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Henrik IbsenA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Considered the father of dramatic realism, Henrik Ibsen revolutionized modern theatre. After the works of William Shakespeare, Ibsen’s plays are the most frequently performed in the world: A Doll’s House (1879), his best-known play, became the world’s most performed play in 2006.
While previously, plays often reinforced the morals and social conventions of the time or to entertain, Ibsen’s plays offered a powerful vehicle for dynamic debate and philosophical musings, confronting the darker realities of his society’s ills through close and unflinching examination. Unafraid to confront the raw realities of his characters, Ibsen also pushed the limits of controversy. His plays focused on the effect of contemporary problems on his characters. Ibsen’s plays inspired 19th- and 20th-century playwrights like George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Miller, and Eugene O’Neill to highlight the social issues of their time through their characters.
In the mid-19th century, drama was in decline as the novel genre flourished. Ibsen sought to revitalize theatre for the intelligentsia. His works draw from novelistic modes of realism and naturalism to inspect internal psychological states and social commentary about the moral hypocrisies of his time. To accomplish this, Ibsen relied on colloquial and relatable dialogue and characters that were recognizably everyday people.
By Henrik Ibsen
A Doll's House
A Doll's House
Henrik Ibsen
An Enemy of the People
An Enemy of the People
Henrik Ibsen
Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler
Henrik Ibsen
Peer Gynt
Peer Gynt
Henrik Ibsen
The Master Builder
The Master Builder
Henrik Ibsen
The Wild Duck
The Wild Duck
Henrik Ibsen
When We Dead Awaken
When We Dead Awaken
Henrik Ibsen
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