Born: Skien, Norway (then united with Sweden), 20 March 1828. Education: Educated at local schools, and a private school in Skien; attended the University of Christiania (now Oslo), 1850-51. Family: Married Suzannah Thoresen in 1858; one son; also had one son by Else Jonsdatter. Career: Pharmacist’s assistant in Grimstad, 1844-50; drama critic, Manden, later Andhrimner, 1851; contributor to the radical newspaper Arbejderforeningernes blad, until it was shut down by the police, 1851; house dramatist, Det Norske Theater [Norwegian Theatre], Bergen, 1851-57; visited Copenhagen and Dresden, 1852; artistic director, Det Norske Theater, Christiania, 1857-62: theatre declared bankrupt, 1862; travelled in northern Norway on grant to collect folktales, 1862; consultant, Christiania Theater, 1863; awarded a small travelling scholarship by the state in 1864, and left for Italy,where he lived until 1868; visited Egypt, 1869; lived in Dresden, 1868-75, Munich, 1875-78, Rome, 1878-85, Munich, 1885-91; returned to Norway and settled in Christiania, 1891-1906. Government pension, 1866. Doctor of Letters, Uppsala University, 1877.Died: 23 May 1906.
Publications
Collections
Samlede verker [Collected Works] (includes letters), edited by Francis Bull, Halvdan Koht, and Didrik Arup Seip. 21 vols., 1928-58.
Samlede verker [Collected Works]. 7 vols., 1978.
Prose Dramas (includes The League of Youth; The Pillars of Society; A Doll’s House; Ghosts; An Enemy of the People; The Wild Duck; Lady Inger of Ostrat; The Vikings at Helgeland; The Pretenders; The Emperor and Galilean; Rosmersholm; The Lady from the Sea; Hedda Gabler), edited by William Archer, translated by Archer, Frances E. Archer, Eleanor Marx-Aveling, Charles Archer, Catherine Ray. 5 vols., 1890.
Collected Works, edited by William Archer, translated by Archer, Edmund Gosse, Charles Archer, Frances E. Archer, Eleanor Marx-Aveling, Mary Morison, C.H. Herford, and A.G. Chater. 12 vols., 1906-12.
The Oxford Ibsen, edited by James W. McFarlane, translated by McFarlane and others. 8 vols., 1960-77.
The Complete Major Prose Plays, translated by Roll Fjelde. 1978.
Plays, translated by Michael Meyer. 6 vols., 1980-87.
Plays
Catalina (produced 1882). 1850; as Cataline, translated by Anders Orbeck, in Early Plays, 1921; as Catiline, translated by Graham Orton, in The Oxford Ibsen, 1, 1960.
Kjxmpeh0jen (produced 1850). 1902; as The Warrior’s Barrow, translated by Anders Orbeck, in Early Plays, 1921; as The Burial Mound, translated by James McFarlane, in The Oxford Ibsen 1, 1960.
Norma; eller, En politikers kjxrlighed, in Andhrimmer. 1 and 8 June, 1851; as Norma; or, A Politician’s Love, translated by James McFarlane, in The Oxford Ibsen 1, 1960.
Sankthansnatten (produced 1853). 1909; as St. John’s Night, translated by James and Kathleen McFarlane, in The Oxford Ibsen 1, 1960.
Fru Inger til 0strat (produced 1855). 1857; revised edition, 1874; as Lady Inger of Ostrat, translated by Charles Archer, in Prose Dramas, 1890; also translated by R. Farquharson-Sharp, with Love’s Comedy and The League of Youth, 1915; as Lady Inger, translated by Graham Orton, in The Oxford Ibsen 1, 1960.
Gildet pa Solhaug (produced 1856). 1856; as The Feast at Solhaug, translated by William Archer and Mary Morison, in Collected Works, 1906-12.
Olaf Liljekrans (produced 1857). 1898; as Olaf Liljekrans, translated by Anders Orbeck, in Early Plays, 1921.
