An Enemy of the People (original Norwegian title: En folkefiende) is an 1882 play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen that delves into the conflict between personal integrity and societal norms. The play centers on Dr. Thomas Stockmann, who discovers a serious contamination issue in his town's new spa baths, endangering public health. His courageous decision to expose this truth brings severe backlash from local leaders, including his brother Peter Stockmann, who is a powerful political figure in the town.
Set against the backdrop of a community grappling with economic and environmental concerns, the play highlights the often harsh consequences faced by those who challenge established systems. Ibsen’s depiction of this struggle emphasizes the tension between truth and expediency. The character of Peter Stockmann is based on Ibsen’s own uncle, Christian Cornelius Paus, whose political influence and authoritative role in Ibsen's hometown of Skien parallel those of Peter in the play. Ibsen himself was uncertain about the play's classification, noting in a letter to his publisher that it contained both comedic and serious elements, reflecting his complex view of the protagonist's moral stance. This exploration of moral and societal conflict follows Ibsen’s earlier work, Ghosts, which faced similar criticism for its bold critique of societal norms.[1]
Dr. Thomas Stockmann is the medical officer of a recently opened spa in a small town. The play begins with a dinner party hosted by Dr. Stockmann and his wife, Katrine. The dinner guests include Dr. Stockmann's brother Peter (the mayor) and Hovstad (the editor of the newspaper). Peter asks Stockmann about a rumor that Hovstad is about to print an article the doctor wrote regarding the spa baths. Dr. Stockmann is evasive about the nature of this article, and Peter leaves. Petra, Dr. Stockmann's daughter, brings in a letter containing lab test results confirming Dr. Stockmann's suspicions that the spa water is contaminated with bacteria, and Hovstad agrees to print Dr. Stockmann's article, although revealing the truth may force the baths to shut down, with negative repercussions for the town's economy. Dr. Stockmann has mixed reactions to these events but ultimately rejoices about preventing the harm that the contaminated water would have caused.
Act II
The next morning Morten Kiil, Dr. Stockmann's father-in-law, stops by to congratulate him on what Kiil believes is an elaborate prank, since Kiil thinks the notion that the baths are tainted is too ridiculous to be believed, especially not by the mayor. Hovstad and the printer Aslaksen visit to reinforce their commitment to the doctor and extend their gratitude; the newspaper wants to confront the government of the town and expose its corruption, and this opportunity is a good start.
Peter arrives and tells Dr. Stockmann that if he selfishly proceeds to publish this article, he will be partially culpable for the town's ruin. Peter urges Dr. Stockmann to think of the bigger picture, retract the article, and solve the problem in a quieter way. Dr. Stockmann refuses; Peter warns of terrible consequences for him and his family.
Act III
In the newspaper office, Hovstad and the sub-editor, Billing, discuss the pros and cons of running Dr. Stockmann's article. Dr. Stockmann arrives and tells them to print the article, but they begin questioning how valuable it is to expose the government in this way, concluding that printing this article will do more harm than good, because of its likely effect on the town's economy. Peter Stockmann appears with a statement of his own, intended to reassure the public about the safety of the spa baths, and the newspaper agrees to print it. Desperate, Dr. Stockmann decides that he does not need the paper to print anything and that he can fight this battle on his own. He decides to call a town meeting and spread the information that way. Although Katrine Stockmann realizes that her husband is risking his reputation, she stands by him.
Act IV
At a town meeting in Captain Horster's house, Dr. Stockmann is about to read his water report to the townspeople. Billing, the family, the mayor, Aslaksen, and Hovstad are there. Aslaksen, a respected citizen, is elected Chairman of the meeting. Permission for Dr. Stockmann's being allowed to speak is about to be voted on, when Dr. Stockmann says he has a different subject. He then winds up into a passionate oration about social evolution. He says that new, truthful ideas are always condemned, due to the "colossal stupidity of the authorities" and the small-mindedness of "the compact liberal majority" of the people, who may as well "be exterminated." The audience feels insulted by these accusations and anger rises. By the end of the meeting the audience has rebelled, repeatedly shouting, "He is an enemy of the people!" Dr. Stockmann tells his father-in-law, Kiil, that it is his tannery that is leaking most of the poisons into the baths. As the crowd is leaving, voices are heard threatening to break Stockmann's windows.
Act V
By the next morning, Dr. Stockmann's house, especially his study, has been badly damaged, for the town has turned against him and his family. The landlord is evicting them from their house; Petra has been fired from her job as a schoolteacher for having progressive opinions; Peter comes to the house with a letter from the board of directors of the baths that terminates his contract along with a resolution from the homeowners' association stating that no one should hire Dr. Stockmann in this town again.
Dr. Stockmann's father-in-law, Morton Kiil, arrives to say that he has just bought shares in the Baths with the money that he had intended to leave to his daughter and grandchildren. Kiil expects this will cause his son-in-law to stop his crusade, to ensure that the spa does not go bankrupt and his family will have a secure future. Dr. Stockmann rebuffs Kiil's threat and also ignores Peter's advice to leave town for a few months. Katrine tells Dr. Stockmann she is afraid that the people will drive him out of town. But Dr. Stockmann replies that he intends to stay and make them understand "that considerations of expediency turn morality and justice upside down." He ends by proclaiming himself the strongest man in town because he is able to stand alone.
Characters
Édouard Vuillard, An Enemy of the People program for Théâtre de l'Œuvre, November 1893
Doctor Thomas Stockmann, the medical officer at the new Municipal Baths and the protagonist.
Mrs. Katherine Stockmann, his wife.
Petra, their daughter, a teacher.
Ejlif and Morten, their sons.
Peter Stockmann, Doctor Stockmann's elder brother; he is the mayor of the town and thus Thomas' supervisor. Based on Christian Cornelius Paus, Ibsen's uncle.
Morten Kiil, a tanner (Mrs. Stockmann's father), also known as the Badger.
Hovstad, editor of The Peoples' Messenger, the local paper.
Billing, sub-editor.
Captain Horster, a shipmaster going to America and a friend of Thomas Stockmann.
In An Enemy of the People, speaking the language of comic exaggeration through the mouth of his spokesman, the 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.[2] As Stockmann states 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.
Yet, Ibsen addresses in an engaging manner a number of challenges that remain highly relevant today, such as environmental issues (versus economic interests), professional responsibilities (of experts in policy debates) and, last but not least, the moral dilemmas and tensions involved in whistle blowing.[3]
Background
As in any other plays, Ibsen derived names and traits from his relatives, including the name Stockmann, a real family in Telemark from which lbsen himself was descended; Ibsen was also born in Stockmanngaarden in Skien. Peter Stockmann, who in the Norwegian original holds the offices of byfoged (city judge/magistrate) and politimester (chief of police), was based on lbsen's uncle, Christian Cornelius Paus, who held the same two offices in Skien and who was also a descendant of the Stockmann family. In Dr. Stockmann's "buttoned-up brother, the magistrate, who sticks to tea and advocates moderation and respect for society's laws," the parallel to the magistrate Paus becomes almost too obvious, writes Ibsen scholar Jon Nygaard.[4]
Reception
The play has gained renewed attention in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]
Critical reviews
Scottish drama critic William Archer, an early and contemporary advocate of Ibsen's plays, said the play was less sensational than some of Ibsen's earlier efforts, but was a strong drama with excellent dialogue and characters.[6]
A Nazi adaptation of the play was Hans Steinhoff's 1937 film Ein Volksfeind.
