An Enemy of the People

By Henrik Ibsen

Categories: Literature & Fiction

Henrik Ibsen's play follows Dr. Thomas Stockmann, a doctor in a Norwegian spa town who discovers that the town's popular public baths are contaminated. When Stockmann tries to reveal the danger, the town's leaders, newspaper and citizens turn against him because the truth would hurt their income. The play explores public opinion, truth, democracy and the price of speaking out. It was first published and performed in 1882.

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• Neil deGrasse Tyson: “I'd be Thomas Stockmann, the medical doctor in the 1882 Henrik Ibsen play "An Enemy of the People."”