Henrik Ibsen / Kåre Conradi

An Enemy of the People – Henrik Ibsen for children

An Enemy of the People is about Dr Stockmann, who discovers that the bathing water in the city’s spa is contaminated with dangerous bacteria. He expects people to value his discovery and thinks it will help improve the city. Instead, his political enemies try to destroy him, attempting to silence him with threats. Dr Stockmann stands his ground and in the last act, he delivers one of Ibsen’s most famous lines: “The strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone.”

An Enemy of the People is a play that outraged people in its day, but that has gained fresh relevance in our own era. This is the first book in a new series for children about the works of Henrik Ibsen. With the aid of illustrations and simplified text suitable for younger readers, the series aims to introduce Ibsen’s plays to new generations all over the world. Ibsen is the world’s second-most performed playwright after Shakespeare. This series will give children an understanding of what Ibsen’s texts are about and what they can teach us today.

Illustrated by Sunniva Fluge Hole.