An Enemy of the People

An Enemy Of The People has an intriguing title so this work has been the subject of much debate and analysis. To find the answer we must first look at the context and plot of this piece which...

Setting is the time and place of the action of the story, including the people, customs and geography. The story opens in a small town on the coast of Norway. The action of the story likely takes...

Dr. Stockmann is basing his opinions about the poor water quality on scientific evidence. As a man of science, he thinks that this will be convincing to other people as well. The people with whom...

Stockman is unable to be persuasive at the meeting because of his ego. Although he has convinced himself that revealing the spa contamination is the right thing to do, his true reasons for wanting...

The entire play is built on the question of absolute vs. relative, in that the social choice facing Dr. Stockmann is whether the financial interests of the few outweigh the health interests of the...

In this important play by Ibsen, the tyranny of the majority and the way that leaders often bow to public opinion regardless of whether it is the right thing to do or not is exposed through the...

In his 1882 play An Enemy of the People, Henrik Ibsen addressed the serious environmental issue of water pollution. At the time, neither academic environmental studies nor public environmental...

The shocking turn of events in the third act of "An Enemy of the People" is the realization that the mayor and press don't care about the adverse of effects of the tannery, as long as they continue...

Dr. Stockmann becomes the eponymous enemy of the people for speaking out about the pollution of the town's spa waters. Instead of supporting the good doctor, the mayor and local business interests...

Oddly, the town itself is the main “character” in this early exploration of the dramatic possibilities of environmental conflicts. Its two “needs”—economic prosperity and healthy citizens – are...

This play by Ibsen is famously about the morality of pursuing an action that you know to be right even when it is opposed by those you seek to help. Stockmann is the medical officer in charge of...

Henrik Ibsen is primarily associated with realism, and the Romantic era had waned by the time he was writing. Nevertheless, it is possible to identify numerous Romantic elements in his plays. These...

As An Enemy of the People opens, the sources of friction between Thomas Stockmann and his brother Peter Stockmann are based in their conflicting positions on water pollution at the local spa in...

Ibsen uses dialogue and setting to introduce antecedent action and solve the problem of exposition in Act 1 of "An Enemy of the People." He gives his characters reasons to state important facts,...