why was Henrik Ibsen so important?

Answer 1

Ibsen actually began his playwriting career as an author of stylized, poetical dramas ("Peer Gynt," e.g.)

However, he is best known -- and rightly so -- for the latter phase of his career, in which he turned out a number of superb realistic prose scripts.

His dramaturgy was hardly unprecedented. If you look into any of the available biographies, you'll see that Ibsen's realistic dramas were examples of the "well made play," a style that was popularized by a much lesser playwright, Eugene Scribe. But Scribe was nowhere near the writer or the thinker that Ibsen was, and Ibsen's plays of this period are legendary whereas only theatre scholars could name three of Scribe's.

The thing that really set Ibsen apart was the fearlessness with which he confronted social issues which were SHOCKING in their day. Gender inequality ("A Doll's House"), venereal disease and it's effects on a family unit ("Ghosts"), political corruption at the local level ("An Enemy of the People"), etc. Some of the plays we value most highly today were reviled by the critics of his day.

Answer 2

In the end of the nineteenth century, theatre underwent a revolution. From the depiction of melodramatic heroes and fantastic stories, with highly stylised movements and costumes, dramatists became fascinated with the lives of everyday people.

This was concurrent with developments in society and technology that questioned what it was to be human. Darwin's Theory of Evolution and Freud's emerging theories of the human unconscious changed the way that people thought about themselves.

New movements in the theatre examined life through this new lens, particularly Naturalism and Realism.

Hitherto, going to the theatre had been an opportunity for the audience (seated in a fully lit auditorium) to show off their outfits and gossip. Now, the audience sat quietly in a dark auditorium and watched a lit stage, on which was shown the interior of a home... as if the fourth wall had been removed.

The entire task of acting altered... and the subject matter of plays for this new form also changed.

Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen wrote some of the best plays of the time (or arguably ever) for the Realistic Theatre. His subject matter was the lives of the middle classes. He critiqued the society in which he lived, in particular the repressed lives of the middle classes (although he is touted as a feminist, I think that he was arguably a humanist... he is not for women's rights, per se, but people's rights).

His most famous play "A Doll's House." is still performed today, but it is easy to underestimate the shock value of it when it was first performed. Nora Helmer lives happily with her husband Torvald, who treats her like a doll, or a child. But Nora has secrets... early in their marriage, when Torvald was at death's door, she forged her father's signature on a loan agreement, and secretly obtained the money to take them to a warmer climate, saving Torvald's life. Ever since, while Torvald has thought her a heedless and irresponisble spendthrift, she has been paying back the illegal loan, bit by bit.

Through the events of the play, Nora's secret comes out. While Torvald is willing to cover it up, that isn't enough for Nora, who has wished all along for Torvald to see her as a person, to realise her strengths. She leaves him, and her children. And that's the end of the play. This was UNHEARD of, and audiences were horribly shocked. Where could Nora go, what could she do? Perhaps nothing... it was to all intents and purposes the end of life as she knew it.

Never before had the private life of everyday people been laid bare in such a way as to challenge the middle classes to question their societal arrangements. Other plays "Ghosts" and "Hedda Gabler" were likewise shocking.

Ibsen was influential because he was political. He was one of the first popular playwrights of the realist movement, and he was for a long time the model of a playwright who both entertained and taught his audience. His plays are still widely produced, and while they're not as shocking (leaving your husband is more common now) they're still very relevant.

He writes fantastically well, but his main influence is in writing the early canon of Realist theatre, a movement which in itself whas hugely influential - one could even argue that all theatre of the twentieth century was created in one way or another in response to these earlier plays.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Henrik Isben was important because of the subjects of his plays, as well as their format. "A Dolls House" became an important play of the feminist movement, hilighting the serious problems with gender roles in a marriage as it falls apart. It's a very important play. He also changed the way plays were written. His style was completely different than that of any playwright up until his time. He criticized society differently, he wrote differently, he started literary movements that are still in place today. Also, "A Doll's House" is friggin' awesome. You should totally read it.

Answer 4

Interested in this

Answer 5

very good question

Answer 6

it depends...