Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen is often called the "father" of modern drama, and certainly claims top honors as the father of realistic drama. Though his work began in folk tales and epic (as in Peer Gynt) he quickly turned to an examination of psychological states, and his work is accordingly often called psychological realism. Though Ibsen explicitly denied being a feminist, his work is filled with vivid female characters who struggle against the social pressures and rules under which nineteenth-century women lived. The most famous example is Nora of A Doll's House, who slams the door when she walks out on her husband and children at the end of the play. The dramatic exit scandalized audiences and even caused protests and theater closings in some countries.

Ibsen's plays mix detailed domestic settings and everyday speech (two frequent characteristics of realism) with unexpected and thrilling plot twists that seem to carry over from the melodrama that was popular in his day. Though his plays may seem more melodramatic than "real" to the twenty-first century reader, he pioneered many of the techniques in dialogue and character study that now dominate realistic dramatic forms in theater, film and television.

Ibsen was a prolific writer and his plays include Peer Gynt, A Doll's House, Hedda Gabler, An Enemy of the People, The Master Builder, The Lady from the Sea, and When We Dead Awaken, as well as many more.