An Enemy of the People (Ibsen Play)

Reference entry · last updated October 24, 2026

An Enemy of the People (En folkefiende) is Henrik Ibsen’s 1882 play about a doctor who discovers contamination in his town’s public baths.[1][2]

1. First Principles: Evidence and Public Decisions

The play separates a testable claim about polluted water from decisions about repair costs and disclosure. Its central dispute concerns who can make evidence public when the town’s prosperity depends on the baths.[2]

2. Publication and Context

The original play dates to 1882. The University of Oslo’s bibliography separately lists Eleanor Marx-Aveling’s English version, An Enemy of Society, in an 1888 collection.[1]

William Archer’s introduction describes composition during 1882 and publication in Copenhagen that November. He connects the play with the hostile reception of Ghosts and Ibsen’s anger at the Liberal press. Archer also reproduces Ibsen’s letter distinguishing himself from the more muddleheaded Dr. Stockmann.[3]

3. Characters and Plot

Plot details follow. Dr. Thomas Stockmann, the baths’ medical officer, seeks publication of his findings. His brother Peter, the mayor, opposes him. Editor Hovstad and printer Aslaksen withdraw support after Peter raises the cost to taxpayers and the prospect of closure. A public meeting declares Thomas an enemy of the people. His family faces retaliation; his daughter Petra loses her teaching position.[2]

4. Political Interpretation

In Act IV, Stockmann’s attack expands from the water scandal to majority rule. He asserts the superiority of an intellectual minority.[2] Archer’s introduction records both court-theatre performances and anarchist uses of the play.[3]

Interpretive note: opposition to suppression can coexist with objections to Stockmann’s elitism. Identifying with the doctor does not establish that a political position is correct. A character’s speech alone does not establish Ibsen’s endorsement.

5. Reading Editions

The plot references use R. Farquharson Sharp’s English translation, available in full through Project Gutenberg.[2] Archer’s introduction accompanies a separate translation by Eleanor Marx-Aveling in the collected works.[3]

6. See Also

Epistemology

7. References

↑ University of Oslo, “En folkefiende (An Enemy of the People),” Bibliotheca Polyglotta. Scholarly text repository and bibliography; distinguishes the 1882 original from the 1888 English collection.
↑ Henrik Ibsen, An Enemy of the People, translated by R. Farquharson Sharp. Project Gutenberg, eBook 2446. Primary dramatic text, Acts I–V.
↑ William Archer, introduction to An Enemy of the People, in The Collected Works of Henrik Ibsen, vol. VIII, William Heinemann, 1910 impression, pp. vii–xvi. Historical secondary commentary containing reproduced Ibsen letters; the play is translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling.