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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.