This volume contains Ibsen''s two most famous and frequently read, studied and performed plays about women, A Doll''s House (1879), his first international success, which ''exploded like a bomb into contemporary life'', and Hedda Gabler (1890), now one of his most popular plays. Also included is An Enemy of the People (1883), whose central character was the actor Konstantin Stanislavski''s favourite role. This volume contains Ibsen''s two most famous plays about women: A Doll''s House (1879), his first international success, which "exploded like a bomb into contemporary life," and Hedda Gabler (1890), now one of his most popular plays, but greeted at first with bewilderment and outrage ("The play is simply a bad escape of moral sewage-gas."-Pictorial World). Also included is An Enemy of the People (1882), whose central character was Stanislavsky''s favorite role. "Meyer''s translations of Ibsen are a major fact in one''s general sense of post-war drama. Their vital pace, their unforced insistence on the poetic center of Ibsen''s genius, have beaten academic versions from the field."-George Steiner "Crisp and cobweb-free, purged of verbal Victoriana."-Kenneth Tynan Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) is generally regarded as the father of modern theatre: "His influence on contemporaries and following generations, whether directly or indirectly ... can hardly be overestimated."-John Russell Taylor
En su época de estudiante, escribió su primer drama, Catilina, en el que ya se revela la divergencia, propiamente ibseniana, entre voluntad y posibilidad, idealismo ético e incapacidad del individuo para llevarlo a la practica. Sus obras parten de una realidad vivida para defender unas teorias con frecuencia audaces, a traves de la creacion y el tratamiento de grandes personajes, especialmente femeninos. Casa de muñecas, una de las obras mas intemporales de Ibsen, narra el drama de Nora, una mujer ardiente y alegre que ante la incomprension de su marido se encierra en si misma, llegando a abandonar su hogar para convertirse en un ser consciente de su destino. La obra desato vivas polemicas en su epoca y fue juzgada como una toma de posicion en favor de las ideas feministas. La dama del mar pertenece a la ultima epoca de la produccion ibseniana, en la que cobra relieve la dimension misteriosa de la realidad.
Powerful psychological drama (1881) exposes hypocrisy of social conventions. Mrs. Helen Alving is haunted by her husband''s infidelities and the disease he has passed to their son.
This dark psychological drama depicts the evil machinations of a ruthless, nihilistic heroine. Readers will discover an exploration of the nature of evil and the tragedy that lies in human frailty.
When the famous and financially successful baths in his home town are contaminated, the local doctor insists they be shut down for expensive repairs, causing upheaval among the townsfolk.
One of the Norwegian playwright''s most mysterious, symbolic, and lyrical dramas explores the life of architect Halvard Solness, once ruthlessly ambitious, but who, in his later years, not only feels threatened by the younger generation but also fears the decay of his own creativity. A tragic end for one of the most fascinating characters in modern drama.
