Henrik Ibsen

A Doll's House (1879), is a masterpiece of theatrical craft which, for the first time portrayed the tragic hypocrisy of Victorian middle class marriage on the stage. The play ushered in a new social era and "exploded like a bomb into contemporary life".  The Student Edition contains these exclusive features: ·         A chronology of the playwright's life and work·         An introduction giving the background of the play·         Commentary on themes, characters. language and style·         Notes on individual words and phrases in the text·         Questions for further study·         Bibliography for further reading. 

Henrik Ibsen nació el 20 de marzo de 1828 en Skien, al sur de Cristianía, llamada hoy con su nombre más antiguo: Oslo. Alternó sus residencias en Noruega -su patria-, Alemania, Italia, y desde 1892 ya no se movió de Cristianía, donde murió en 1906. Hasta el final de su vida Ibsen marcó las llagas morales de su pueblo y de la humanidad, sin hacer caso de las voces contrarias. Desenmascaró a sus adversarios en Un enemigo del pueblo (1883); planteó la lucha entre la verdad y la mentira en El pato silvestre (1884), y la de los valores ciertos o aparentes en Casa de muñecas (1879); determinó las causas del tormento fisiológico y espiritual en Espectros (1881); en Hedda Gabler (1890) buceó en el abismo del alma femenina como foco de un problema general; debatió en La dama del mar (1888) el determinismo y el libre albedrío, formulando sugestiones novísimas, y deslumbró con la imaginación envolvente de Peer Gynt (1867), donde resuenan los ecos de las fantásticas leyendas nórdicas.

Written in 1881, when melodrama and farce were still at their peak of popularity, Ibsen’s Ghosts is a three-act tragedy that explores uncomfortable, even forbidden themes. It is also a highly critical commentary on the morality of the day. The play centers around the widow of a prominent Norwegian sea captain whose son returns home and, with tragic consequences, revives the ghosts of the past that she has long labored to put to rest. Ghosts immediately became a source of controversy for its inclusion of topics like venereal disease, incest, and euthanasia, and it was banned from being performed in England for many years. Its arrival signals a shift in the nature of theatre and, despite negative criticism, it was translated into other languages and performed in Sweden, Germany, and New York within a few years of its debut. It stands now as one of the works considered to have ushered in the era of modern drama.

Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) nació en Noruega, en un medio en el que imperaba una moral estrecha de miras, una vigencia desesperante de la superstición y del miedo. Todo a su alrededor era considerado pecado, todo merecía un reproche, una advertencia sobre el posible mal que podría acarrear cualquier acción que se emprendiera. Por eso sus personajes no se contentan con vivir la vida cotidiana, necesitan un proyecto que realizar aunque éste sobrepase sus fuerzas y les haga sentirse solos, incomprendidos e incluso derrotados, pero orgullosos por haberse aventurado a conseguirlo. En "Casa de muñecas" y "El pato salvaje" plantea Ibsen la tragedia de la mentira vital. Nora Helmer, en "Casa de muñecas", es una joven que ha sido educada para llevar una venda en los ojos y servir de juguete primero a su padre y luego a su marido. Cuando la venda cae, Nora comienza a ser "alguien". Gregorio Werle, en "El pato salvaje", concibe un proyecto para poner al descubierto a unos seres hipócritas, egoístas e indignos, aunque entre ellos se encuentre su propio padre.

Here, in a single volume, are four major plays by the first modern playwright, Henrik Ibsen. Ghosts - the startling portrayal of a family destroyed by disease and infidelity. The Wild Duck - A poignant drama of lost illusions. An Enemy Of The People - Ibsen's vigorous attack on public opinion. And A Doll's House - the play that scandalized the Victorian world with its unsparing views of love and marriage, featuring one of the most controversial heroines - and one of the most famous exits - in the literature of the stage. ,p>Although Ibsen outraged many of his contemporaries, he persisted: he shocked the unthinking into thinking and blasted through the thick fog of convention to the restless human passions hidden underneath. Today his plays remain masterpieces of psychological insight and theatrical power.

In An Enemy of the People, Ibsen places his main characters, Dr. Thomas Stockman, in the role of an enlightened and persecuted minority of one confronting an ignorant, powerful majority. When the physician learns that the famous and financially successful baths in his hometown are contaminated, he insists they be shut down for expensive repairs. For his honesty, he is persecuted, ridiculed, and declared an "enemy of the people" by the townspeople, included some who have been his closest allies. First staged in 1883, An Enemy of the People remains one of the most frequently performed plays by a writer considered by many the "father of modern drama."

Ibsens Familiendrama von 1881 schockierte die Zeitgenossen: Dieses Stück habe ein abstoßendes pathologisches Phänomen als Hauptmotiv, vor allem aber untergrabe es die Moral, die die Grundlage der Gesellschaftsordnung bilde. Ibsen führt darin alles vor, was ihm an Norwegen verhasst war: Doppelmoral, Heuchelei, Egoismus, Profitgier, geistige Enge.

En Norvège, dans « une maison confortable et de bon goût », une famille se prépare à fêter Noël. Mais le douillet et rassurant cocon se fissure quand le secret de Nora, la jeune et joyeuse épouse, menace soudain d'être dévoilé à son mari. Dès lors, toute allégresse recule, et les enfants aux joues rouges s'effacent devant des personnages qui surgissent tour à tour – amie de jeunesse, médecin, créancier –, semant le doute et l'inquiétude. En ébranlant ainsi la certitude lisse de son héroïne qui pensait avoir toujours agi comme elle le devait, Ibsen crée l'une des grandes figures du théâtre nordique, dont on continue d'interroger la volte-face et la destinée.