Research Paper Henrik Ibsen
Rebecca Tyler
UNST 236A
Beyler/Martin
Research Paper Final Draft
March 14, 2012
Ibsen’s Moralist Approach Henrik Ibsen is often referred to as the “father of modern drama” because he played an important role in the birth of Modernism theatre (Moi 17). His plays were considered scandalous because he refused to shy away from controversial topics that brought political discussion into the public domain. Ibsen wrote An Enemy of the People in 1882 as a response to the criticism he endured when his play Ghosts, written in 1881, was first performed. The characters in both plays are representations of citizens with flawed morals. Stockmann protests against the views of the vast majority, arguing that they are morally corrupt. Through the voice of protagonist Dr. Stockmann, Ibsen responds to the public’s criticism by portraying the flawed ethical views of the members in positions of authority. His characters reflected the modern families and citizens he saw in his own community and his response was an attempt to enlighten the audience of the current morality issues in the community. Ibsen himself insisted his works be interpreted as a whole, because “only by grasping and comprehending my entire production as a continuous and coherent whole will the reader be able to perceive the precise impression I sought to convey in the individual parts of it (Machiraju 135)”. If we were to observe Ghosts and An Enemy of the People as a whole production we would see consistent modern themes of “idealism” and “truth”, topics Ibsen is known for discussing. In these two plays and Ibsen’s The Wild Duck we see idealist characters who cannot grasp truth so they create reasons for concealing it. The characters’ morals and ethical views were put into question and forced to face the truth. When Ghosts was first performed it was greatly criticized for the subject matter. Mrs. Alving was the wife of Captain Alving, who had passed a year before. Over the course of the play the
UNST 236A
Beyler/Martin
Research Paper Final Draft
March 14, 2012
Ibsen’s Moralist Approach Henrik Ibsen is often referred to as the “father of modern drama” because he played an important role in the birth of Modernism theatre (Moi 17). His plays were considered scandalous because he refused to shy away from controversial topics that brought political discussion into the public domain. Ibsen wrote An Enemy of the People in 1882 as a response to the criticism he endured when his play Ghosts, written in 1881, was first performed. The characters in both plays are representations of citizens with flawed morals. Stockmann protests against the views of the vast majority, arguing that they are morally corrupt. Through the voice of protagonist Dr. Stockmann, Ibsen responds to the public’s criticism by portraying the flawed ethical views of the members in positions of authority. His characters reflected the modern families and citizens he saw in his own community and his response was an attempt to enlighten the audience of the current morality issues in the community. Ibsen himself insisted his works be interpreted as a whole, because “only by grasping and comprehending my entire production as a continuous and coherent whole will the reader be able to perceive the precise impression I sought to convey in the individual parts of it (Machiraju 135)”. If we were to observe Ghosts and An Enemy of the People as a whole production we would see consistent modern themes of “idealism” and “truth”, topics Ibsen is known for discussing. In these two plays and Ibsen’s The Wild Duck we see idealist characters who cannot grasp truth so they create reasons for concealing it. The characters’ morals and ethical views were put into question and forced to face the truth. When Ghosts was first performed it was greatly criticized for the subject matter. Mrs. Alving was the wife of Captain Alving, who had passed a year before. Over the course of the play the
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