This classic play was adapted by Arthur Miller in the 1950s in a production that opened at the Broadhurst Theater on December 28, 1950. It starred Academy Award winner Fredric March and his wife Florence Eldridge as well as Morris Carnovsky; future Oscar winner Rod Steiger was a "townsperson." Miller's adaptation was presented on National Educational Television in 1966, in a production starring James Daly. It was also made into a movie of the same name in 1978, starring Steve McQueen.[11] The BBC then cast Robert Urquhart as "Tom Stockman" in their 1980 TV version, adapting the story and the cast names to reflect it now being set in a Scottish town.[citation needed] In the creation of his adaptation of Ibsen's work, several changes were made by Miller to make the play more accessible and accepting to a 1950s audience, as opposed to Ibsen's late 1800s audience. Many major edits not only included the transformation of speech and language, but changes were made to the character of Dr. Stockmann to avoid having him champion eugenics. Throughout the play, Dr. Stockmann acts as a Christ figure. Miller found it necessary therefore to change Ibsen's use of genetic and racial theories from the late 1800s to further Dr. Stockmann's standing as a champion of the lower classes as opposed to a scientist with a belief in racial determinism and the importance of eugenics for "improving" people. For example, in Ibsen's original, a portion of Dr. Stockmann's speech to the people contained:
The masses are nothing but the raw material that must be fashioned into the people. Is it not so with all other living creatures on earth? How great the difference between a cultivated and an uncultivated breed of animals!... Don't you believe that the brain of a poodle has developed quite differently from that of a mongrel? Yes, you may depend upon that! It is educated poodles like this that jugglers train to perform the most extraordinary tricks. A common peasant-cur could never learn anything of the sort—not if he tried till Doomsday... we are animals... there is a terrible difference between men-poodles and men-mongrels.
In Miller's adaptation, no such eugenics-positive screed is read. Miller keeps Dr. Stockmann's ideals as a character, and his dedication to facing down the hypocrisy of the aristocracy and governmental bureaucrats, but portrays him as more of a democratic thinker and socialist, while retaining some of the original character's ideas about the evolution of animals and humans, and the need to cultivate humane qualities in order to bring the masses to a more rational and educated level, so that they can fully participate in a democracy. In Miller's adaptation, part of the doctor's speech reads:
I put in a good many years in the north of our country. Up there the rulers of the world are the great seal and the gigantic squadrons of duck. Man lives on ice, huddled together in little piles of stones. His whole life consists of grubbing for food. Nothing more. He can barely speak his own language. And it came to me one day that it was romantic and sentimental for a man of my education to be tending these people. They had not yet reached the stage where they needed a doctor. If the truth were to be told, a veterinary would be more in order.
The 1972 Greek film O ehthros tou laou (An Enemy of the People) is an adaptation of the play, taking place in Greece during the mid-1930s.[citation needed]
The play was the indirect inspiration for the blockbuster movie Jaws.[14]
In 2000 an adaptation of the play called Paragon Springs written by Steven Dietz premiered at Milwaukee Repertory theatre in Milwaukee Wisconsin, U.S.A. The play is set in "a small town in the American Midwest" in 1926.
An Enemy of the People (with the subtitle The strongest one is the one who stands alone), a Norwegian film released in 2004 and directed by Erik Skjoldbjærg, is an adaptation of Ibsen's play.
In 2007 Ouriel Zohar's troupe Compagnie Ouriel Zohar performed an adaptation for two actors only of An Enemy of the People, performed first in Paris, then Fréjus, Besançon (2008), Liège, Minsk, Valleyfield (Canada, 2009), and Porto Heli (Greece, 2010).[15]
In early 2013, a stage adaptation entitled "عدو الشعب" (Arabic: Enemy of the people or A Public Enemy) was organized and directed by Nora Amin (who played Doctor Stockmann's wife, with Tarek El-Dewiri as Doctor Stockmann) in Cairo. It was translated into colloquial Arabic and featured a rock-themed soundtrack played live on-set. Jointly sponsored by the Norwegian Embassy in Cairo and the Ibsen Studies Center in Norway, it received various positive reviews at a time when Egypt was plunged into deep political turmoil.[16][17]
In Autumn 2021, a new National Theatre of Scotland adaptation entitled simply Enemy, authored by Keiran Hurley and directed by Finn den Hertog, toured Scotland. The play is set in a fictional Scottish town, is written using contemporary language and makes use of innovative technical effects such as overhead projected Twitter feeds, social media comments, and video live streams.
An Enemy of the People, produced by Berlin's Schaubühne theater, was performed in Beijing from September 6 to September 8, 2018, but the subsequent touring of the show was cancelled due to its themes. The audience in Beijing reportedly showed overwhelming support for Dr. Stockmann, and allegedly shouted criticism of the Chinese regime during interaction parts. Even in subsequent censored performances, audiences yelled "for personal freedom!" The regime's censorship officers would not agree to any more touring unless the script was doctored in favor of the regime's thought on what a play should be.[22][23]
Related Research Articles
A Doll's House is a three-act play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having been published earlier that month. The play is set in a Norwegian town c. 1879.
