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 activism existed. Almost 140 years later, the play remains highly relevant to both the academic and activist aspects of environmental studies. Water pollution is still an important aspect of environmental contamination, and the kinds of conflicts within a community that Ibsen portrays continue to occur. Ibsen effectively dramatizes the divergent opinions of those who are primarily concerned with public health and those who prioritize the economic impact. These kinds of debates still loom large in seeking solutions to complex environmental problems.

The play’s protagonist, Dr. Thomas Stockmann, is highly vocal about the public health threat that the baths would cause, not only to his community but to the tourists who would come to take the water. Today, environmental issues are still shaped by the opposition between advocates of public health, such as Dr. Stockmann, and those who emphasize financial interests, like most of the townspeople. Modern environmentalists emphasize the importance of raising public awareness of environmental problems as well as reducing toxins in the water supply. A difference from Ibsen’s day is that the negative economic effects of contamination are increasingly acknowledged, studied, and fought against.