influential writer

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Henrik Ibsen
One hundred and ten years after his death, Henrik Johan Ibsen is still considered one of the greatest playwrights of the 19th Century. He is thought of so highly that others regard him and his works as only second to William Shakespeare. Considering the standards that the English playwright set, Ibsen is very well accomplished. Some of Henrik Ibsen’s most prominent works include A Doll’s House, An Enemy of the People and The Vikings of Helgeland. Ibsen was a central figure of the Norwegian Renaissance that occurred towards the end of the 19th Century that also included other prominent artists such as the painter Edvard Munch. Perhaps what made his plays so successful was the fact that he drew inspiration from his life story. He grew up surrounded by poverty and attempted to study medicine before he quit to concentrate on writing. The following essay will highlight the success of the author and illustrate just how influential both he and his works were.
One of the most salient features of Ibsen’s works was that many of them were tragic comedies. The term “tragicomedies” would later be coined to show an amalgamation of the two genres in a single literary work. He was one of the first authors to use the concept of the antihero. By definition, an antihero is a leading character in a work of art such as a film or a novel who does not possess the typical attributes of an archetypal hero. He specialized in using the normal or average person as the protagonist in his works.

A perfect illustration would be Dr. Stockmann in his play An Enemy of the People. The most prominent thing about the doctor was that his brother was the mayor. Apart from that, he was as ordinary as any other character in the play. What stood out, however, was his courage and unusual way of thinking. In the end, it works against him, but anyone who reads the play understands that the use of the Doctor as the hero was very unconventional. Not many authors would have done that before Ibsen did. Later writers such as F.S Fitzgerald would also employ the use of the antihero in novels such as The Great Gatsby in which the titular character was obsessed about Daisy Buchanan and lacked the usual characteristics of a hero and even becomes rich through dishonest ways.
Throughout the course of his life, Ibsen made a habit of creating realistic yet modern dramas, which many considered feminist. In many of his works, the woman was a central figure or at least contributed significantly to the plot. In A Doll’s House, Ibsen focused on the social problems that married women faced. It gave him a reputation as a feminist in various parts of Europe, especially in England. Again, in An Enemy of the People, the doctor’s wife, and daughter were central characters in the play. His wife’s father Morten Kiil owns a significant amount of shares in the Baths that Dr. Stockmann wishes to have rebuilt and he threatens not to leave them any inheritance if he persists with his agenda CITATION Ibs51 p 86 l 1033 (Ibsen 86). Many of today’s works that focus on femininity owe a lot to Ibsen. Although the author himself claims that he was inclined more to poetry than to philosophy and that having strong female characters was purely coincidental, it has undoubtedly influenced modern writers CITATION Gil00 p 49 l 1033 (Gilman 49). Ibsen laid the foundation for feminism in literature for contemporary authors such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie as she so clearly expresses herself in Americanah.
The changes that Ibsen made to the theater were significant in a myriad of ways. He did not just make a few alterations and improvements that were taken up and perfected by his successors. Instead, he conceived how theater should be and took it upon himself to make and effect those changes. He chose to stray from the rules and decided that he would design his style. His refusal to follow the already established rules coincided with the renaissance that took place in Norway and theater in general. Other liberal minded individuals sought to follow in the footsteps of Ibsen. Due to the nature of Ibsen’s plays, a majority of the theaters around Europe would not perform his plays. They were seen as radical and therefore other arenas were built for the sole purpose of showing his plays CITATION Ken14 p n.p l 1033 (Kennedy n.p). The changes that Ibsen made to the theater were phenomenal.
In summary, Henrik Ibsen has contributed significantly to modern works. He was one of the most influential writers of the 19th Century. So great was his influence that some consider only Shakespeare to be a more prominent playwright. His most significant contributions to literature are the use of the antihero which he started but have become commonplace in modern works. He also set the stage for feminism using strong female characters in works such as A Doll’s House and An Enemy of the People. He also changed the face of theater through unconventional thinking and challenged any playwright to refrain from following the masses. He was truly an influential figure.
Works Cited
BIBLIOGRAPHY Gilman , Richard. The Making of Modern Drama. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1974. Print.
Ibsen, Henrik. An Enemy of the People . Oslo: Longman, 1951. Print.
Kennedy , Bobby. The Father of Modern Drama. 2 January 2014. Website. 11 November 2016.