Hxrmxndenepa Helgeland (produced 1858). 1857; as The Vikings at Helgeland, translated by William Archer, in Prose Dramas, 1890; also translated by Sam Oakland, 1978; as The Warriors at Helgeland, translated by R. Farquharson-Sharp, with Ghosts and An Enemy of the People, 1911; translated by James McFarlane, in The Oxford Ibsen 2, 1962.
Kjxrlighedens komedie (produced 1873). 1862; as Love’s Comedy, translated by C.H. Herford, 1900; also translated by R. Farquharson-Sharp, with Lady Inger of Ostraat and The League of Youth, 1915; Jens Arup, 1962.
Kongs-Emnerne (produced 1864). 1863; as The Pretenders, translated by William Archer, in Prose Dramas, 1890; also translated by R. Farquharson-Sharp, with The Pillars of Society and Rosmersholm, 1913; William Archer, 1913.
Brand (produced in part, 1866; complete version, 1885). 1866; as Brand, translated by W. Wilson, 1891; also translated by C.H. Herford, 1894; F.E. Garrett, 1894; J.M. Olberman, 1912; Miles M. Dawson, 1916; Theodore Jorgenson, 1962; G.M. Gathorne-Hardy, 1966; Michael Meyer, 1967; Geoffrey Hill, 1978; R.D. MacDonald, 1991.
Peer Gynt (produced 1876). 1867; as Peer Gynt, translated by William and Charles Archer, 1892; also translated by R. Ellis-Roberts, 1912; R. Farquharson-Sharp, 1921; Gottfried Hult, 1933; Norman Ginsbury, 1945; Paul Green, 1951; Horace Maynard Finney, 1955; Rolf Fjelde, 1964; Christopher Fry and Johan Fillinger, 1970; Peter Watts, 1970; David Rudkin, 1983; James W. McFarlane, 1989; Anne Bamborough, adapted by Frank McGuiness, 1990; Kenneth McLeish, 1990.
De unges forbund (produced 1869). 1869; as The League of Youth, translated by William Archer, in Prose Dramas, 1890; R. Farquharson-Sharp, with Love’s Comedy and Lady Inger of Ostraat, 1915; Peter Watts, with A Doll’s House and The Lady From the Sea, 1965.
Kejser og Galilxer (produced in part 1896). 1873; as The Emperor and the Galilean, translated by Catherine Ray, 1876; also translated by Graham Orton, 1963.
Samfundets st0tter (produced 1877). 1877; as The Pillars of Society, translated by William Archer, in The Pillars of Society and Other Plays, 1888; also translated by R. Farquharson-Sharp, with The Pretenders and Rosmersholm, 1913; Garrett H. Leverton, 1937; Norman Ginsbury, 1962; as The Pillars of the Community, translated by Una Ellis-Fermor, in Three Plays, 1950.
Et dukkehjem (produced 1879). 1879; as Nora, translated by T. Weber, 1880; also translated by Henrietta Frances Lord, 1882; as A Doll’s House, translated by William Archer, 1889; also translated by Norman Ginsbury, 1904; R. Farquharson-Sharp, with The Wild Duck and The Lady From the Sea, 1910; Norman Ginsbury, 1950; Peter Watts, with The League of Youth and The Lady From the Sea, 1965; Roll Fjelde, in Four Major Plays, 1965; James W. McFarlane, in Four Major Plays, 1981; Frank McGuinness, from a literal translation by Charlotte Barslund, 1996; translated by Nicholas Rudall, 1999.
Gengangere (produced 1881). 1881; as Ghosts, translated by William Archer, in The Pillars of Society and Other Plays, 1888; also translated by Henrietta Frances Lord, 1890; R. Farquharson-Sharp, with The Warriors at Helgeland and An Enemy of the People, 1911; Norman Ginsbury, 1938; Bjorn Koefoed, 1950; Peter Watts, with A Public Enemy and When We Dead Wake, 1964; Michael Meyer, 1970; James W. McFarlane, in Four Major Plays, 1981; Christopher Hampton, 1983; Nicholas Rudall, 1990.
