Henrik Ibsen was the greatest playwright of his time. His dramas addressed issues which caused great controversy and social debate. Ibsen's realism meant a turning point in European drama. His plays are still performed today on theatres worldwide

Henrik Ibsen and Norway

Henrik Ibsen is one of the world's most famous playwrights, but life wasn't always easy for him. For many years his talent was ignored in his home country, and Ibsen chose to leave Norway and go abroad in a self-imposed exile. He lived most of his life in Italy and Germany, but he always wrote in Norwegian and used Norwegian settings in his dramas. Ibsen was frustrated with Norway, but couldn't live withour her. Once he wrote: "He who wishes to understand me, must know Norway”.

Henrik Ibsen was born in Skien, southern Norway. At home, his father was suffering of depression and the family had financial dificulties. Ibsen's reaction was to become an introspective and unsociable boy. He wanted to get away from it all, so at the age of 15 he moved out to a town called Grimstad, where he worked in the local pharmacy.

In those days, Europe was convulsed by revolutions and political turmoil. Absolute monarchies were abolished and small nations like Norway wanted to assert their independence. Ibsen absorved the ideas of his time and started writing. He wanted to contribute to the new Norwegian nation. He wanted to create a Norwegian national theatre with Norwegian themes and characters.

At the age of 21 Ibsen moved to Norway's capital city, Christiania. He wanted to be a playwright. His first works were largely ignored by the public, but he managed to get a job at the Norwegian Theatre in Bergen, which in turn helped him to become director of the National Theatre in Christiania some years later at the age of 29. Yet, theatre was not big business in Norway. Ibsen was also deeply disappointed with the course of Norwegian politics. He looked up to Europe and thought that Norway was parochial and unsofisticated. In 1864 he decided to pack up and leave to Rome, Italy with his wife Susannah Thoresen.


The years in Italy 1864-1868

Happy to be away from Norway at last, in 1865 Ibsen published the religious drama Brand, which gave him public recognition at home: the Norwegian critics started to acknowledge his talent and the Parliament awarded him a poet's pension. Brand still remains one of Ibsen's most popular works, and is one of the all-time favourites in Scandinavia.

Two years later, in 1867, Ibsen got his second success with Peer Gynt, a play inspired by Norwegian folktales. The incidental music for Peer Gynt was composed by the famous Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.

After Brand and Peer Gynt, Henrik Ibsen was hailed as one of the greatest poets in Europe. Yet, he still believed that Norway wasn't giving him the recognition that he deserved. Many Norwegians saw him indeed as a grumpy, complex and difficult man.


The years in Germany 1868-1878

In 1868, due to the danger of civil unrest and war in Italy, Ibsen moved to Germany, and in 1875, after several years living in Dresden and Munich, he published what was going to be his most famous play: A Doll's House.

A Doll's House addressed the issue of women's emancipation and independence, and criticized the traditional role of women in the Victorian society. The play triggered an enormous controversy that resulted in heated arguments everywhere from the press to the the dinner table, and had a big influence on the younger generations.


Ibsen returns to Norway in 1891

In 1878 Henrik Ibsen returned back to Rome and in 1881 he published Ghosts, a story that used the topic of a venereal disease to attack the society's Victorian values. Ghosts was even more controversial than his previous play, A Doll's House, and it took several years until Scandinavian and other European theatres dared to play it.

Living between Rome and the Alps, Ibsen continued challenging society through his plays: An Enemy of the People in 1882, The Wild Duck in 1884 and Hedda Gabler in 1890. Ibsen was famous all around the world and, at last, Norway had recognized him as a national idol. In 1891, at the age of 63, he decided to end his self-imposed exile and returned back to Christiania, finally reconciled with his home country, where died in 1906 at the age ot 79. He received a public funeral which was attended by the King of Norway.


A dose of Scandinavian realism

Henrik Ibsen was a very controversial man for his times. In his days Victorian morality told to always keep up appearances, but real people had problems and made mistakes. Talking about real life troubles is normal on today's theatre, but on those days it wasn't. Ibsen wrote about the issues that common people dealt with everyday, and the general public sympathized with his stories.

Realism was the greatest contribution of the Norwegian playwright to modern theatre and indeed to the social debates of his time. In many ways, Henrik Ibsen's drama also reflects the very Scandinavian value of everyone is responsible for their own actions.