Henrik Johan Ibsen was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and the most influential playwright of the 19th century, as well of one of the most influential playwrights in Western literature more generally. His major works include Brand, Peer Gynt, Emperor and Galilean, A Doll's House, Ghosts, An Enemy of the People, The Wild Duck, Rosmersholm, Hedda Gabler, The Master Builder, and When We Dead Awaken. Ibsen is the most frequently performed dramatist in the world after Shakespeare, and A Doll's House was the world's most performed play in 2006.
Skien is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsjø area and Bø. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Skien, which is also the administrative centre of the whole county. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Åfoss, Hoppestad, Klovholt, Luksefjell, Melum, Kilebygda, Skotfoss, Sneltvedt, and Valebø.
Hedda Gabler is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The world premiere was staged on 31 January 1891 at the Residenztheater in Munich. Ibsen himself was in attendance, although he remained back-stage. The play has been canonized as a masterpiece within the genres of literary realism, nineteenth century theatre, and world drama. Ibsen mainly wrote realistic plays until his forays into modern drama. Hedda Gabler dramatizes the experiences of the title character, Hedda, the daughter of a general, who is trapped in a marriage and a house that she does not want. Overall, the title character for Hedda Gabler is considered one of the great dramatic roles in theater. The year following its publication, the play received negative feedback and reviews. Hedda Gabler has been described as a female variation of Hamlet.
The Paus family is a prominent Norwegian family with a long history of involvement in the clergy, nobility, industry, and the arts. The family first emerged as members of the elite of 16th-century Oslo and, for centuries, belonged to Norway's "aristocracy of officials," especially in the clergy and legal professions in Upper Telemark. Later generations became involved in shipping, steel, and banking. The family is particularly known for its close association with Henrik Ibsen, and for modern members like the singer Ole Paus.
Peer Gynt is a five-act play in verse written in 1867 by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen. It is one of Ibsen's best known and most widely performed plays.
The Wild Duck is an 1884 play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It explores the complexities of truth and illusion through the story of a family torn apart by secrets and the intrusion of an idealistic outsider. It focuses on the Ekdal family, whose fragile peace is shattered by Gregers Werle, an idealist who insists on exposing hidden truths, leading to tragic consequences. The play was written in a realistic style, but literary scholars have pointed out the play's kinship with symbolism. It blends themes such as deception, betrayal, and the disillusionment of modern life with moments of comedy and satire, and is considered the first modern masterpiece in the genre of tragicomedy. The Wild Duck and Rosmersholm are "often to be observed in the critics' estimates vying with each other as rivals for the top place among Ibsen's works".
The Master Builder is a play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.
Ganashatru is a 1990 Indian film directed by Satyajit Ray. It is an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's 1882 play An Enemy of the People, and was released under that title in the UK. The cast includes Ray's favourite actor Soumitra Chatterjee, and veteran actors such as Dhritiman Chatterjee, Shubhendu Chatterjee, Manoj Mitra and Ruma Guhathakurta. Ray adapts the play to an Indian setting: a flourishing township in which a temple attracts devotees as well as tourists. When a health problem is discovered, Dr Ashok Gupta, played by Soumitra Chatterjee, finds his popularity flagging. The film was screened out of competition at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival.
Rosmersholm is an 1886 play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It tells the story of Johannes Rosmer, an aristocratic former clergyman and owner of the Rosmersholm manor who is haunted by his wife's suicide and his own idealistic desires for societal reform, and Rebecca West, a strong-willed companion who challenges his convictions, leading to a deep exploration of morality, political activism, and the struggle for personal and social change amidst a backdrop of intense personal and political turmoil. Rosmersholm has been described as one of Ibsen's darkest, most complex, subtle, beautiful, mystical, multilayered and ambiguous plays. The play explores the tension between old and new, between liberation and servitude, between narratives, action or inaction, and of "what to do with ourselves when the world collapses around us." Rosmersholm and The Wild Duck are "often to be observed in the critics' estimates vying with each other as rivals for the top place among Ibsen's works."
