An Enemy of The People

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Arthur Miller’s adaption of Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People
The play under analysis is the adaption of Arthur Miller’s of the play Henrik Ibsen’s An
Enemy of the People is a Norwegian play which was brought into production around the year of
1950. The play was originally was written by Henrik Ibsen, a Norwegian playwright. He was
massively acknowledged for his work which supported and promoted the idea and concept of
“Realism.” Ibsen is known for bold and out-there conclusions to his play. An Enemy of the
People is one of such play which had a bold ending which left a bitter taste in the mouths of the
viewers. It highlighted the awful truth of how a good idea and the insistence of truth cannot be
vibrant if it is the minority supporting the idea. However, once Arthur Miller revised the play and
introduced a milder version which was then accepted by the general public. The main purpose
Arthur Miller’s adaption can be concluded with four words; insisting on the truth. The story
showcased throughout the course of the play had an evident theme which maintained Ibsen’s
original message of how truth needs to be insisted upon regardless of the resistance which may
be faced against it. The play did successful accomplish establishing its purpose. The insistence of
truth was emphasized upon heavily.
Now, the play “An Enemy of People” out of all the genres of plays can fall under the
category of realism. Realism is a genre which has been observed in almost all of the work which
has been published by Henrik Ibsen. The theatre of realism focuses on realistic aspects of drama
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which relate to the problems and situations people face in their everyday life. The genre focuses
on the hard decision’s individuals have to make through the course of their life and the ethical
dilemmas which plague them in doing so. The main purpose of realistic dramas is to highlight
and tactfully illustrate the struggles humankinds have to face and addresses them in the most
straightforward way possible. In this way, the play An Enemy of People belongs to the genre of
realism. Through the character of Dr. Stockmann who has been stuck in ethically troublesome
place which forces him to ponder over the hardships which come with exposing the corrupted
ways of the government. The subject of realism has been tackled quite tactfully through the
dilemma that the doctor goes through. It is in this manner that the play qualifies as a play
plagued with realism as it focuses on the difficult decision which needs to be made and linked up
the essence of the common problems faced by various individuals.
The two characters which showcase and enhance the qualities of realis, happen to be Dr.
Thomas Stockmann, who is a physician by profession and his brother, Peter Stockmann, who
happens to be the mayor of the town and quite easily depicts the narrative of an ordinary man of
today’s era. There is an evident sense of sibling rivalry. Though, the rivalry exists heavily
throughout the play, a bigger part of focus is placed on communicating the realistic
characteristics of common man through these two characters. Through Thomas Stockmann, the
essence naïve beliefs of man have been highlighted. Dr. Stockmann after investigating had found
out how toxic waste from a tannery upstream had been poisoning the spring which was the main
cause why everyone was falling sick. He advised for the pipes to be relayed in hopes of
introducing good to the world. He was doing it for the greater good of the people. The role of the
doctor assigns him great responsibility as the protector of people’s health, however, in order to
bring about that change significant amount of funds will be employed which may serve to be a
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problem as well. This issue covers the dilemmas faced by doctors who may have to assist the
government with regards to capital punishment and how it goes against their very oath.
The second character, Peter Stockmann, captures the essence of the role a government
play. The politics and the disparity it causes has been enclosed within the character of the mayor
of the town. The two brothers are polar opposites. One is plagued by the moral and ethical
concerns of his action, whereas, the philosophy of Peter’s expediency says a lot about the
polarity of the issue. Peter functions on the morality of convenience. It functions primarily on
distorting the truth in such a way which makes the masses believe that the repairs are inevitably
bad for them and the way things are going is better as they will have to pay for repair in taxes,
though, they conveniently forget that the probably and abundant possibility of individuals falling
is a greater threat.
The play covers all grounds of realism and universality, so much so, that if it were to be
written in today’s time, it would be gladly accepted. It embodies all of the struggles’ humankind
has to deal with. It is basically a story which showcases the war waged between science and
politics, of how money and bias influences everything. It can be representative and symbolic for
how media distorts the content and controls how anything is perceived in today’s world, how its
narrative has been working to fuel the divide which exists within the society where people have
reduced themselves down to dummies who follow whatever has been fed to them and spin it
whichever way that bodes well with them. The aspect of media and showcasing how easy it is to
distort the truth and render someone as a topic of ridicule based on little to no facts that are
credible is quite clear. The play is a work of art which captures the struggles that may be faced
by human throughout the course of history and time to come. The morality of tough decisions
and the ethical dilemmas at play will often resurface.

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Arthur Miller’s adaption of Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People

truth was emphasized upon heavily.

the essence of the common problems faced by various individuals.

and the ethical dilemmas at play will often resurface.

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