History

Henrik Ibsen was a Norwegian playwright of the 19th Century who was born in the year 1826 and died in the year 1906. He is regarded as the founder of the modern prose drama (Ibsen, 2002). He was born in Skein in South Norway to Knud Ibsen and Marichen Corennila. His father as a merchant and his mother was a painter. However, his family was poor especially after the failure of his father fininancialy and due to this he was not able to continue with his education. In his biography, he is described as a religious and social reformer and also a Semitic lover of righteousness.

 He later worked as pharmacist attendant at the age of fifteen after dropping out of school. When he was a student at an irregular school for the University students at Kristiania, he used to write some articles in order to earn a living. Further studies reveal that in 1850 he wrote his first plays titled Catiline and the Burial Mould although they were not very successful.  However, he was appointed as a stage poet by Ole Bull in the year 1851. This appointment was an eye opener as it allowed him to learn more about theater performance (Liukkonen, 2008).

Background Information,
After Ibsen had married his wife Suzannah Thoresen, he moved to the Kristiania Theater. Although he was still writing, he was not successful and due to this he went abroad. According to Kennedy and Gioia (1995), for the next twenty seven years of his life he lived in Rome. It is at this time that he wrote the most of his popular writings like the Brand, Gynt in 1867 among others. In the year 1873 he scripted one of his best plays according to him, about Christianity and Paganism known as The Emperor and the Galilean although it was not regarded by other authors as one of his major achievements. In the year 1877 he wrote Pillars of the Society bearing the theme hypocrisy, and in 1879 the, A Dolls House.

Despite the fact that Brandes (2004), described him as a pessimistic writer, he wrote a number of successful plays forcing George Bernard Shaw to acknowledge him as one of the greatest living dramatist in his lecture, The quintessence of Ibsenism in the year 1898 (Liukkonen, 2008). However, the friendship that developed between the two was short lived as it soon broke after Ibsens play, The League of Youth in the year 1869. The main reason was because it had a character that resembled his friend. After a long history of writing Ibsen died at a ripe age of seventy eight years.

Ibsens Career Life
 Ibsen, known as the father of the realism in the society, made numerous contributions in the field of drama in the 19th century. He was able to use his writing skills to address the problems that were in the society. In his writing, Ibsen concentrated more on the life in the small towns and his main theme was individualism. Despite the fact that Norwegians used to liken him to a moral preacher, his plays were taken seriously in other countries not to mention other continents as well. He managed to raise dramatists like George Bernard Shaw who is actually considered to be his successor. He also managed to inspire one of his students James Joyce (Liukkonen, 2008).

As illustrated by Liukkonen (2008), in the year 1850 he is reported to have started associating with fellow writers and intellectuals. It is in the same year when Ole Schulerud helped him to publish his first play Catiline. It was not successful and neither was the next one which was The Warriors Barrow. He did not lose heart but he continued studying literature and also writing some reviews. At the beginning of his writing career, he was writing verse drama majoring in classical and Scandinavian history. Although they were never a success, they gave him more opportunity to learn and to develop him.

In the year 1865, he published a play titled Brand. It was about a Lutheran Minister who was unrealistic and also immovable. This is considered to be one of his greatest achievements as it even earned him a government grant (Liukkonen, 2008).  It is an exceptional play with stunning scenes with moral and philosophical investigations. Moreover, this was considered as Ibsens turning point in his career. It put him on the limelight of the world stage. The dramas that followed are considered to be realistic. The first play of the modern life was produced in the year 1869, The league of the Youth. After this Ibsen is seen to have produced other dramas in prose form.

Pillars of Society (1877)
This was a drama that was written in prose form and it is among the first eight realistic dramas (Brandes, 2004). Moreover, it earned him an international reputation. It is about a rich businessman operating a shipping firm in Norway town. The play illustrates that the rich are most of the times powerful because of their money. They are selfish and practice corruption so as to cover up for their evil ways. This is illustrated in this play where Derrick, the main character of the play is described as corrupt and selfish. Derrick marries his younger wife for money as he wanted to revive his business which was already down. He is actually guilty of the attempted murder but by the end of the play he goes unpunished. This play demonstrated the evils that were present in his society of corruption and selfishness especially by the rich in the society.

An Enemy of the People (1882)
Ibsen produced this drama in the year 1882. He features mainly controversy of an individual with the whole society unlike in his earlier plays when the controversy was between two individuals or in the household set up. His main aim was to show that even if the society was held to be right in everything one person can stand out alone and be right. His theme was to challenge the Victorian belief that the society an institution that people had confidence in and more so the political system was characterized by hypocrisy and corruption. He features one man who is courageous enough to air his opinions and speak the truth to a society that thought otherwise.

 Dr. Thomas Stockmann, the main character in the play stands alone when the society refused to support him when he tried to give a solution to the contamination in the town that was causing diseases. The authorities together with the inhabitants rejected his opinion as they feared to lose financially and termed him as an enemy of the people. However, he did not change his stand and proclaimed that a strong man stands alone in the matters of the truth.

Hedda Gabbler (1890)
The main character of the play here is a woman by the name Hedda. Unlike his earlier play, A Dolls house in 1879 which describes an immoral society, this drama was written to display a psychological conflict. It is one of his feminist dramas. The main character was a woman in her late twenties, pregnant and bored with her marriage. The only person who comes to her rescue is a judge who gives her a choice of having an affair or uncovering her. Hedda commits suicide later because she was unable to solve her problems and search for fulfillment. This described how individuals in corrupt immoral societies suffered psychologically.

Conclusion,
Ibsen, being a playwright of the 19th century has a right to be termed as the father of the realism in theater history. The period of realism started at around 1850s when Ibsens writing career was flourishing. His dramas progressed steadily from 1850s until the late 1890s when his last dramas were produced. Studying his progression in the writing career reveals how he contributed to realism as his dramas displays this quite well. Unlike his first plays the later ones clearly displays the challenges and the problems of the society like immorality, corruption among other themes. Although his dramas gained popularity in the 19th century, some of his writing rules that display realism are still being used up to date by people like Chekhov.