When We Dead Awaken is the last play written by Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen. Published in December 1899, Ibsen wrote the play between February and November of that year. The first performance was at the Haymarket Theatre in London, a day or two before publication and the currently only Broadway production was originally at the Knickerbocker Theatre from March 7-10, 1905, then moving to the Princess Theatre until it closed in April 1905.
The Lady from the Sea is a play written in 1888 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen inspired by the ballad Agnete og Havmanden. The drama introduces the character of Hilde Wangel who is again portrayed in Ibsen's later play The Master Builder. The character portrayal of Hilde Wangel has been portrayed twice in contemporary film, most recently in the 2014 film titled A Master Builder.
The League of Youth is a play by Henrik Ibsen finished in early May 1869. It was Ibsen's first play in colloquial prose and marks a turning point in his style towards realism and away from verse. It was widely considered Ibsen's most popular play in nineteenth-century Norway. Though rooted in serious events of the time, the play was lauded for its natural and witty dialogue, cynical humour and farcical intrigue.
Christian Cornelius Paus was a Norwegian lawyer, civil servant and politician. From 1847 to 1874 he served as the top civil servant of Skien as city judge, magistrate, chief of police and city recorder. He also served three times as Governor of Bratsberg between 1862 and 1869 and three terms as a Member of the Norwegian Parliament between 1848 and 1861. He was the uncle of playwright Henrik Ibsen and the inspiration for the character of Peter Stockmann in the play An Enemy of the People.
Matthew Robert Smith is an English actor. He is known for playing the Eleventh Doctor in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who (2010–2014), Prince Philip in Netflix's historical series The Crown (2016–2017)—for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination—and Daemon Targaryen in HBO's fantasy drama series House of the Dragon (2022–present).
Marichen Cornelia Martine Altenburg was the mother of the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen and is known as the model for several characters in some of Ibsen's most famous plays, including Åse in Peer Gynt. Through the Paus family—the family of Marichen's mother Hedevig and Knud's stepfather Ole Paus—Marichen was raised as a close relative of her would-be husband Knud Ibsen, although they were not closely related biologically.
Johan Andreas Altenburg (1763–1824) was a Norwegian merchant and shipowner. He belonged to the patriciate of the port town of Skien and was the maternal grandfather of playwright and theatre director Henrik Ibsen.
An Enemy of the People is a 1978 American drama film directed by George Schaefer and based on Arthur Miller's 1950 adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's 1882 play. The film stars Steve McQueen in the lead role of scientist Thomas Stockmann, Charles Durning as his brother Peter, and Bibi Andersson as his wife Catherine.
Sandefjord Spa, was a spa in Sandefjord, Norway, established by Heinrich Arnold Thaulow in 1837. The main building from 1899 is one of the largest wooden buildings in Norway and in the Nordic countries overall. Kurbadet was one of Europe's most visited baths in the late 1800s. Royalty and Prime Ministers from throughout Europe visited the spa in the late 1800s. It was the first spa in Sandefjord and functioned as a medical institution focusing on the treatment of symptoms for rheumatic diseases. A majority of spa visitors were from Norway, but international guests from Germany, Britain and the United States also visited Kurbadet.
Knut Jacobsen was a Norwegian actor and costume designer.
↑ Archer, William (1997). "William Archer on Mrs Lord's imperfections and An Enemy of the People". In Egan, Michael (ed.). Henrik Ibsen: The Critical Heritage. London: Routledge. p.61.
↑ Bigsby, Christopher (2005). Arthur Miller: A Critical Study. New York: Cambridge University Press. p.141.
↑ Miller, Arthur (1979). Arthur Miller's Adaptation of An Enemy of the People. New York: Penguin Group.
↑ Baer, William (2008). Classic American films: conversations with the screenwriters. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger. p.208. ISBN9780313348983. Carl Gottlieb: 'Steven [Spielberg] and I always referred to Jaws as Moby Dick and Enemy of the People....'
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