En folkefiende (produced 1883). 1882; as An Enemy of Society, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling, in The Pillars of Society and Other Plays, 1888; as An Enemy of the People, translated by R. Farquharson-Sharp, with Ghosts and The Warriors at Helgeland, 1911; Norman Ginsbury, 1939; Lars Nordenson, adapted by Arthur Miller, 1951; James W. McFarlane, with The Wild Duck and Rosmersholm, 1960; Inger Lignell, adapted by Henry S. Taylor, 1960; Michael Meyer, 1970; as A Public Enemy, translated by Peter Watts, with Ghosts and When We Dead Wake, 1964; as An Enemy of the People, adapted by Max Faber, 1967; adapted by Christopher Hampton, 1997.
Vildanden (produced 1885). 1884; as The Wild Duck, translated by Frances E. Archer, in Prose Dramas, 1890; also translated by R. Farquharson-Sharp, with A Doll’s House and The Lady From the Sea, 1910; William Archer, in Four Plays, 1941; Una Ellis-Fermor, in Three Plays, 1950; James W. McFarlane, with Enemy of the People and Rosmersholm, 1960; Rolf Fjelde, in Four Major Plays, 1965; Michael Meyer, 1970; Inga-Stina Ewbank and Peter Hall, with John Gabriel Borkman, 1975; Dounia Christiani, 1980; Christopher Hampton, 1980; adapted by Max Faber, 1958; adapted by Robert Brustein, 1997.
Rosmersholm (produced 1887). 1886; as Rosmersholm, translated by L.N. Parker, 1889; also translated by M. Carmichael, in Prose Dramas, 1890; R. Farquharson-Sharp, with The Pretenders and The Pillars of Society, 1913; Una Ellis-Fermor, in The Master Builder and Other Plays, 1958; James W. McFarlane, with Enemy of the People and The Wild Duck, 1960; Norman Ginsbury, 1961; Ann Jellicoe, 1961; Arvid Paulson, in Last Plays, 1962; D. Rudkin, with When We Dead Awaken, 1990; as The House of Rosmer, adapted by Brian J. Burton, 1959.
The Pillars of Society and Other Plays (includes The Pillars of Society; Ghosts; An Enemy of Society), edited by Havelock Ellis, translated by William Archer and Eleanor Marx-Aveling. 1888.
Fruen fra havet (produced 1889). 1888; as The Lady from the Sea, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling, 1890; also translated by Frances E. Archer, in Prose Dramas, 1890; Peter Watts, with The League of Youth and A Doll’s House, 1965; James W. McFarlane, 1977.
Prose Dramas, edited by Edmund Gosse. 5 vols., 1890.
Hedda Gabler (produced 1891). 1890; as Hedda Gabler, translated by William Archer, in Prose Dramas, 1890; also translated by Edmund Gosse, 1891; Una Ellis-Fermor, in Three Plays, 1950; Eva Le Gallienne, 1953; Arvid Paulson, in Last Plays, 1962; Rolf Fjelde, in Four Major Plays, 1965; Michael Meyer, 1970; Christopher Hampton, 1972; Jens Arup, in Four Major Plays, 1981; Nicholas Rudall, 1992; adapted by John Osborne, 1972, and with Strindberg’s The Father, 1989; adapted by Jon Robin Baitz, from a translation by Anne-Charlotte Hanes Harvey, 2000.
Bygmester Solness (produced 1893). 1892; as The Master Builder, translated by J.W. Arctander, 1893; also translated by Edmund Gosse and William Archer, 1893; Eva Le Gallienne, 1955; Una Ellis-Fermor, in The Master Builder and Other Plays, 1958; Arvid Paulson, in Last Plays, 1962; Rolf Fjelde, in Four Major Plays, 1965; Michael Meyer, 1968; James W. McFarlane, in Four Major Plays, 1981; also translated by Nicholas Rudall, 1994.
Lille Eyolf (produced 1895). 1894; as Little Eyolf, translated by William Archer, 1895; also translated by Henry L. Mencken, 1909; Una Ellis-Fermor, in The Master Builder and Other Plays, 1958; James W. McFarlane, 1977.
John Gabriel Borkman (produced 1897). 1896; as John Gabriel Borkman, translated by William Archer, 1897; also translated by Una Ellis-Fermor, in The Master Builder and Other Plays, 1958; Norman Ginsbury, 1960; Arvid Paulson, in Last Plays, 1962; Inga-Stina Ewbank and Peter Hall, with The Wild Duck, 1975; Nicholas Wright, from a translation by Charlotte Barslund, 1996.
