An Enemy of the People

Henrik Ibsen

Standard Publications, Incorporated, 2008 - Drama - 160 pages

Ibsen, considered to be the father of modern drama, was a Norwegian playwright. He is responsible for "realistic drama." During the Victorian era Ibsen's ritings were considered scandalous. John Gabriel Borkman is based on an incident in Ibsen's life. An army officer attempted suicide after being charged with embezzlement. The Borkman family fortunes have been brought low by the imprisonment of John Gabriel who used his position as a bank manager to illegally speculate with his investors' money. The setting for the play is a family in conflict over the future of the young Erhart Borkman.

About the author

Henrik Ibsen, poet and playwright was born in Skein, Norway, in 1828. His creative work spanned 50 years, from 1849-1899, and included 25 plays and numerous poems. During his middle, romantic period (1840-1875), Ibsen wrote two important dramatic poems, Brand and Peer Gynt, while the period from 1875-1899 saw the creation of 11 realistic plays with contemporary settings, the most famous of which are A Doll's House, Ghosts, Hedda Gabler, and The Wild Duck. Henrik Ibsen died in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway in 1906.

Bibliographic information

• Title: An Enemy of the People
• Author: Henrik Ibsen
• Translated by: Farquharson Sharp
• Publisher: Standard Publications, Incorporated, 2008
• ISBN: 1438505604, 9781438505602
• Length: 160 pages
• Subjects: Drama / European / General; Fiction / General