An Enemy of the People

Author : Henrik Ibsen

(1828 - 1906)

Socially-Progressive Playwright, Author, Activist, and Revolutionary from Norway

Henrik Johan Ibsen was a Norwegian playwright and theater director. As one of the founders of modernism in theater, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playwrights of his time. His major works include Brand, Peer Gynt, An Enemy of the People, Emperor and Galilean, A Doll's House, Hedda Gabler, Ghosts, The Wild Duck, When We Dead Awaken, Rosmersholm, and The Master Builder. Ibsen is the most frequently performed dramatist in the world after Shakespeare, and A Doll's House was the world's most performed play in 2006. Ibsen's early poetic and cinematic play Peer Gynt has strong surreal elements. After Peer Gynt Ibsen abandoned verse and wrote in realistic prose. Several of his later dramas were considered scandalous to many of his era, when European theater was expected to model strict morals of family life and propriety. Ibsen's later work examined the realities that lay behind the facades, revealing much that was di... (From: Wikipedia.org.)

Header

DRAMATIS PERSONAE Dr. Thomas Stockmann, Medical Officer of the Municipal Baths. Mrs. Stockmann, his wife. Petra (their daughter) a teacher. Ejlif & Morten (their sons, aged 13 and 10 respectively). Peter Stockmann (the Doctor's elder brother), Mayor of the Town and Chief Constable, Chairman of the Baths' Committee, etc. Morten Kiil, a tanner (Mrs. Stockmann's adoptive father). Hovstad, editor of the "People's Messenger." Billing, sub-editor. Captain Horster. Aslaksen, a printer. Men of various conditions and occupations, a few women, and a troop of schoolboys—the audience at a public meeting. The action takes place in a coastal town in southern Norway, AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE (From: Gutenberg.org.)

Act 1

(SCENE.—DR. STOCKMANN'S sitting-room. It is evening. The room is plainly but neatly appointed and furnished. In the right-hand wall are two doors; the farther leads out to the hall, the nearer to the doctor's study. In the left-hand wall, opposite the door leading to the hall, is a door leading to the other rooms occupied by the family. In the middle of the same wall stands the stove, and, further forward, a couch with a looking-glass hanging over it and an oval table in front of it. On the table, a lighted lamp, with a lampshade. At the back of the room, an open door leads to the dining-room. BILLING is seen sitting at the dining table, on which a lamp is burning. He has a napkin tucked under his chin, and MRS. STOCKMANN is standing ... (From: Gutenberg.org.)

Act 2

(SCENE.—The same. The door into the dining room is shut. It is morning. MRS. STOCKMANN, with a sealed letter in her hand, comes in from the dining room, goes to the door of the DOCTOR'S study, and peeps in.) Mrs. Stockmann. Are you in, Thomas? Dr. Stockmann (from within his room). Yes, I have just come in. (Comes into the room.) What is it? Mrs. Stockmann. A letter from your brother. Dr. Stockmann. Aha, let us see! (Opens the letter and reads:) "I return herewith the manuscript you sent me" (reads on in a low murmur) H'm!— Mrs. Stockmann. What does he say? Dr. Stockmann (putting the papers in his pocket). Oh, he only writes that he will come up here himself about midday. Mrs. Stockmann. Well, try and remember to be at hom... (From: Gutenberg.org.)

Act 3

(SCENE.—The editorial office of the "People's Messenger." The entrance door is on the left-hand side of the back wall; on the right-hand side is another door with glass panels through which the printing room can be seen. Another door in the right-hand wall. In the middle of the room is a large table covered with papers, newspapers and books. In the foreground on the left a window, before which stands a desk and a high stool. There are a couple of easy chairs by the table, and other chairs standing along the wall. The room is dingy and uncomfortable; the furniture is old, the chairs stained and torn. In the printing room the compositors are seen at work, and a printer is working a handpress. HOVSTAD is sitting at the desk, writing. BIL... (From: Gutenberg.org.)

Act 4

(SCENE.—A big old-fashioned room in CAPTAIN HORSTER'S house. At the back folding-doors, which are standing open, lead to an ante-room. Three windows in the left-hand wall. In the middle of the opposite wall a platform has been erected. On this is a small table with two candles, a water-bottle and glass, and a bell. The room is lit by lamps placed between the windows. In the foreground on the left there is a table with candles and a chair. To the right is a door and some chairs standing near it. The room is nearly filled with a crowd of townspeople of all sorts, a few women and schoolboys being among them. People are still streaming in from the back, and the room is soon filled.) 1st Citizen (meeting another). Hullo, Lamstad! You here... (From: Gutenberg.org.)

Act 5

(SCENE.—DR. STOCKMANN'S study. Bookcases and cabinets containing specimens, line the walls. At the back is a door leading to the hall; in the foreground on the left, a door leading to the sitting-room. In the righthand wall are two windows, of which all the panes are broken. The DOCTOR'S desk, littered with books and papers, stands in the middle of the room, which is in disorder. It is morning. DR. STOCKMANN in dressing-gown, slippers and a smoking-cap, is bending down and raking with an umbrella under one of the cabinets. After a little while he rakes out a stone.) Dr. Stockmann (calling through the open sitting-room door). Katherine, I have found another one. Mrs. Stockmann (from the sitting-room). Oh, you will find a lot more yet... (From: Gutenberg.org.)

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An Enemy of the People

By Henrik Ibsen (1882)

Entry 10958

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Author : Henrik Ibsen

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Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Act 4

Act 5

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