Nar vi d0de vagner (produced 1900). 1899; edited by Robert Brustein, 1992; as When We Dead Awaken, translated by William Archer, 1900; also translated by Arvid Paulson, in Last Plays, 1962; James W. McFarlane, 1977; D. Rudkin, with Rosmersholm, 1990; as When We Dead Wake, translated by Peter Watts, with Ghosts and A Public Enemy, 1964.
Prose Dramas (includes The League of Youth; The Pillars of Society; A Doll’s House; Ghosts; An Enemy of the People), revised edition, edited by William Archer, translated by Archer and Eleanor Marx-Aveling (reprinted from The Pillars of Society and Other Plays, 1888, and Prose Dramas, 5 vols., 1890). 5 vols., 1900-01.
A Doll’s House; The Wild Duck; The Lady from the Sea, translated by R. Farquharson-Sharp and Eleanor Marx-Aveling. 1910.
The Warriors at Helgeland; Ghosts; An Enemy of the People, translated by R. Farquharson-Sharp. 1911.
The Pretenders; The Pillars of Society; Rosmersholm, translated by R. Farquharson-Sharp. 1913.
Prose Dramas (includes Rosmersholm; A Doll’s House; The Lady from the Sea). 1913.
Lady Inger of Ostraat; Love’s Comedy; The League of Youth, translated by R. Farquharson-Sharp. 1915.
Early Plays (includes Cataline; The Warrior’s Barrow; Olaf Liljekrans), translated by Anders Orbeck. 1921.
Four Plays (includes A Doll’s House; Ghosts; The Wild Duck; The Master Builder), translated by William Archer. 1941.
Three Plays (includes Hedda Gabler; The Wild Duck; The Pillars of the Community), translated by Una Ellis-Fermor. 1950; as Hedda Gabler and Other Plays, 1963.
Seven Famous Plays, edited by William Archer and others. 1950.
The Master Builder and Other Plays (includes The Master Builder; Rosmersholm; Little Eyolf; John Gabriel Borkman), translated by Una Ellis-Fermor. 1958.
An Enemy of the People; Rosmersholm; The Wild Duck, translated by James W. McFarlane. 1960.
Last Plays (includes Rosmersholm; Hedda Gabler; The Master Builder; John Gabriel Borkman; When We Dead Awaken), translated by Arvid Paulson. 1962.
Ghosts; A Public Enemy; When We Dead Wake, translated by Peter Watts. 1964.
The League of Youth; A Doll’s House; The Lady from the Sea, translated by Peter Watts. 1965.
Four Major Plays (includes A Doll’s House; The Wild Duck; Hedda Gabler; The Master Builder), translated by Rolf Fjelde. 1965.
Ghosts; An Enemy of the People; Wild Duck; Hedda Gabler, translated by Michael Meyer. 1970.
Four Major Plays (includes A Doll’s House; Ghosts; The Master Builder; Hedda Gabler), translated by James W. McFarlane and Jens Arup. 1981.
Verse
Digte [Verse]. 1871; enlarged edition, 1875.
Lyrical Poems, translated by R.A. Streatfeild. 1902.
Pa vidderne, as On the Heights, translated by William Norman Guthrie. 1910.
Lyrics and Poems, translated by F.E. Garrett. 1912.
Terje Viken, translated by M. Michelet and G.R. Vowles. 1918.
Poems, translated by John Northam. 1986.
Poems, translated by Brian Sourbut. 1993.
Other
Samlede verker [Collected Works]. 10 vols., 1898-1902. Correspondence, edited and translated by Mary Morison. 1905.
Episke Brand (fragment), edited by Karl Larsen. 1907.
Speeches and New Letters, edited by Lee M. Hollander, translated by Arne Kildal. 1911, reprinted 1982. Letters and Speeches, edited by Evert Sprinchorn, translated by Sprinchorn and others. 1965.
Brevveksling med Christiania Theater 1878-1899 (letters), edited by 0yvind Anker. 1965.
