 1894 play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play was first performed on January 12, 1895 in the Deutsches Theater in Berlin.-Plot:...
(Lille Eyolf)
- 1896 John Gabriel Borkman
John Gabriel Borkman is the penultimate composition of the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, written in 1896.-Plot:The play is based on an incident that Ibsen recorded from an earlier period in his life, the attempted suicide of an army officer who had been accused of embezzlement...
(John Gabriel Borkman)
- 1899 When We Dead Awaken
When We Dead Awaken is the last play written by Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen. It was first published in 1899, and first staged in Stuttgart in 1900.-Plot summary:...
(Når vi døde vaagner)
See also
- Problem play
The problem play is a form of drama that emerged during the 19th century as part of the wider movement of realism in the arts. It deals with contentious social issues through debates between the characters on stage, who typically represent conflicting points of view within a realistic social...
- Realism
- Naturalism
Naturalism is a movement in European drama and theatre that developed in the late 1st and early 20th centuries. It refers to theatre that attempts to create a perfect illusion of reality through a range of dramatic and theatrical strategies: detailed, three-dimensional settings Naturalism is a...
- Nineteenth-century theatre
Additional Reading
- Ibsen: The Complete Major Prose Plays ( Rolf G. Fjelde, translator. Plume: 1978)
External links