Hedda Gabler and Other Plays

Ibsen is deservedly part of the Western canon so there is no real need to recommend him. Instead, I’ll simply point out the predominant theme in this selection of his plays.Like Sophocles’ Oedipus, Ibsen’s characters are obsessed with discovering the truth. Unlike Sophocles, however, Ibsen doesn’t opine that the ultimate truth about humanity is tragic. Rather, Ibsen’s eye is focused not on metaphysical questions but on the lies that undergird human society.All of his characters are fundamentally out of tune with themselves because of a primordial lie. And all suffer to maintain their standing in society by upholding this falsehood. It seems that Ibsen thought that Victorian era Norwegian society could only stand on a pillar of deception. And, when pressed, the attempt to build a life on these lies always ends in tragedy.This does give the attentive reader plenty to think about. To what extent do I reflect one of Ibsen’s protagonists? Admittedly an unpleasant question but one that the playwright obviously wanted his audience to ponder.As well-acknowledged supreme works of art these plays do no need another recommendation. But I will give the only endorsement I can: I plan on reading more Ibsen in the future. This sample of three of his masterworks was too tantalizing not to have another taste.

Read for a class, it did what I needed it to. The plays aren't bad, but not my favorite.

Henrik Ibsen is one of the world's greatest dramatists, but you wouldn't believe it from this shoddy kindle book.For a start, the translations of the three plays - 'Hedda Gabler', 'The Pillars of the Community' and 'The Wild Duck' - are seventy years old and are full of old-fashioned phrases which will off-putting to most modern readers. However, this is a relatively minor criticism.My real criticism of this ebook is that it contains so many typographical errors that it is almost unreadable. I have purchased other Penguin books in the past (notably Hannah Arendt's 'Eichmann in Jerusalem') that have been as bad, so I should have learnt my lesson.Other publishers - for example, Oxford World's Classics and Amazonclassics - manage to get it right. so why can't Penguin?Message to Penguin: I have now purchased the print versions of these plays in the Meuthen World's Classics series.

A good one.