Brev 1845-1905 (letters), edited by 0yvind Anker. 1979.
Critical Studies:
Henrik Ibsen: A Critical Biography by Henrik B. Jaeger, translated by W.M. Payne 1901; Henrik Ibsen: Plays and Problems by Otto Heller, 1912; Henrik Ibsen: Poet, Mystic and Moralist by Henry Rose, 1913; The Quintessence of Ibsenism by G.B. Shaw, revised edition, 1913; Ibsen and His Creation by Janko Lavrin, 1921; Henrik Ibsen: A Critical Study by Richard E. Roberts, 1922; The Modern Ibsen by H.J. Weigand, 1925; Henrik Ibsen: An Introduction to His Life and Works by Paul H. Grummann, 1928; Ibsen and the Actress by Elizabeth Robins, 1928; Henrik Ibsen: A Study in Art and Personality by Theodore Jorgenson, 1945; Ibsen the Norwegian by M.C. Bradbrook, 1946, revised edition, 1966; Ibsen: The Intellectual Background, 1946, and A Study of Six Plays by Ibsen, 1950, both by Brian W. Downs; Ibsen’s Dramatic Technique by P.F.D. Tennant, 1948; Ibsen’s Dramatic Method, 1952, and Ibsen: A Critical Study, 1973, both by John Northam; Ibsen: The Man and the Dramatist by F. Bull, 1954; Ibsen and the Temper of Norwegian Literature, 1960, and Ibsen and Meaning: Studies, Essays and Prefaces 1953-87, 1987, both by James McFarlane, and Ibsen: A Critical Anthology, 1970, and The Cambridge Companion to Ibsen, 1994, both edited by McFarlane; Henrik Ibsen by G. Wilson Knight, 1962; The Drama of Ibsen and Strindberg by F.L. Lucas, 1962; Henrik Ibsen: A Collection of Critical Essays edited by Rolf Fjelde, 1965; Notes on Ibsen’s ”Doll’s House" and ”Hedda Gabler,” 1965, and Notes on Ibsen’s ”Ghosts,” ”Enemy of the People" and ”The Wild Duck", 1965, both by Marianne Sturman; Henrik Ibsen (biography), 3 vols., 1967-71, condensed single vol., 1974, Ibsen on File, 1985, and Ibsen, 1990, all by Michael Meyer; Mythic Patterns in Ibsen’s Last Plays by O.I. Holtan, 1970; The Life of Ibsen by H. Koht, 1971; Ibsen: The Critical Heritage edited by Michael Egan, 1972; Cataline’s Dream: An Essay on Ibsen’s Plays by J. Hurt, 1972; Henrik Ibsen: The Divided Consciousness by Charles R. Lyons, 1972, and Critical Essays on Henrik Ibsen edited by Lyons, 1987; Women in the Plays of Henrik Ibsen by Clela Allphin, 1975; Ibsen’s Feminine Mystique by Vincent J. Balice, 1975; The Ibsen Cycle: The Design of the Plays from ”Pillars of Society" to ”When We Dead Awaken," 1975, revised 1992, To the Third Empire: Ibsen’s Early Drama, 1980, and Text and Supertext in Ibsen’s Drama, 1989, all by Brian Johnston; Ibsen by Harold Clurman, 1977; The Real Drama of Henrik Ibsen? by Arne Duve, 1977; Ibsen: A Dissenting View by Ronald Gray, 1977; Ibsen: The Man and His Work, 1978, and Henrik Ibsen, 1980, both by Edvard Beyer; Ibsen the Romantic: Analogues of Paradise in the Later Plays by Errol Durbach, 1978, and Ibsen and the Theatre: Essays in Celebration of the 150th Anniversary of Henrik Ibsen’s Birth edited by Durbach, 1980; Ibsen’s Drama: Author to Audience by E. Haugen, 1979; A Doll’s House: Notes by Bruce King, 1980; Henrik Ibsen’s Aesthetic and Dramatic Art by J.E. Tammany, 1980; Patterns in Ibsen’s Middle Plays by Richard Hornby, 1981; Notes on Ibsen’s ”Doll’s House" edited by A. Norman Jeffares and Suheil Badi Bushrui, 1981; Ghosts: Notes by Adele King, 1981; Ibsen: The Open Vision by John Chamberlain, 