Henrik Ibsen

From Philosopedia

Ibsen, Henrik (20 March 1828 - 23 May 1906)

Ibsen the playwright was born in the port town of Skien, Norway.

He discarded orthodoxy in his later teens but was quietly skeptical until 1871. Ibsen was later influenced by Georg Brandes and became a more passionate unbeliever, penning The Emperor and the Galilaean (1873). Its disillusioned protagonist sets out to overthrow Christianity. Ibsen once wrote: "With pleasure I will torpedo the ark."

Far in advance of his time, he was condemned by society for revealing truths which society preferred to keep hidden. A Doll’s House (1879) is a powerful statement of feminism and women’s rights. An Enemy of the People (1882) and The Wild Duc (1884) take up the effects of true and false idealism. His plays also include Brand (1866), Peer Gynt (1867), and Hedda Gabler (1890). J. M. Robertson cites all his later work as showing himself to be a thoroughgoing naturalist.

Ibsen’s influence upon 20th century drama is profound, and his dramas continue to be performed widely. To the Danish critic Georg Brandes, Ibsen once wrote,

• Bigger things than the state will fall. All religion will fall.

At the time of his death, for he had become debilitated by a series of strokes, his masseur was asked about Ibsen’s condition. “Not too bad. He’s sworn a couple of times,” the masseur noted. And when a nurse remarked to friends in his room that he seemed to be getting better, Ibsen spoke up: “On the contrary.” According to biographer Michael Meyer, it was Ibsen’s last correction.

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