Aubrey Arrowood
Mrs. Sejkora
AP Literature-0
20 February 2011
Henrik Ibsen Views on Societal Issues throughout His Plays
The Norwegian play writer, Henrik Ibsen, illustrated societal flaws as the major plot lines for his plays. Ibsen is known as the creator of modern drama in plays. His strong political and religious beliefs have influenced his work greatly. Anything from individual freedom to corrupt government are some of the ideas displayed in Ibsen's works. Focusing on only two of his works for example, A Doll's House and An Enemy of the People are two plays that depict the societal issues that Ibsen wanted to voice his opinion on. These two plays were written in a time of issues, the nineteenth century. In A Doll's House, Ibsen points out women's roles in society and in An Enemy of the People Ibsen attacks conformity. Henrik Ibsen set the example of modern realism throughout his plays by creating plays like A Doll's House and An Enemy of the People which set the idea of men and women rejecting conformity and corruption in society.
In A Doll's House, the theme of the play is feminism, and Ibsen shows this with a woman rejecting conformity which was society's idea of a woman's role. In the play feminism is a central theme that drives the story. Nora the main protagonist of the play and the wife of Torvald, escapes the grasp society has on women and their roles they are supposed to fulfill. Torvald, Nora's husband, treats Nora like a pet, just how women in the 19th century were treated. According to Wendy McElroy, a feminism activist, states that feminism was not the "change to the status quo in a basic sense, but rather to be included within it." Ibsen recognized this idea, in which Ibsen produced A Doll's House which goes along with the feminist idea of that time. Nora can be depicted as a radical feminist since she walks away from her family and children in search of self-betterment. Ibsen depicted Nora as a radical feminist in order to help illustrate just how bad society's constrictions on women were. A Doll's House is a perfect example of Ibsen's plays that show social corruption in society and the protagonists rising against conformity. The play intensified the reaction of the audience through the protagonist, Nora, and her husband Torvald. Torvald treated Nora like a possession rather than an individual. The role of the dependent character switches when Ibsen shows Nora breaking loose from Torvald and society's expectations of women. Ibsen used symbolism in A Doll's House to show Nora's position in her household and society. In A Doll's House, Torvald refers to Nora as a "bird" and "squirrel" (Act I). Torvald's names for Nora truly show how belittles Nora is for being a woman. Ibsen's plays were the beginning of modern realism and helped show societal issues of that time and those that still persist today. Ibsen's play was written in a time when feminist views were starting to appear throughout the world, but mostly in the United States. Another example in the play is the role of women participating in a corrupt society. Nora forged a signature in order to borrow money from a lawyer named Krogstad. In order for women to borrow money in the 19th century they needed a man's approval to do so. They had to be okayed by a man in order to make a simple act such as borrowing money. Even more deceit occurs when the lawyer tries to black mail Nora. Lawyers are supposed to be honest people, are they not? At the end of the novel Nora prevails and unleashes her true self, she finally realizes that she "existed merely to perform tricks"(Act III). The protagonists in Ibsen's plays usually prevail against corrupt conformity in societies, and this occurs as a main theme throughout Ibsen's plays.
In the play An Enemy of the People, Ibsen presents the societal issue of corrupt leaders and people that tend to corrupt the society's ways as a whole. Like in A Doll's House, Ibsen uses the protagonist to depict the message he is trying to get across. Corruption runs through An Enemy of the People throughout the entire play. For example Peter Stockman, the mayor of the small Norwegian town, is unethical and unfair to the town in which one would think differently since he is the mayor of the small town. The corruption is most seen when Peter puts a face value on human lives, he makes no attempt to fix the contaminated hot medical springs nor does he attempt to warn the people of the town about them. Just like in A Doll's House, corruption prevails throughout the play. Corruption could be characterized as the deceitful actions an individual with power is overtaken by, sometimes the individual has some sort of power, or the people have trust in that individual. Peter Stockman is an example of how power can corrupt an individual and eventually corrupt the society as a whole. In the play Dr. Stockman, the mayor's brother, is seen as a Christ like figure to further the theme of corruption of society. Dr. Stockman is the man behind trying to spread the scientific truth about the baths of the town. Like Jesus, the townspeople turn against Dr. Stockman in which they pursue to destroy his life. Destroying the doctor's life is similar to the act of the crucifixion of Christ. In the play Dr. Stockman states, "Well, I think I have had a visit from every one of the devil's messengers today!"