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In her analysis of Henrik Ibsen, Martha Fletcher Bellinger analyses Ibsen's writing style and how his personality and opinions influenced his writings. Bellinger says that Ibsen believed "honesty in facing facts is the first requisite of a decent life". I believe that this one idea influences all of Ibsen's writings because they are all attacks on problems in society, such as sexism and corruption. Bellinger says that Ibsen thought, "Society has humbugs, hypocrisies, and obscure diseases which must be revealed before they can be cured." According to her Ibsen believed that in order for the society to fix its problems they first must be brought to life, this was done through Ibsen's writing. Bellinger also argues the purposes of Ibsen's plays themselves and she states that Enemy of the People is discussing the "struggle between hypocrisy and greed on one side, and the ideal of personal honor on the other" because of this I think that the idea of corruption and hypocrisy could be a good topic to write about being that the entire play revolves around the idea that people are out for their own gains and interests. The idea that Ibsen wrote in order to bring issues in society into the light must mean that all of his books are written for the purpose of bettering society, at least in his eyes. Overall Bellinger appears to have written this analysis of Ibsen in order to explain why Ibsen writes his plays and gives examples by explaining the purposes or themes of his most important plays.

This article discusses Ibsen's different plays and the subjects that they focused on. The author of the article says that Henrik Ibsen was banished because of his style of writing, bringing to light many social issues that all of the people of that time preferred to keep in the dark. The article stats that an Enemy of the people examines the idealism that takes place in society, to me this means that the play focuses on the way that the people of the time thought and what their priorities and goals were. The author of the article discusses the purpose of Hedda Gabler. The author says that Hedda Gabler also tackles a different problem in society. The issue in this play was feminism and how women were held to certain standards and expected to behave in certain ways. The author goes on to state that Henrik Ibsen had the greatest influence of any playwright in the twentieth century. After reading this article I am really interested on writing my paper on how Ibsen writes his plays in order to bring social issues into public light so that maybe the problems that he writes about can be corrected.

Roxanne Llamzon writes about the main idea of the play An Enemy of The People and the meaning behind Ibsen's writings and the real meanings behind his work. Llamzon says, "In An Enemy of the People, he shows the tyranny of the majority. The majority is seen as a "tyrant" because the leaders of society are afraid to do what is right since they are the people's mercy." This means that I should look for quotes about how Ibsen targets leaders of a society and the political system in the play, as this is his real purpose in writing the play. Llamzon directly states that Ibsen's opinion on these political leaders are is that to them "the idea and threat of the majority keeps [them] from acting honestly." This relates to our society and the way that the officials that are elected do not do what they think is the right thing, but rather what will get them re-elected and popular among those who voted for them. Roxanne Llamzon says that Henrik Ibsen's writings are devoted to the purpose of getting this point across, as it is the motivation behind the plays that he writes.

This literary criticism shows how Ibsen used Nora in A Doll's House to reveal a societal issue in his play. Ibsen displays the role of women in society through A Doll's House. Another topic in my criticism will talk about how each of the characters display each societal issue presented. This literary criticism breaks down the role of each character in the play.

Literary Criticism about the play, An Enemy of the People. This helps support my arguement on societal issues in which Ibsen presents in his work.

Argument: Novick determines in his review of a reproduction of "Man and Superman" that not only were the actors inadequate for their roles, but the rules inadequate for the actors. Though the play is considered 'a Comedy and a Philosophy', the philosophy of it overtook the human element of drama. According to Novick, the play was beyond present-day theatergoers in its length and construction. Evidence: "Bernard Shaw's "three-ring circus," as H. L. Mencken called Man and Superman, "with Ibsen doing running high jumps; Schopenhauer playing the Calliope and Nietzsche selling peanuts in the reserved seats," runs a paltry three hours and fifteen minutes…." "The wisdom of both these alternatives is dubious, but no more so, perhaps, than that of exposing the theatre-going population of the Boston area to the night air past its bedtime. When we succeed in breeding our descendants into supermen, a super-theatre may come into being to present Man and Superman entire." Thoughts: Novick has a more forgiving view of the play itself than of the actors, a perception which comes with the post-humorous protection of Shaw's legacy over his works. This review gives a mid-twentieth century review of the production long after Shaw's death, as opposed to Walkley's critique of Shaw in his day.

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