1982; Ibsen Studies by Peter J. Eikeland, 1982; Ibsen: Four Essays edited by Angel Flores, 1982; Hedda Gabler: Notes by Helena Forsas-Scott, 1983; Henrik Ibsen by David Thomas, 1983; William Archer on Ibsen: The Major Essays 1889-19 by William Archer, edited by Thomas Postlethwait, 1984; An Ibsen Companion: A Dictionary Guide to the Life, Works and Critical Reception of Henrik Ibsen by G.B. Bryan, 1984; Ibsen and Shaw by Keith M. May, 1985; Henrik Ibsen: Life, Work and Criticism by Yvonne Shafer, 1985; Ibsen and the English Stage by Gretchen P. Ackerman, 1987; China’s Ibsen: From Ibsen to Ibsenism by Elisabeth Eide, 1987; Ibsen in America: A Century of Change by Robert A. Schanke, 1988; Peer Gynt and Ghosts by Asbj0rn Aarseth, 1989; Ibsen’s Lively Art: A Performance Study of the Major Plays by Frederick J. and Lise-Lone Marker, 1989; Time’s Disinherited Children: Childhood, Regression and Sacrifice in the Plays of Henrik Ibsen by Robin Young, 1989; Ibsen’s Heroines by Lou Andreas-Salome, translated by S. Mandel, 1990; Ibsen and the Great World by Naomi Lebowitz, 1990; Divine Madness and the Absurd Paradox: Ibsen’s ”Peer Gynt" and the Philosophy of Kierkegaard by Bruce G. Shapiro, 1990; Ibsen’s Forsaken Merman: Folklore in the Late Plays by Per Schelde Jacobsen and Barbara Fass Leavy, 1991; Ibsen: A Doll’s House by Egil Tornqvist, 1995; Ibsen and the Greeks: The Classical Greek Dimension in Selected Works of Henrik Ibsen as Mediated by German and Scandinavian Culture by Norman Rhodes, 1995; Henrik Ibsen: A New Biography by Robert Ferguson, 1996; Ibsen’s Drama: Right Action and Tragic Joy by Theoharis Constan-tine Theoharis, 1996; Ibsen’s Women by Joan Templeton, 1997; Ibsen and Early Modernist Theatre, 1890-1900 by Kirsten Shepherd-Barr, 1997; Theatrical and Narrative Space: Studies in Ibsen, Strindberg and J.P. Jacobsen by Erik 0sterud, 1998; On Ibsen by James Joyce, edited by Dennis Phillips, 1999; Stella Adler on Ibsen, Strindberg, and Chekhov by Stella Adler, edited by Barry Paris, 1999; Ibsen: The Dramaturgy of Fear by Michael Goldman, 1999.
”Anyone who wants to understand me must know Norway,” Henrik Ibsen once remarked. This most European of Norwegian dramatists, still played regularly to packed houses the world over, often to theater-goers ignorant of his nationality, insisted upon the importance of his national heritage. There was much about Norway which irritated and depressed him—to such an extent that he spent 27 of his most creative years (1864-91) abroad, in Italy and Germany— yet his plays, almost without exception, are set in the land he had rejected. Trolls and hobgoblins, Viking legends, brooding fjord landscapes and deep sunless valleys, snow and ice and extreme cold and light, hectic summer nights—these permeate the lives and form the personalities of the characters in his plays.
Yet even before he left Norway, Ibsen was well versed in the European theatrical tradition. After an inauspicious and poverty-stricken beginning, he was appointed theatre director in Bergen (1851-57), then Christiania (now Oslo, 1857-62). The European stage at this period was dominated by French salon comedies, the ”well-made play” written by dramatists such as Eugene Scribe; and it was largely these which Ibsen directed.
