An Enemy of the People - Henrik Ibsen

Advantages: Great play from the father of modern drama
Disadvantages: Some people will never get it

...Perhaps best known for Ghosts and A doll's House Henrik Ibsen was one of the great iconoclastic playwrights that heralded a new drama. Well before his time Ibsen revolutionised a European stage dominated by spectacle and melodrama. His method was Naturalism - the scientific presentation of the reaction of certain characters in prescribed situations. His plays do not rely on stereotypes and generalisations, yet we all recognise various characters from our lives on an Ibsen stage. Ibsen was also a favourite for actors, particularly the under-recognised female actors of the nineteenth century. Although he always denied such affiliations Ibsen is heralded as a champion of the women's movement. Henrik Ibsen was Norwegain and Hedda Gabler was originally written in his native tongue, although he has since been translated into most modern... Read review

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Advantages: complex characters
Disadvantages: felt a bit suffocated whilst reading

...A Doll House was the first of Ibsen's plays to create such a HUGE sensation and I think it is now perhaps his most famous play. It is my favourite Ibsen play. At the time when it was published, the play was highly controversial due to it's blatent criticicism of the standard Victorian marriage. About the author Henrik Johan Ibsen was a Norwegian playwright of the late 19th century. He brought to the European stage a whole new order of moral analysis that was placed against a very traditional middle-class background and developed with economy of action, powerful dialogue, and gusto thought. Basically, Ibsen wrote for and about the middle class and life in the outskirts of cities and small towns. He focused completely on characters and psychological conflicts rather than dramatic situations. He is more character orientated and it... Read review

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Advantages: A great feminist play written by a man.
Disadvantages: none,

...that today women are considered as equals. It does bring up issues of the time however and shows us that it took people to speak out against traditionalist views to get to the situation we are in today. Ibsen’s A Doll’s House is a highly regarded play nowadays and has been studied and analysed all over the world. It is an important play in the fact that it is an early Stanislavskian piece of drama concentrating on many aspects such as the well made play. Ibsen was influenced by many things and I believe they all contributed to the making of A Doll’s House. I think Ibson had a strong personality and was certainly not afraid to voice his opinion. The fact that he travelled because he didn’t believe in his Country at the time was a bold choice and did a lot for his work I think.... Read review

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