Enemy of the People ( Norwegian En folkefiende ) is a play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen , written in 1882. The main character of the play is Dr. Thomas Stockman (in the first translations made from the German language - Shtokman) [1] , which detects pollution in the healing waters of his native resort town and seeks to close them. “Enemy of the people” was Ibsen’s response to the public, which poorly accepted the previous scandalous play “The Ghosts ” [2] [3] .
| Enemy of the people | |
|---|---|
| En folkefiende | |
 | |
| Genre | Play |
| Author | Ibsen, Henryk |
| Original language | Norwegian |
| Date of writing | 1882 |
| Date of first publication | |
Content
- 1 plot
- 2 Analysis
- 3 Settings and adaptations
- 4 notes
- 5 Links
Story
Dr. Thomas Stockman is a respected resident of a coastal town in southern Norway, in which healing waters have just opened, in the study of which Stockman played an important role. His brother Peter is the head of the city ( Vogt ), the police chief and chairman of the resort. The resort is extremely important for residents, as the influx of tourists promises to be a source of prosperity for the entire city. A lot of money was invested in the arrangement of the hydropathic. However, some time after the start of its work, Stockman discovers that waste water from sewers gets into the healing water, as a result of which tourists who come for treatment get serious illnesses. He considers this discovery his main achievement, is developing a project for costly reconstruction of the sewage system and sends a report to his brother.
To Stockman's surprise, all city authorities, including his brother, either do not recognize the danger or do not want to react to it, because closing the resort or starting work would be a disaster for the city. During one of the disputes, Peter calls Thomas "the enemy of society." When Stockman realizes that his attempts will not be crowned with anything, he organizes a meeting of city dwellers at which he proclaims that the most dangerous "enemies of truth and freedom are a united majority." Soon, everyone turned away from Stockman and his family, even his friends who had supported him before. He himself is fired, teachers refuse to give lessons to his children. In the final, Stockman concludes that in all important matters the majority will always be wrong. He tells his family that "the strongest person in the world is the one who is the most lonely."
Analysis
“Enemy of the people” is one of the most “social” plays of Ibsen [4] . The image of Stockman is one of the most unambiguous main characters of Ibsen, the author clearly stands on his side [4] . Stockman is opposed to cowardly and selfish inhabitants. While he acts in line with generally accepted values, he occupies a high position in society, but as soon as Stockman becomes a convict, society immediately announces a boycott. In later plays, Ibsen paid more attention to the inner world of heroes, so their images loomed more controversial [5] .
Performances and adaptations
Konstantin Stanislavsky in 1900 staged a play at the Moscow Art Theater under the name "Doctor Shtokman" and he played the main role.
The American playwright Arthur Miller adapted The Enemy of the People for a Broadway production in which Fredrick March played Stockman. The production of Miller in 1978 was filmed with Steve McQueen in the title role. In 1989, another film adaptation was carried out by the Indian director Satyajit Rei .
In 2013, Lev Dodin staged The Enemy of the People at the Maly Drama Theater in St. Petersburg. The performance and leading actor Sergei Kuryshev were nominated for the Golden Mask Award [6] [7] .
Notes
- ↑ Shtokman - German reading of the name of the protagonist
- ↑ Ibsen, Henryk Johan in Collier Encyclopedia
- ↑ L. Shestov , Victories and defeats (Life and work of Heinrich Ibsen)
- ↑ 1 2 L. Lungina, Henryk Ibsen
- ↑ W. Admoni Henryk Ibsen and his career
- ↑ Karas, A. Many masks do not exist . Russian newspaper (April 21, 2014). Date of treatment April 22, 2014.
- ↑ Dolzhansky, R. "Masks" showed faces . Kommersant (April 21, 2014). Date of treatment April 22, 2014.
Links
- Ibsen G. Enemy of the people . - M .: Art, 1957.
- Enemy of the people in the library of Maxim Moshkov
- En folkefiende (Nor.) On the website of the National Library