''An Enemy of the People'' (original
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
title: ''En folkefiende''), an 1882 play by Norwegian playwright
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) 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 one of the most influential playw ...
, followed his previous play, ''
Ghosts
A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...
'', which criticized the hypocrisy of his society's moral code. That response included accusations of both ''Ghosts'' and its author being "scandalous," "degenerate," and "immoral." In ''An Enemy of the People'', a man dares to expose an unpalatable truth publicly and is punished for it.
However, Ibsen took a somewhat skeptical view of his protagonist, suggesting that he may have gone too far in his zeal to tell the truth. Ibsen wrote to his publisher: "I am still uncertain as to whether I should call
'An Enemy of the People''a comedy or a straight drama. It may
ave
''Alta Velocidad Española'' (''AVE'') is a service of high-speed rail in Spain operated by Renfe, the Spanish national railway company, at speeds of up to . As of December 2021, the Spanish high-speed rail network, on part of which the AVE s ...
many traits of comedy, but it also is based on a serious idea."
Plot overview
Act I
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 harm through the contaminated water.
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
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
, 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 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. He expects that 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
* Doctor Thomas Stockmann, the medical officer at the new Municipal Baths and the
protagonist
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
.
* Mrs. Katherine Stockmann, his wife.
* Petra, their daughter, a teacher.
* Ejlif & Morten, their sons.
* Peter Stockmann, Doctor Stockmann's elder brother; he is the mayor of the town and thus Thomas' supervisor.
* 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.
* Aslaksen, a publisher (also a character in ''
The League of Youth'').
* Men of various conditions and occupations, a few women, and a troop of schoolboys – the audience at a public meeting.
Themes
In ''An Enemy of the People'', speaking the language of comic exaggeration through the mouth of his spokesman, the idealist Doctor Thomas Stockmann,
Ibsen
Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) 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 one of the most influential playw ...
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
Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to contemplate and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowledge, ...
or
morality
Morality () is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of cond ...
. 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
A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...
'' is not simply either true or false. It may have been a truth once and a falsehood today. As Stockmann states in his excited harangue to his political enemies:
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.
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 Stockmanngarden 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 Corneliys Paus, who held the same two offices in Skien and who was also a descendant of the Stockmann family.
Reception
Scottish drama critic
William Archer William or Bill Archer may refer to:
* William Archer (British politician) (1677–1739), British politician
* William S. Archer (1789–1855), U.S. Senator and Representative from Virginia
* William Beatty Archer (1793–1870), Illinois politician ...
, 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.
Adaptations
This classic play was adapted by
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), ''Death of a Salesman'' ( ...
in the 1950s in a production that opened at the Broadhurst Theater on December 28, 1950. It starred Academy Award winner
Fredric March
Fredric March (born Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel; August 31, 1897 – April 14, 1975) was an American actor, regarded as one of Hollywood's most celebrated, versatile stars of the 1930s and 1940s.Obituary ''Variety'', April 16, 1975, p ...
and his wife
Florence Eldridge
Florence Eldridge (born Florence McKechnie, September 5, 1901 – August 1, 1988) was an American actress. She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play in 1957 for her performance in '' Long Day's Journey into Night''.
E ...
as well as
Morris Carnovsky
Morris Carnovsky (September 5, 1897 – September 1, 1992) was an American stage and film actor. He was one of the founders of the Group Theatre (1931-1940) in New York City and had a thriving acting career both on Broadway and in films un ...
; future Oscar winner
Rod Steiger
Rodney Stephen Steiger (; April 14, 1925July 9, 2002, aged 77) was an American actor, noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters. Cited as "one of Hollywood's most charismatic and dynamic stars," he is closely assoc ...
was a "townsperson." Miller's adaptation was presented on
National Educational Television
National Educational Television (NET) was an American non-commercial educational, educational terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Ford Foundation and later co-owned by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It o ...
in 1966, in a production starring
James Daly. It was also made into
a movie of the same name in 1978, starring
Steve McQueen
Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1 ...
. The
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
as "Tom Stockman" in their 1980 TV version, adapting the story and the cast names to reflect it now being set in a
town. 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
. Throughout the play, Dr. Stockmann acts as a
. 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:
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:
A
in 1958.
The 1972 Greek film ''O ehthros tou laou'' (An Enemy of the Society) is an adaptation of the play, taking place in Greece during the mid-1930s.
'' was based on this play. In 1990, PBS produced the play for their show ''
's troupe Compagnie Ouriel Zohar performed an adaptation for two actors only of ''An Enemy of the People'', performed first in
, 2010).
''An Enemy of the People'' (with the subtitle ''The strongest one is the one who stands alone'')—a Norwegian film issued in 2004 and directed by
—is an adaptation of Ibsen's play.
The play was the indirect inspiration for the blockbuster movie
.
In early 2013, a stage adaptation entitled "عدو الشعب" (Arabic: ''Enemy of the people'' or ''A Public Enemy'') was organized and directed by
(who played Doctor Stockmann's wife, with Tarek El-Dewiri as Doctor Stockmann) in
. 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.
A new adaptation by
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. https://www.nationaltheatrescotland.com/events/the-enemy
In 2000 an adaptation of the play called "Paragon Springs" written by
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", 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
!" 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.