(4.259). This furthers the theme of corruption of the town since the doctor is referring to the townspeople as the devil's messengers. Ibsen uses the dirty water as a symbolism of the corrupt society. Throughout the play, Ibsen uses the symbolism of the murky water to describe the corrupt leaders of the town, in Act 2 line 79 Ibsen states, "The morass that the whole life of our town is built on and is rotting in." Dr. Stockman then comes to the conclusion that the corruption and the pollution are due to the ideas of the masses and the majority. Towards the end of the play Dr. Stockman is more concerned with the corruption of the masses rather than the pollution of the baths and the government's role in fixing the bacteria infested baths. In An Enemy of the People Dr. Stockman is the protagonist who rejects conformity by standing up for the truth about the medical baths in the town. Instead of ignoring the scientific evidence like the government, Dr. Stockman rejects society's conformity and tries to speak to the town about the polluted baths. Ibsen uses conformity and corruption in A Doll's House as well in An Enemy of the People. The protagonist is usually targeted or put in a position where he or she is to conform to society's corruption or rise against it.
In a literary criticism about A Doll's House the author, Barry Jacobs, recognizes the same central theme in the play. Jacobs states, "Torvald treats Nora more like a favorite child than a wife" (Jacobs). In the story Nora pretends to be Torvald's "skylark" and "squirrel" (Act 1). The reader can tell Nora is only pretending to be happy while living with her controlling husband. Corruption is shown when Nora begs Torvald not to fire Krogstad, so Krogstad does not black mail Nora. At the end of the play Nora's feminist views take hold of her when Nora discovers her husband is "self-centered, petty, and unfeeling" (Barry). The theme of corruption and conformity are effectively shown through the use of the protagonist Nora since she rejects conforming to society's standards.
In a literary criticism about An Enemy of the People by Barry Jacobs, Ibsen's views on societal corruption and conformity are confirmed in the literary criticism. Jacobs characterizes the protagonist, Dr. Stockman as a "liberal but impractical idealist"(Jacobs). Barry Jacobs then goes on to characterize the mayor, which is the antagonist of the play, as an "ultra-conservative." The two conflicting beliefs are set up to create more tension in the play which leads to the immoral corruption. More corruption of the town is released when Petra, a school teacher and the daughter of Dr. Stockman confesses that she has to teach her students "to believe in lies" which then becomes a theme in the story as the "life-lie"(Jacobs). The "life-lie" theme goes hand in hand with Ibsen's central theme of corruption since corruption is based upon deceiving lies. Jacobs recognizes that in the play corruption takes place when one's opinions overcome truth and fact.
Symbolism is used in A Doll's House and in An Enemy of the People in order to further the theme of corruption and conformity in society. Ibsen wrote about corrupt societies and the flaws of societies in his modern dramas. A Doll's House and An Enemy of the People are both plays that Ibsen has written about societal flaws. Ibsen uses symbolism to depict two major themes in A Doll's House and An Enemy of the People. Ibsen uses his protagonists to intensify the issue and bring out the themes in his plays. Conformity and Corruption were to major themes in A Doll's House and An Enemy of the People which affected the protagonist in both plays. By choosing two literary criticisms written by the same author; it is easier to parallel the similarities throughout Ibsen's work from one point of view. Ibsen wrote about conformity and corruption as being major societal issues that would lead to major consequences for society, so why does society continue to display conformity and corruption today?





Works Cited
Blake, Robert. "Henrik Ibsen." Literary Reference Center. Salem Press, Nov. 2003. Web. 7 Feb. 2011. . Henrik Ibsen set the example of modern realism throughout his plays.
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Full Books. Web. 1 Feb. 2011. . In the story Nora pretends to be Torvald's "skylark" and "squirrel" (Act 1).
Ibsen, Henrik. An Enemy of the People. Full Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Feb. 2011. . "Well, I think I have had a visit from every one of the devil's messengers today!"(4.259).
Jacobs, Barry. "An Enemy of the People." Literary Reference Center. Salem Press, Jan. 2009. Web. 7 Feb. 2011. . . Jacobs characterizes the protagonist, Dr. Stockman as a "liberal but impractical idealist"(Jacobs).
McElroy, Wendy. "The Roots of Individualist Feminism in 19th-Century America." Equal Justice Foundation. The Independent Institute, 19 May 2010. Web. 9 Feb. 2011. . According to Wendy McElroy, a feminism activist, states that feminism was not the "change to the status quo in a basic sense, but rather to be included within it."

Feminism Source

Source

An Enemy of the People-Play

Use as another source.

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.