Most of Ibsen’s early works are historical dramas, often in verse, which combine tales of Norway’s heroic, half-legendary past with the techniques of Scribean drama: a complicated intrigue, involving convoluted misunderstanding and mistaken identity, and a neat tying-off of ends in conclusion—as in, for example, Fru Inger til 0strat (Lady Inger of Ostrat) and Gildetpa Solhaug (The Feast at Solhaug). They are lofty in style, with a tendency to melodrama; it was not until Ibsen turned to depiction of contemporary society in colloquial modern prose that he found his natural medium.
Before that, however, he had written the two vast and sprawling verse dramas Brand and Peer Gynt. They were ”reading dramas,” not intended for the stage, and could not be staged realistically; they required not only an enormous cast but (for Brand) whole mountain ranges, storms, and avalanches, and (for Peer Gynt) a removal across several continents, a shipwreck, and a multitude of supernatural and monstrous creatures. It was not until Ibsen had achieved success with his prose dramas that they were accepted into theatre repertoires. Nowadays, however, they are among the most frequently performed of the plays.
At the centre of each play is a loner, a man ostracized by his fellow men. Brand is a fanatical priest who demands unquestioning submission to his stern Jehovah, and destroys his family and finally himself in his obsessive devotion to his call. Peer Gynt is his antithesis, a man who stands for nothing, taking the line of least resistance throughout his life; yet both die equally unsure that they have achieved anything.
This pattern of antitheses—exposing the deficiencies of one extreme standpoint in one play and then those of its polar opposite in another—was to repeat itself in many of Ibsen’s later plays. Ibsen’s protagonists feel driven to take a stand: the lofty claims of the ideal clash with the more sordid compromise of the real, the egotistical drive for success and fame with the gentler values of love and friendship.
It was with the ”social” dramas of his next period, from Samfundets st0tter (The Pillars of Society) to Vildanden (The Wild Duck), that Ibsen won an international reputation and established himself as a European dramatist. Initially the success was often one of scandal rather than acclaim; for Ibsen wrote about such subjects, and in such a way, that polite society was outraged. The slamming of the door at the end of Et dukkehjem (A Doll’s House), which announces Nora’s abandonment of husband and children, and her determination to find self-fulfilment on her own terms, aroused furious condemnation. Gengangere (Ghosts), with its frank treatment of debauchery, illegitimacy, and syphilis, was banned and reviled. ”An open drain,” the Daily Telegraph called it. Posterity, however, has discovered that it was neither lubricity nor frankness which was the truly revolutionary aspect of these plays; it was rather Ibsen’s determination to challenge social convention and hypocrisy, which barred the way to individual self-realization.
Ibsen read few books, but he did read newspapers, and his reading is reflected not only in his involvement in contemporary debates but in the language and style of his plays. His actors were not required to strike heroic poses and indulge in elevated conceits, but to talk to each other in the contemporary language of everyday life. Acting traditions had to change before Ibsen’s ideas could be realized.
From 1877 Ibsen’s plays are entirely in prose, and the centre of interest narrows to a small group of people, frequently a family within the four walls of their home, a refuge which grows more and more like a prison as the conflict intensifies. The mainspring of the action is often the revelation of a guilty secret, a past misdeed which returns to haunt the present and disrupt the fragile security which has been erected over its concealment. The end is often death or despair (Ghosts, The Wild Duck, Rosmersholm); with the relentlessness of Greek tragedy, the characters are doomed by their own acts even as they struggle to escape. It is but rarely that they find the strength to take charge of their own fates, as in Fruen fra havet (The Lady from the Sea), where understanding and tolerance break the vicious spiral of mutual destructiveness.
Ibsen’s late plays puzzled critics and audiences; they found them obscure and disturbing. In the 1890s he began to depart from the familiar realistic form and to move towards a more experimental, modernistic drama. Complex images or symbols dominate the play, like the tower in Bygmester Solness (The Master Builder) or the iron mountains in John Gabriel Borkman; strange, surreal characters appear; the protagonists are groping uncertainly for the meaning of life. In Ibsen’s last play, Nar vi d0de vagner (When We Dead Awaken), the artist and his muse disappear into the apocalypse hand in hand.
Ibsen wrote not just in one dramatic form but in many. There are few European dramatists since his day who do not owe something to his tightly controlled form and his sense of theatre.
