An Enemy of the People - Couverture souple

Ibsen, Henrik Johan

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1420925822 ISBN 13 : 9781420925821

Editeur : Digireads.com, 2005

Synopsis

"An Enemy of the People" is Henrik Ibsen's classic drama of the animosity that can befall someone whose actions, while in the best interest of the public good, threaten the economic well being of a community. "An Enemy of the People" is the story of Dr. Stockmann who, when charged with inspecting the local public baths, discovers that the water is contaminated. When Dr. Stockmann suggests expensive repairs, the local town, which derives much of their economic prosperity from the baths, turns against him.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

An Enemy of the people (original Norwegian title: En folkefiende) is an 1882 play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Ibsen wrote it in response to the public outcry against his play Ghosts, which at that time was considered scandalous. Ghosts had challenged the hypocrisy of Victorian morality and was deemed indecent for its veiled references to syphilis.

Upon completion of the play, Ibsen wrote to his publisher in Copenhagen, Denmark : "I am still uncertain as to whether I should call it a comedy or a straight drama. It may [have] many traits of comedy, but it also is based on a serious idea."

Themes

In An Enemy of the People, speaking the language of comic exaggeration through the mouth of his spokesman, the disillusioned idealist Doctor Thomas Stockmann, Ibsen puts into very literal terms the theme of the play: It is true that ideas grow stale and platitudinous, but one may go one step further and say flatly that truths die. According to Stockmann, there are no absolute principles of either wisdom or morality. In this Ibsen is referring indirectly to the reception of his previous plays. For example, the commandment "honor thy father and thy mother" referred to in Ghosts is not simply either true or false. It may have been a truth once and a falsehood today. As Stockmann puts it in his excited harangue to his political enemies: "Truths are by no means the wiry Methuselahs some people think them. A normally constituted truth lives---let us say---as a rule, seventeen or eighteen years; at the outside twenty; very seldom more. And truths so patriarchal as that are always shockingly emaciated."

Présentation de l'éditeur

"An Enemy of the People" was one of Henrik Ibsen's more controversial works. In the play, Dr. Stockmann discovers that the new baths built in his town are infected with a deadly disease that requires they should be closed for repair. However, the mayor of the town (the Burgomaster), who is Stockmann's brother Peter, rejects the report and refuses to close the baths because it will bring about the financial ruin of the town. When Dr. Stockmann tries to make his case to the people of the town, the mayor counters by pointing out how expensive it would be to repair the baths and dismisses the doctor for having wild, fanciful ideas. At the public meeting Dr. Stockmann is declared "an enemy of the people" by the Burgomaster. As is the case with most of Ibsen's classic works, "An Enemy of the People" speaks to larger issues than those in conflict in the play. The debate is over the bad water pipes at the new baths, but the true conflict is over the clash of private and public morality. Both of the Stockman brothers are flawed. Dr. Stockman's idealism is at odds with the practical realities of the world in which he lives while the Burgomaster ignores ethical concerns. Still, in the end we have to favor the doctor over the mayor because his integrity is clearly stronger, while still recognizing that his idealism is tragically flawed.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Digireads.com
• Date d'édition: 2005
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1420925822
• ISBN 13: 9781420925821
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 92
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible